After reading Renata’s last post about Coca-Cola’s eco soda bottle, and the recent passing of Earth Day, I would like to take a moment to share with you another eco-friendly packaging concept. This one is also totally original as well as economical. Designer Patrick Sung has come up with a Universal Packaging System—packaging in the form of origami made with pre-folded sheets—which eliminates totality from the space lost in a carton.

Maybe companies will take notice and start using this type of packaging to ship things. Would you use a Universal Packaging System to ship your packages?

With social media trending all over the Web these days, social media links have become a part of just about every Web site and blog. And from this, designers are finding various, unique ways to customize these buttons. To cater to the ever-growing demand for such tools, unique Web sites offering freebie icons have been hunted and gathered.

There is a handy new list of 40 New and Trendy Free Social Bookmark Icon Sets available by YouTheDesigner. Take time to check out the list and download your favorites or browse and get inspired to come up with your own.

As a graphic designer, so many times I am asked, “What does a graphic designer actually do?” Well, in the made-for-television version, we hang around a funky office with a laptop in one hand and a ping pong paddle in the other. But in reality, our jobs are a lot more serious than that. Yes, we do have fun, but the fun is in having the opportunity to be creative and the bonus is getting paid for it. Despite the picture painted on television, we don’t sit around and play all day.

A graphic designer’s work is a part of your daily life—from the Web sites you visit to the magazines you read, to the cereal box you take out of your pantry in the morning. Our job is to communicate ideas visually to promote products or services when words alone don’t tell the whole story. And, it’s not as easy as just jumping on a computer and pushing the mouse around all day. We have an extensive process—we research, brainstorm ideas, sketch out initial thoughts, and follow design theories—all while working closely as a team with copywriters, marketing professionals and fellow designers to produce and deliver effective materials for clients. Our computers are merely tools that aid the process.

What are your thoughts on the perception of graphic design among the general public?

In my last post I offered a few resources on where to turn when designer’s block occurs. This time, I want to offer a few on where to turn when you can’t shut your brain off and those creative juices are overflowing.

Have you ever been strolling through the mall and there, in one of the store windows, you see the perfect color for the logo you have been working on? How about sitting in a doctor’s office and great ideas for a new project keep popping into your brain? Your solution can be in your purse (or pocket) my fellow iPhone and iTouch friends!

There are a handful of iPhone (and iTouch) apps that every designer must have. For example, CliqCliq and ColorExpert are perfect apps for capturing and calculating that awesome logo color you saw in the store window. iBlueSky is a handy app that will map your brainstorm path and allow you to e-mail it to another person while waiting in the doctor’s office.

If these two caught your attention, Webdesigner Depot has posted a list of “13 iPhone Apps for Graphic Designers” that is worth exploring.

I am always on the prowl for new resources. Do you have a particular app, tool or method you would like to recommend? Please share!