We hope that you have enjoyed these Winks. This is the last in the series so we can focus on our new venture: we’re joining forces with our friends at Grain Creative — so watch that space! Grain will be offering Thoughts, probably monthly, so you can still get your fix.

This before-and-after blog on brand identity boasts the clever name Brand New. Top tags include “gradient”, “wordmark” and “sans serif”. It provides detailed reviews, ranging from admiring to scathing, of the new visual identities of well-known brands.

The content and typography on A List Apart feel like a lovely scholarly journal. It’s “for people who make websites”, ranging “from pixels to prose, coding to content,” plus the culture and design of websites.
Sit down and enjoy with a cup of tea.

If you come across loads of well-designed lost pet flyers in New York, don’t think that everyone has suddenly become a cutting-edge designer. They’re the work of Cardon Webb, who hijacks flyers, redesigns them, and replaces the originals. Check them out at Cardon Copy.

The Dieline, which proclaims itself “the world’s #1 package design website”, is in fact hard to beat for packaging design inspiration. Have a dig around and see if you find anyone familiar. If you hear a “toot toot”, that’s just us blowing our own horn!

Grain Edit (not to be confused with 3D design consultancy Grain) showcases classic design work from the 1950′s-1970′s. It covers print, products and architecture, plus designer interviews and studio visits. See if you can find the vintage Lido Motel sign.

So why does the ampersand deserve a blog all to itself? The ampersand is often the most expressive typographic symbol in a font family. It has innate flair. Makes us wonder how many other symbols or letters have their own blogs — let us know if you find any.

LogoLounge features 136,183 logos (as of today) to browse by keyword, industry, client or designer. Plus “Logos in the news” and the yearly trend report. On the print side of things are the logo compendium books, with 2,000 logos each. Now that’s what we call logo-licious!

Quirky, eco-friendly and fun, Evergreen Wraps will expand your origami horizons. The idea is to (cleverly) wrap gifts in these printed fabrics rather than in paper, and then to use the wrapping again and again. Or transform it into a sarong. Or a scarf. Or a basket.

Here’s a geeky wink for you: CSS Zen Garden shows how the same web page can look completely different depending on the CSS design applied to it. The content is always the same but the CSS styles it, with amazingly diverse results.