Sep 1
Graphics Tech
Alex Roman (a pseudonym of Jorge Seva) uses software tools such as 3DS Max, Vray, Photoshop, AfterEffects, and Adobe Premiere to produce amazing computer graphic renderings. If you're like me, you'll look at his work and think, "That cannot be computer graphics." It is. If you haven't seen this, you're in for a treat.
Thanks to my son Jeff Green for pointing us to it.
Alex Roman's The Third & The Seventh...
An interview with the designer including images of the computer graphics framework...
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Aug 30
Ideas 101
Do me a favor, come over to my Facebook page and help me with a little experiment. I'm curious as to which of these wristwatch designs you like best.
No, I'm not selling watches. I pose the question specifically to "designers only" because I'd like to see which design a designer selects when they are asked to choose something they did not design themselves. I'm using watches because (to me) they so clearly represent distinct design styles. Why explore? I'm guessing, if we get a decent sample, we will learn something significant.
To vote, choose "Comment" and give us the number of your choice and if you'd like, include a link to one of your designs so we can better understand your perspective. Have additional comments? We'd like to hear those too. One proviso--You don't need to love the design you choose. Just pick the one that most closely represents your aesthetic.
Which watch?...
Thanks to Watchismo.com for the use of the images--I have no affiliation with them but the site has a wonderful collection worth seeing....
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Aug 27
Typography
The goal of a new typography curriculum at The Cooper Union is to prepare students to design professional quality digital typefaces and lettering. The course, developed in conjunction with the Type Directors Club, offers a Certificate of Typeface Design. Classes are limited to 18 members and are scheduled on evenings and weekends to accommodate working professionals.
Looks like an impressive lineup of instructors and guest lectureres.
About the program...
The core instructors are Jesse Ragan, the designer of Gotham and Archer (for Hoefler & Frere-Jones)...
and Alexander Tochilovsky--a self-professed type-nerd...
Faculty and lectureres...
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Aug 25
Learning
Cabell Harris is a designer who understands the big picture. By that I mean, he understands the intricacies of making real things happen through design. That requires a keen understanding of many disciplines--marketing, development, branding, copywriting, layout, typography, imagery, production, and publicity--and how they interplay.
Need a model for a rock-solid communications designer? This is how it's done.
Harris' company is Work...
Most of the objects on the page are clickable and lead to interesting tidbits such as this...
Here is the Work Photostream on Flickr...
And their blog...
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Aug 23
Web Design
I don't know many designers who are really good at both the technical and the creative. Here's a guy (Nicholas Macias) who knows design. And user interface. And typography. And coding. And, perhaps most important, seems to know when to quit designing. His stuff looks simple yet it has lots of little visual and technical hooks that make it unique.
Love the way the images sweep in and out, side to side...
And how he separates the products from the story by changing from light to dark...
Here is (what I assume is) a web prototype from his portfolio--more nice nuance...
The front door of his portfolio...
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Aug 18
Basic design
In the introduction to her book The Creation of Color in Eighteenth-Century Europe, Sarah Lowengard writes, "Throughout the eighteenth century, people from all social and economic backgrounds thought about color, experimented with color, and offered their own notions of how to explain it, how to use it, and how to improve it. In this book, I will discuss those interests, explorations, expectations, and outcomes."
What I want to point you to is, first, the text of Lowengard's book, and second, a two-part article on the color wheel by Jude Stewart that was inspired by the book.
The Creation of Color in Eighteenth-Century Europe by Sarah Lowengard...
The Wonderful Color Wheel: Part 1...
The Wonderful Color Wheel: Part 2...
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Aug 13
Illustration
The term "tradigital" art refers to art that is created by combining traditional and digital media. Jim Leggitt's presentation (below) shows you how he employs conventional drawing techniques to produce textured, warm, and visually interesting architectural drawings using digital renderings from, in the case of this class, the SketchUp 3D program.
I show this to you because it provides two important reminders for the graphic designer. First, is that we should continually try to find ways to humanize our work. The more we use digital tools, the more we need to sketch and visualize and brainstorm. The world is not a perfect place and making everything pixel-perfect is not believable.
