article of the week

thirteen ways of looking at a typeface by michael bierut

this is an oldie but a goodie from a few years ago. for both clients and designers alike, bierut goes through 13 reasons you might have an affection for a typeface and use it in your next project. these reasons can come up in various combinations depending on the project, but if you want a little insight on how we choose them, or why, take a look at this article, and then take an extra look at the typefaces you encounter whenever you notice something you like. you’ll be able to see why it’s working with the content and in the layout to entice you.

creative inspiration

HOW and creative freelancer conference round-up

how cd experience
[photo: underconsideration.com]
if i haven’t mentioned it before, this year will be my first at the HOW conference, so i’m following as much preliminary info as i can. i wasn’t aware that there’s a tradition of a CD exchange, but thanks to underconsideration.com, i not only know about it, there’s a showcase of what kat feuerstein / gilah press + design did for last year: 2009 HOW design conference CD exchange sleeve. i’ve always liked silver ink on a dark stock, this one is chocolate brown!

the HOW conference closing party theme: white space. i have plenty of white to bring, now it’s just a matter of which white will it be?

if you’ve got questions about copyright or trademarks, jean s. perwin will be at this year’s CFC. thanks to the creative freelancer blog for this list of copyright resources: got copyright?

another great feature of CFC are the breakfast roundtables. here’s a list of some of the attendee-run tables you can join in on: what do you want to learn at breakfast?

event design

identity for brad radke
[image: charles ross]
thanks to designworklife.com for finding this great event suite by charles ross for the retirement party of minnesota twins player brad radke. he did a great job of capturing the best of baseball memorabilia.

logo design

frut logo sketches
[image: adam gf]
this logo development for smoothie company, frut, is an interesting look at how designers brainstorm on different shapes and ideas: logo design love: unsung heroes. i have a few pages like this myself, most of which never see the light of day. follow the link to see the final identity system, which is a super-fun burst of color.

35 smart logos with second thought to make you look twice is a nice collection of logos that work really well for the messages they convey.

typography

anatomy of type
[image: sigurdur armannsson ]
need help with your type anatomy? refer to each part of every letterform with accuracy, using this anatomy of type desktop graphic, free from font.is

silent dance
[image: camila drozd]
the work of this lovely hand-drawn type designer, camila drozd, has come up a few places in my weekly reading, and i think her work is really stunning.

creative inspiration

fab
[image: siggi sggertsson]
something truly awesome to start your day: fab by siggi eggertsson

posters

826 novel poster
[image: underconsideration.com]
from underconsideration.com: Providers of witty products and encouragers of creative writing, 826 National has put together that asks a very simple, yet horribly daunting question: Are You Absolutely, Positively, and Wholeheartedly Ready to Publish Your Novel?

typography

darjeeling font sample
[image: designworklife.com]
thanks to designworklife.com for this lovely sample of darjeeling, a font release from facetype. this typeface comes with a library of ornaments as seen here that can really dress it up with cute flourishes.

las chicas locas
[image: james patrick gibson, newtypeyork.com]
i love this script treatment for this restaurant sign, found by photographer james patrick gibson outside the 4 points sheraton in chelsea.

design industry

creative inc
[photo: oh joy]
sneak peek of the new book creative inc. by meg mateo ilasco and joy deangdeelert cho, due out in september. from the oh joy blog: the book gives focuses on your creative skills in the freelance world and gives the 411 about becoming a successful freelance creative talent. excellent!

save the date for the brand new conference! after much talk, surveys and feedback, under consideration’s brand new division is having a full-day conference. i’ll see if i can work a trip to new york around that time, maybe i can go!

design tools

fudge graphics free hi-res clouds photoshop brush set is a good collection for those times when there are never enough clouds in the sky.

designers toolbox is a site that provides all kinds of tools, templates and resources for designers, everything from standard size envelopes to a lorem ipsum generator.

smashing magazine’s current state of web design: trends 2010 has some interesting & fun web design layouts on display.

how design’s top 10 web sites for designers, may 2010 is a great list of design resources online.

creative inspiration

design industry

lentil vegetable stew print
[image: claudia g. pearson]
not only do i love this style of illustration, but you really can’t go wrong when food is the subject. thanks to design sponge, i now know about this outstanding artist, claudia g. pearson and her fantastic etsy shop where you can find prints and tea towels adorned with these lovely illustrations.

if you’re looking for green greeting cards, greenlagirl.com has a profile on 100% junk mail greeting cards, printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper using vegetable-based biodegradable inks.

meetings! we’ve all been in them enough to know that some are well-organized, while most tend to stray off topic and waste time. todd henry’s accidental creative blog addresses meeting creep and how to avoid it, so if it’s happening to you, read the article.

