Not to be confused with any offspring of Mr. Roper from Three’s Company, James Roper has some incredible illustration skills.

website: James Roper

Today whilst waiting for a cuppa at my local coffee shop, I stepped aside after giving my order and decided to perch myself against the counter – affording me a birds eye view of most of the store.

Within minutes this gentleman came in to place an order, and even at the risk of giving my sexual nature some latitude, he was handsome. OKAY who the fuck says that these days anyway, but hey he had that scenester 80’s look to him. Long blond hair, deep v-neck t-shirt, tight acid-wash jeans, nice tan…

Now. You might be asking yourself, “Why was he staring at this man? Is Shaun coming out?”. Haha, well to answer that first question I’d have to go back and tell you about a girl around the age of 6 sitting with her family across from me. The second question is a no…

She was very beautiful, very inquisitive, and very interested in said gentleman. I mean VERY interested. Even though she was perched beside her father, even though my natural assumption would preclude her from being at that stage of interest. She was looking at this dude up and down, lips pursed, eye-widened, following him all the way as he exited the coffee shop.

Now why was this so fascinating to me? Probably because, given her age, this was probably the first man she’d ever seen and realized an attraction toward. It was probably something that even she could not explain or understand – but it was there.

That’s what prompted my question.

Do you remember your first crush? That first unknowing feeling of absolute liking for someone you knew. That sensation of being immediately at ease with a complete stranger. Do we ever get to an age when we forget these juicy moments of our lives?

I don’t. I still get them – even though the innocence is lost when we adults tend to follow through sometimes.

I’m just looking for some direction in terms of aesthetic, layout, usability and or course valuable information. I can be the simplest or most richly satisfying site, but it must be geared toward the creatives of the world: Communication design, web design, industrial, architectural, apparel, illustration, motion graphic, photography, even food and the written word.

My favourite is: CPLUV – http://www.cpluv.com/ . It creates a cool community for designers and professional alike to collaborate, communicate and share (can even find work!)

And yours is?