Hector Herrera is a designer, director and animator whose fun, bright work is playful and electric. His creative work largely takes the shape of commercials and broadcast graphics, with past clients including Cartoon Network, Spike TV and BBC.

He recently created a Scout Book featuring his playful illustration, as a departure from on-screen formats. The two books, in fact, celebrate the art of the physical creative process, encouraging users to write and sketch. Herrera is also an instructor in the illustration program at the Ontario College of Art and Design, and we imagine that “draw” and “sketch” are two directives he gives his students!

Characters from Herrera's video project "Typesetter Blues."

Herrera made the series as holiday gifts for his clients, a varied group of writers, directors, animators, and producers. The design is based loosely on a character design he’s working on for an upcoming animated short.

Be sure to check out Hector’s illustrative creative work and see how he translated his dimensional, screen-based work to the tactile, inky format of the Scout Book.

And don’t forget! Write! Sketch!

TEDx is a series of independently produced TED events that bring the heralded lecture program  to cities all over the world.

TEDxYouthDay is an international event composed of locally organized events that are designed for (and by!) young people eager to inspire their peers. By focusing on curiosity, leadership and the free exchange of new ideas, TEDxYouth nurtures the power of possibility in young people.

TEDxYouth@Monterey, a team in central California, took it upon themselves to join the global community and organize a TEDxYouthDay event, and made Scout Books to share the programming with attendees.

The Saturday event featured presenters and performances from varied backgrounds and generations, including a coach, an inventor, a social entrepreneur, a conservationist, a local garage band, a carpenter, an actor, an author and many more. The day included a performance from a luau dance group, and a duo of local high school students painted a graffiti-inspired mural to round out the programming.

We’re thrilled when our clients take the pocket-sized publishing format of Scout Books and use it to share big ideas. Kudos to co-organizer Bob Cole, event-planner Sumaya Agha and the rest of the TEDxYouth@Monterey team for putting the event together. In addition, graphic designer Joyce Lin donated her time and energy to produce the event’s graphic identity—all for an excellent event that harnesses the power of youth and curiosity.

Curiosity Shoppe is a film production, motion graphics and design company making work in Austin, Texas. The group works in the lively, arts-driven East Austin, surrounded by creative energy and industry.

Curiosity Shoppe made Scout Books to send as gifts to agency directors, editors, copywriters and cinematographers they’ve worked with and admire. What a lovely New Year’s gift!

The fun and clever illustrations that grace the cover of these Scout Books align quite well with Curiosity Group’s eclectic portfolio. You’ve maybe seen their creative production work in the juice aisle, at your local bookstore, or posted up around Austin.

The studio is a partnership of Craig Denham and Dan Brown, a director/designer and filmmaker, respectively. Curiosity Shoppe worked with an illustrator based in East Austin to develop the colorful artwork for the covers of their Scout Books.

When Dartboard Media, the folks behind Cool Material,  set out to design a notebook, they knew they wanted something funny but functional. What’s something that everyone needs? A to-do list! And so they created this sassy pocket notebook to carry in their online store for men’s gifts.

“No one really wants to do all of the stuff on their agenda—they have to,” wrote Jenni Chasteen of Dartboard. “We figured adding some humor to the mix might lighten a busy person’s mood a bit.”

These pocket notebook feature your favorite four-letter words and reflect the universal sigh of busy task-masters everywhere. The notebooks are available for sale here on Cool Material, which boasts a curated collection of “generally awesome stuff.”

The SIGFGD Scout Books sell in a two-pack of pocket-sized chipboard tools. The graphic is also available gracing the cover of a spiral-bound notebook at a slightly larger size. Get yours now! They’re selling fast.

Imogene + Willie is a clothier located in Nashville, Tennessee. They create fine, handmade clothing for men and women, specializing in denim and modeling each piece after classic and vintage styles.

They’ve been expanding their product catalog to include items such as Oregon-made tote bags, Nashville-roasted coffee beans and…a three-pack of Scout Books!

The notebooks come in a mixed trio, each featuring a variation of Imogene + Willie’s classic logo mark. Included with each three-pack is an I+W pencil (also made in the USA!)

The excellent inscription on the back of each Scout Book reads:

Sometimes the difference between having a great idea and applying a great idea is a convenient place to jot it down. Whether the contents of this book are intended to be shared or kept secret, we hope that having it with you makes all the difference.

We think Imogene + Willie have the right idea: first, create beautiful pockets. Then, provide something for people to put in those pockets!

Check out this excellent video about Imogene + Willie’s process and beginnings!

Images of clothing courtesy Imogene + Willie.

The temporary tattoos of your childhood are back — but this time they’re design-y. Tattly is website that curates illustrative and typographic images from the design community and turns them into temporary tattoos to adorn your arms, legs and…whatever else.