color

colors in cultures
[image: informationisbeautiful.net]
in a global design culture, it’s important to choose colors that cross cultural lines in a friendly way. this infographic is an awesome color wheel cross-referencing world cultures with their emotional associations & meanings of colors. aside from being immensely useful, it’s quite a nice thing to look at. next time you have a project, or even dress for a meeting, consider some of the messages you can create and avoid with color.

logos

it’s that time again, logo lounge has released their 2010 logo trends article. i’ve heard a lot of buzz from my design community about getting their work into the annual book. congratulations to all those included! this annual trend report is a really interesting look at new trends in logo design.

typography

type soap
[image: how design blog]
thanks to the how design blog, i’m just happy to know this typography soap exists. i don’t think i could bring myself to use it if i bought it, though.

i’m a huge fan of hoefler & frere-jones knockout typeface, and i’m really enjoying the humor with which grip limited chose to use it, as shown on the h&fj blog.

help save the hamilton wood type museum! Dear friends of wood type: Hamilton has an unprecedented opportunity to qualify for a dollar-for-dollar matching grant from the “Save America’s Treasures” program which has a deadline of May 20th, 2010. This gives Hamilton 30 days to raise enough money to apply for a $25,000 matching grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. We’re excited to have already raised over $5000 for this vital program that will help us archive, preserve and digitally document our collection of over 2000 vintage advertising plates and our 1.5 million-piece type collection. <a href="interested parties click here for 3 ways to help.

curiosities

clui: through the grapevine
[image: clui.org]
the center for land use interpretation is at it again with a new exhibit through the grapevine currently on display. i have driven this road many times, but the center has a great way of showing us things we’ve never seen in our travels. from clui.org: The mountainous passage that separates the great population of Southern California from the rest of the state is a zone of transit, from one epic region to another. Located at the collision of the San Gabriel and Tehachapi Mountain Ranges, this steep and convoluted terrain lies between Castaic, the northern edge of the Los Angeles megalopolis, and the depopulated place known as Grapevine, at the southern end of the Central Valley. Layers of traffic, water, and energy move like a braided stream through the mountainous terrain, connecting here to there.

make your own 100 year pinhole camera, from good.is. it will take a long time, and you may not get to see the end result yourself, but you can construct your own pinhole camera using inkjet ink as the emulsion, allowing it to expose a photo-quality image from 100 years of sun exposure. curious, indeed!

creative inspiration

typography


[image: print magazine]
in his article lettercentric: type as writing, paul shaw outlines a brief history of script type and how opentype technology has helpt script fonts get back to looking like hand-lettered forms. from print magazine.

the periodic table of typefaces has been circulating for awhile now, but i thought i’d post it up for clients who hadn’t seen it yet or are outside the design blogosphere. this chart outlines many classic typefaces in somewhat of a hierarchy of ubiquity, with the ability to zoom in for a better look and a credit to the type designer.

how magazine posted this really cool spotlight on james patrick gibson‘s new york type photo blog in which he photographs and submits specimens of awesome type samples from the wilds of new york city. what a great collection!

design industry


[image: thehaitiposterproject.com by alonzo felix]
thanks to <a href="designworklife.com for posting some of the results from the haiti poster project, which has a staggering number of great posters to peruse.

my colleague & wordpress master doron orenstein just posted an article on how to easily create and share color palettes online. thanks for this cool utility!

did you know that AIGA [the american institute of graphic arts] has a center for practice management free and available to the public? if you are frustrated with running your design business, see how your management style measures up with our industry organization’s list of best practices.

get your paper index from how magazine! from their blog: download [a pdf of] a comprehensive list of paper mills and suppliers, as seen in the May issue of HOW!

going to the creative freelancer conference or how conference in denver this june? i just joined this twibe [a twitter tribe for attendees]. if you’re on twitter, join up!

creative inspiration

design industry


[photo: designbythesis.com]
check out this spotlight on the thesis new year’s card from underconsideration.com. this letterpress card was printed in only 2 colors, using varied impression depths to create perspective. so subtle and lovely to look at, makes me wish i had one to touch.

have you ever wanted to print your own pattern designs on fabric without going into fabric manufacturing? my friend josh ross linked up spoonflower.com the other day, and it looks like a great way to play around with homemade fabric design.

typography


[image: houseind.com]
have you gotten your <a href="eames century modern catalog from <a href="house industries yet? these catalogs are outstanding visual reference material, and they’ll send one to you for free if you leave your address. follow the link to the house industries blog to see a cool video giving a snapshot to each phase of the print production process. celebrating this font release, they’ve also created a suite of all kinds of fun products to play with as well [from howdesign.com].