And second, as a practical matter, it is often preferable to present a client with a sketch-like idea versus a nailed-down solution. A sketch allows you the freedom to refine the solution as you get into the detail of it.
Jim Leggitt on Traditional Imaging...
Tradigital imaging allows you to turn a finished image into a work in progress...
About Jim Leggitt...
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Aug 11
Graphics Tech
In twenty-five years we've gone from clunky slide projectors to graceful walls of high resolution LED video blocks. Twenty years ago the limitations of media (I believe) made our job as designers far easier.
I show you this new technology because it is yet another barrier removed. With each barrier removed, the creative focus sharpens another click. You'll need a more creative strategy, a better idea, and an innovative style to distinguish your client from their competition.
The future of graphic design is, at once, challenging, exciting, and unpredictable.
An introduction to Microtiles...
The manufacturer even provides a system for calculating the number of tiles you need for a particular design...
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Aug 9
Learning
I'm guessing most graphic designers have been asked, at one time or another, to design a trade show exhibit--a banner, a "booth," or an entire exhibit space. Crafting a message and design for a large-scale application presents a variety of interesting challenges. Before I show you the state of the art (the next post), here's a brief history of exhibit designs provided by exhibitoronline.com.
The International Business Machines exhibit at the 1925 National Hotel Exposition...
A pitchman from a 1954 exhibit...
PC Expo--1982...
The Trade Show History index...
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Aug 4
Ideas 101
My friend Sabu George points us to an interesting example of how a logo concept can be used for multiple purposes.
This is an extreme example, but it might help you conjure up ideas about how to make your next logo design perform more than one trick.
An adaptable identity...
The old logo...
An article about the makeover by its designers...
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Jul 30
Graphics Tech
TinEye.com offers a unique tool for searching out images: photographs, illustrations, logos, and so on. You show it an image--by uploading a file or pasting in an image url--and TinEye finds other occurrences of the same image in various places around the Web. As you will see, it is a technology being used in a growing number of commercial applications.
Why would you use it? To find the source of a photograph or illustration, to find modified versions of the same image, to find a higher resolution version of the image, and so on.
As you'll see, Idée (the maker), is developing all kinds of interesting image recognition technology. Worth a look.
The main search page...
A sample search...
About TinEye...
The Idée blog...
Another interesting project from Idée: Multicolor Search Lab...
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Jul 28
Ideas 101
This is one annual report I look forward to reading--the 2010 logo design trends report by Bill Gardner for LogoLounge.com.
Bill Gardner's logo design trends 2010...
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Jul 26
Illustration
This is SO cool. If you're interested in iPhone or iPad development, you know that the graphic user interface (GUI) for the devices is both deceptively simple and beautifully designed.
This is the cool part: Teehan+Lax, a design company in Toronto, Canada, has gone to the expense and trouble of reproducing both interfaces in Photoshop and have made the PSD files available to you and I so that we don't have to re-invent them.
Even if you have no plans to develop for these popular platforms--if you are a Photoshop devotee--you should download and parse these files just to see how they are constructed and organized. They're downright elegant.
Thank you Teehan+Lan for a lesson in Photoshop, GUI development, and kindness.
The latest version of the iPhone GUI as a Photoshop PSD...
The iPhone GUI PSD file (7.9MB)...
The latest version of the iPad GUI as a Photoshop PSD...
The iPad GUI PSD file (24MB)...
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Jul 23
Web Design
There are two things worth noting on the Parish Foods & Goods web. First, the design. Commarts.com featured it in its Exhibit section this week. (I'm a sucker for engravings and type illustrations.)
Second is the fact that, when you click on a section tab, you skip down the page to that section--not a separate page. For all intents and purposes, it is a one page web site.
Parish Foods & Goods...
Nice how these pieces are layered...
Good overview by the design firm--BoyBurnsBarn...
The mention on Communication Arts...
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Jul 19
Photography
Everyone wants a piece of the stock image pie. Each new entrant re-invents the microsite model in the hopes of finding a new formula or hook that will attract the enough sellers and buyers to make a go of it. Here are two worth noting...