Their latest curated image comes from Marc Johns, an illustrator with a decidedly straightforward style and a quick wit. Johns created an image that can be applied to your body, as well as the chipboard cover of a Scout Book.

The What To Focus On Notebook Pack contains a three notebooks with a custom dot-grid interior and a trio of matching temporary tattoos.

The notebooks invite to-do lists, New Year’s resolutions, and loads of other content. Focus on a happy place, Johns and Tattly encourage, or at least on what’s contained within your pocket notebook.

We absolutely love how innovative and unexpected Tattly’s use for Scout Books is. Bravo!

All images courtesy Tattly. Thanks guys!

PLAN is a global movement for change. PLAN Canada is the Canadian branch of the international organization, working to mobilize support for improving the lives of children in developing countries.

PLAN Canada recently produced a trio of Scout Books to support their latest initiative, Because I Am A Girl. The pink and white three-pack features powerful and grabbing statements that direct the viewer to the project’s informative website.

Because I Am A Girl is a campaign designed to raise awareness of “the girl issue,” or the idea that women and girls in developing country are faced with tremendous challenges, yet have immense potential to positively effect the futures of their communities and countries if only given the chance to succeed.Through education, nourishment and protection, the initiative empowers girls to raise the standard of living for their families, communities and nations.

This concept was popularized by informative typographic videos by another group called The Girl Effect, describing the ways in which empowering females in developing nations could have colossal impact.

The goal of the Because I Am A Girl initiative is to garner support for their educational and aid programs, and they need you for that support. One of their Scout Books reads: “Girls Are The Answer and So Are You,” and that is the base message of their campaign.

Because I Am A Girl asks that this holiday season, you consider giving the unique gift of positive change through a donation to the initiative.

The Stag Conference is a gathering that explores creative storytelling in computer games. Held this year in the historic Museum of Natural History in Vienna, Austria, the one-day event featured speakers who came together to explore the rapidly evolving world of gaming culture.

As new platforms and contexts for gaming have arisen in recent years, the industry has adjusted in certain ways and fallen short in others. The conference’s focus on creative storytelling reveals an effort to explore the rich opportunity for inventive narrative in the creation of digital games.

The Stag Conference Scout Book went out to all attendees for note taking at the event’s lectures and workshops as part of a welcome kit complete with literature, programming information and more. Taking notes at a conference is a given, but we’re hoping that these pocket notebooks helped attendees begin their own imaginative narratives.

Let the storytelling begin!

Conference photos credit: Joerg Sterner

The annual Wordstock Festival is a Northwest favorite, a boisterous weekend-long celebration of literature and literacy that brings together word-lovers of all ages. The Portland-based nonprofit celebrates and supports writing in the classroom and the community, creating a more literate and imaginative culture.

So you can imagine that we were thrilled to collaborate with Wordstock to make pocket notebooks for their 2011 festival-goers. A pocket notebook is certainly the perfect prop for a literary conference; notes on workshops and lectures alone are enough to fill 32 pages!

This year’s festival featured the theme, “America is a Story That Never Ends,” and focused writers whose work reflected an American narrative. Wordstock 2011 was a tremendous success. The organizers explained on their blog,

“We’ve wiped the sweat off our brow and boxed up our festival supplies. We’ve had a moment to take a breath and reflect on this year’s festival, and all we can say is “Wow.”

Wordstock’s impact reaches far beyond their annual gala, however. They foster literacy year-round through outreach in Portland schools and through continuing education programs for teachers. As a non-profit, they depend on the generosity of fellow bookworms to support their robust programing. Wordstock is featured in the 2011 Willamette Week Give Guide, a fun opportunity for you to give to worthy organizations and receive gifts and prizes in return. Support words! Support Wordstock!

Brand New is a popular blog brought to you by Under Consideration, the creative and critical enterprise spearheaded by Bryony Gomez-Palacio and Armin Vit. The online resource for discussion and critique provides an engaging outlet for critical discourse within the discipline of design.

The 2011 Brand New Conference took place this fall in San Francisco, and featured a cast of design world all-stars and participants coming together to discuss the practice of corporate and brand identity. Featured speakers included Bruce Mau, Mine, and communication designers from Facebook.

Their second annual conference hosted eight speakers from varied design environments, who together provided a breadth of perspectives on the practice.

This Scout Book was just one part of the conference’s fun and funky visual identity, a spirited nod to tempera paint on giant butcher paper that you’d more readily see plastering the windows of your neighborhood supermarket.

The Scout Book is an excellent giveaway for conferences; it is an opportunity to distribute the event’s brand as well as a practical tool for note taking that attendees will be grateful to have.

On that note, we can’t wait for next year’s Brand New conference!

Thank you to Brand New for the use of their images.