[image: the look partnership]
designworklife.com tipped me off to this awesome typeface lodgecode by the look partnership. so clean and clear with a slight retro flair makes it both elegant and endearing. available at youworkforthem.com

books


[image: indexbook.com]
i am really interested in taking a spin through this book, wine labels by eduardo del fraile for index book. follow the link for sample spreads from inside the book, they look great!

creative inspiration

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=9418449&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1

Augustine Kofie:Echo Park Triangulation:Time Lapse from Augustine Kofie on Vimeo.

design industry


[photo: isaac arthur]
designer isaac arthur brewed his own honey apple mead and designed this lovely label. from designworklife.com.

going to the creative freelancer conference this year? i am, and i’m doing whatever i can to make the most of it in advance! this rundown of product releases will help you shop around at the conference, from the <a href="how magazine blog.

ever need a reliable list of universally recognized symbols and signs? the aiga has one for you! from aiga.org: A first set of 34 symbols was published in 1974, and received one of the first Presidential Design Awards; 16 more symbols were added in 1979. These copyright-free symbols have become the standard for off-the-shelf symbols in the catalogues of U.S. sign companies. They are now available on the web for the first time.

typography

did you know that hoefler & frere-jones offers suggestions for type combinations? they do! say you want to use their super-cute slab serif archer in a layout, just hit up the page, scroll to the bottom, and see the h&fj suggests section for suggested font pairings with graphic samples. brilliant!

solar beat bonus!

this lovely infographic music box is in a category of its own. solarbeat is a planetary simulation set to music i found on informationisbeautiful.net. i’ve been letting it drone away all morning [about 5 plutonian years], it’s very comforting.

creative inspiration

typography


font aid for haiti from the how design blog. two great things packaged together: love of ampersands and supporting relief for haiti. this set of 400 ampersands will retail for $20 with the proceeds benefiting doctors without borders.


justin perricone has made this beautiful poster listing all the ingredients in hot pockets in beautiful lettering. makes you think about just what’s in those suckers!


hat trick design’s typographic deck of cards & poster from underconsideration.com. these cards use typographic letter forms to create some variation of the referential suit. quite lovely!

design industry


[photo: http://www.helkatdesign.co.uk]
handprinted pillows by helkat design from apartment therapy. get regal! these pillows are really cute.


flaunt, by armin vit and bryony gomez-palacio from the how design blog. “Written and designed by creative power couple Armin Vit and Bryony Gomez-Palacio, Flaunt is an exploration of what it takes to make a great portfolio. The book will start shipping on Feb. 22, but the digital version is available now.” looks lovely!


vintage-inspired ceramics by heyday design from apartment therapy. these porcelain recreations of vintage jars and glassware are exquisite!

craft


[photo: psimadethis.com]
how to make adler-inspired pottery from apartment therapy. inspired by the vintage porcelain above and want to put your own spin on it diy-style? i thought this project looked really cute and a great way to reuse containers while creating a decor theme.


[photo: blog.creativekismet.com]
paper bag inspiration booklet from creative kismet via the craft magazine blog. no matter how you decorate it, i think this inspiration “caterpillar” book is such a cool fold for a colorful piece, i wanted to share it.

nature


[photo by peggy archer]
it’s time to get outside and see the wildflowers! thanks <a href="
greenlagirl.com for the info!

creative inspiration

color

fall forecast: conservative from the how design blog. the pantone color matching system has released it’s fall color forecast, and though it’s on the conservative side, it sure is pretty!

color theory for designers from smashing magazine. a great primer for anyone interested in the meaning of the colors they’re using. this is first in a series, here are the next 2 as well: understanding concepts and terminology and creating your own color palettes.

typography

helvetica typeface cookie cutters by beverly hsu from designyoutrust.com

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=9001402&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1

Colosseo: Available March 2010 from Cameron Moll on Vimeo.

300&65 is showcasing a different ampersand every day of the year!

concepts

design quotes is a really cool site that rotates quotes about design or by designers through a spectrum of color. take a look!

maybe a new street sign is what the world needs now from the ted blog [gary lauder]. i love the concept that drivers would stop falling back on right-of-way or road rage and work together to make safe transportation and cooperation happen. this sign gives me hope that an effective cycling awareness sign can’t be far behind. from the ted blog: Lauder has registered the sign with a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND license — so share it freely (just credit him, don’t modify the sign, and don’t sell it). And imagine a world where every street sign contains the word “Please.”

design industry

limited run pillows by hola amiga from <a href="apartment therapy. these pillows are a really exciting pop of color, run only 20 at a time. sweet!

best practices: press forward from print magazine. I found three people who work as consultants or within their own companies to come up with new and creative approaches to green the production process. Their innovative thinking could change everything about how designers print, from the paper chosen for a project to the boxes used to ship the final product. [jeremy lehrer] read the article to see what designers are doing to stay true to best practices.