Nikon D5100

Digital Photography Review have published an in-depth review of Nikon's $800/£640 (body only), low-mid range DSLR.

Condensed Conclusion:

"The D5100 is one of the most compelling products in its class, and offers an excellent mixture of straightforward handling, a well-targeted feature set, and excellent video and still image quality. The D5100 is responsive and reliable in operation, and produces excellent images with a minimum of fuss."

"A novice-friendly feature set and (relatively) wallet-friendly asking price belie an extremely capable sensor and AF system. We are left with a lingering worry, though, that the D5100's entry-level ergonomics might not prove quite so adaptable to the evolving needs of a first-time DSLR buyer as a camera like the Canon EOS 600D/Rebel T3."
------------

ImageOptim for OSX

Pornel reports: [edited]

ImageOptim optimizes images — so they take up less disk space and load faster — by finding best compression parameters and by removing unnecessary comments and color profiles. It handles PNG, JPEG and GIF animations.

ImageOptim provides GUI for various optimisation tools: AdvPNG from AdvanceCOMP, OptiPNG, Pngcrush, JpegOptim, jpegtran from libjpeg, Gifsicle and optionally PNGOUT.

It's excellent for publishing images on the web (easily shrinks images “Saved for Web” in Photoshop) and also useful for making Mac and iPhone applications smaller.
------------

Fro Design Co

For a spot of design inspiration, you could do a lot worse than visit Fro Design Co and browse their selection of beautifully re-imagined film posters.
------------

Universal Wrapping Paper

Fabio Milito reports: [edited]

You can choose your celebration between 20 different occasions:

MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HAPPY VALENTINES DAY, HAPPY EASTER, HAPPY THANKSGIVING, I LOVE YOU, I MISS YOU, HAPPY NAMEDAY, CONGRATULATIONS, HAPPY RETIREMENT, RECOVER SOON, GREETINGS WITH LOVE, YOU ARE THE BEST, FOR DAD, FOR MOM, ENJOY, ALL THE BEST, IT IS NOT A TIE, IT IS NOT A PERFUME.
------------

Five Free Fonts

Pablo Impallari is a Php programmer who has recently turned his attention to typography and font development.

Cabin Font is a clear, readable san-serif that falls somewhere between Bliss and Trebuchet. It is available in three weights, including a full set of true italics (unlike Bliss!).

Quattrocento has a 'Roman inscription' flavour. It's no Trajan, but works fine in upper case.

Dancing Script is a pleasant lightweight erm... script.

Terminal Dosis Font is a postmodern sans that falls somewhere between Din and Isonorm... some of the kerning pairs are awful, but it is very readable at small sizes.

The Lobster Font is a bold display script with some pleasant flicks and touches.

For a sample PDF, click here.

And they're all available as webfonts.

Thanks to Conrad for the link
------------

10 sets of Photoshop watercolour brushes

Designer Daily has tracked down a marvellous array of brushes.
------------

Free Font - Dan

Font Fabric reports: [edited]

DAN free font is applicable for any type of graphic design – web, print, motion graphics etc and perfect for t-shirts and other items like posters, logos.
------------