Issue 6
  1. Sticky notes without the stickiness
  2. Track your time, invoice clients
  3. The spacious all-in-one carry-on
  4. A place for all your podcasts
  5. An iPad stand to impress your friends
  6. All your brand assets in one place

Howdy friends!

Welcome to The (new) Modern Desk. After a website refresh last week, I'm excited to present the corresponding newsletter layout. Some of you will probably miss the old one, but I'm feeling a lot happier with this simpler format. More tweaks to come. (By the way, your feedback is always welcome — just reply.)

From now on, you'll be greeted with a short intro by me in which I reveal bits and bobs about my glamorous life as an indie publisher. But you'll also hear about my attempt of developing TMD into a side business by growing its audience and, when the time is right, introducing one sponsor per issue. My initial goal is to get to 5000 subscribers in the next three months (we just crossed the 2000 mark last week). I have no idea whether this will work, or whether I'm able to sustain the weekly schedule, which consumes around 3–5 hours of my time every week. Stick around to find out!

If you scroll down, you'll also notice that I started including the occasional 'special offer' exclusive to TMD readers. In this issue, Harvest is giving you a discount on your first paid month of their app.

Thanks for subscribing! Follow TMD on Twitter, and if you like the weekly update, please help me spread the word by telling your friends. Just send them to themoderndesk.com

Kai

 

This Weekʼs Line-Up

Sticky notes without the stickiness
01

Magnetic is a Kickstarter for the next incarnation of sticky notes: statically charged paper that you can stick to any surface without any pins, glue, buttons, or thumb tacks. One side is reusable too, which (sorta) justifies the fairly high price. Their Kickstarter is doing very well. Only a few days left to back them! 

 
Track your time, invoice clients
02

I've been a fan of Harvest for a long time. (Disclosure: they've been a sponsor of Offscreen in the past.) While I don't currently use the app myself, lots of my friends do. Harvest's time-tracking and invoicing features are perfect for freelancers and small teams. And of course, they offer plug-ins to all the other tools you use daily, like Basecamp.  

Readers receive 50% off their first paid month after the free 30-day trial with coupon code TMD50. Expires May 15, 2015.

 
The spacious all-in-one carry-on
03

Born on Kickstarter, the Minaal bag is the ideal bag for those that travel lightly. It's a surprisingly roomy bag that's still small enough to count as 'carry-on'. Lots of functional features: a lockable device compartment, zip-away straps and an easy to slip over rain cover. This bad boy checks a lot of boxes.

 
A place for all your podcasts
04

I don't listen to many podcasts regularly, but when I do I appreciate having the latest shows accessible on the go. With Instacast's Mac and iOS apps you can keep your library in sync and discover new shows through a beautiful, simple interface.

 
An iPad stand to impress your friends
05

I have to admit, at first glance the Yohann looks more like a piece of art than a reliable, trustworthy iPad stand. But you gotta give the makers credit for thinking outside the box and designing an unusually shaped stand that... well, stands out. And thumbs up on the name choice. Love it.

 
All your brand assets in one place
06

As someone who reaches out to a lot of companies for image material and press info, I can really appreciate the idea behind Brandfolder. If you manage a brand/company, this service allows you to create one dedicated place to manage image material, logos, press kits, etc. Keep it organised, manage access, and get stats on downloads.