A while back, Lawrence Gould, formally the CFO of Getty Images launched vivozoom.com and, in April added the name Tony Stone to the door. (Stone is one of the premiere names in the stock photography business.)
And brand new on the scene is stockfresh.com--a site started by the founders of the old StockXpert.com.
If you buy or sell stock, both are worth a look.
Vivozoom.com...
The case for Vivozoom...
StockFresh.com...
Interested in the microstock business? Follow microstockdiaries.com...
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Jul 16
Graphics Tech
Fortune magazine recently published "The smartest people in tech" with one category being "Smartest designer". I thought it would be interesting to do some digging to find further information about each.
Those chosen are:
Jonathan Ive, Senior VP of Industrial Design, Apple
Jan Chipchase, Executive Creative Director Of Global Insights, Frog Design
Indrani Medhi, Associate Researcher, Microsoft Research India
Shigeru Miyamoto, Senior Managing Director, Nintendo
Diego Rodriguez, Partner, IDEO
The Fortune article...
A profile of Jonathan Ive from the Design Museum...
Jan Chipchase's web site...
Indrani Medhi bio...
A recent interview with Shigeru Miyamoto...
Diego Rodriguez's blog...
Jan Chipchase's web site...
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Jul 14
Illustration
Polly Becker creates illustrations using objects and images that she refers to as "assemblages". She has an impressive list of clients including Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, and GQ.
Example 1...
Example 2...
Example 3...
Polly Becker's site...
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Jul 12
Ideas 101
Time to stretch your brain. Meet inventor and artist Steven M. Johnson. While many of his ideas sound silly, Johnson offers a serious message about innovation--primarily that there is too little of it.
What I hear him saying is this: In an age when the barriers are fewer than ever before, it is disconcerting to think how many of us are willing to accept the same old solutions. Everyone has a capacity to innovate but few of us use it.
Makes you wonder how much better a place the world would be if we devoted as much time to learning how to generate, parse, and pursue positive ideas as we do in figuring out how to accumulate money.
Allison Arieff's original piece on Johnson for the New York Times...
Another, more recent article including an interview with Johnson...
Johnson's own web page...
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Jul 9
Learning
The design universe is expanding beyond my wildest expectations. While you might think the expansion would top out--it seems, instead, to be gaining speed. The exploration of design ideas has captured the collective imagination.
Chris Coyier is capturing snippets of past and present design thinking through QuotesonDesign.com.
A few, random examples:
"I think that the lack of drama in my life has produced a platform for me to be fundamentally adventurous in my thinking." Milton Glaser
"Good ideas turn into good designs fairly quickly. If you catch yourself fiddling too much with colors, borders, and treatments to bring a design together, chances are the problem lies somewhere deeper." Ryan Singer
"The difference between regulated architects and unregulated designer is, unlike buildings, letterheads don't fall down and kill people..." Brian Webb
Quotes on Design...
The curator of Quotes on Design is Chris Coyier, a banjo player (and the creator of...)
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Jul 7
Marketing PR
I was thinking the other day, how important it is that our client doesn't center their entire marketing strategy around their competitor's marketing model. Just because a competitor, for example, does some radio advertising doesn't mean radio advertising makes any sense for our client. The same applies to print materials, a web presence, social marketing, premiums, and everything else in the realm of marketing.
I say that because I think it is easy to lose sight of the fact that every organization is unique. That an organization's particular mix of products, services, expertise, experience, style, location, pricing, and so on, distinguishes if from any other organization on the planet.
Follow the leader marketing and mirror-the-competition tactics ignore that all-important fact. The best marketing approach (we all know) is one that is invented for one specific organization and its unique circumstances. Ideally, it even includes some elements that competitors are not using at all.
Our job as communication designer's is to discover and deliver unique solutions. Sure, there are smart, conventional approaches that work for most of the organizations you apply them to, but we shouldn't recommend and produce materials because that's the way we've always done it. I'm guessing "That's the way we've always done it," has killed as many businesses as any other single reason.
Do you want more clients and more work satisfaction? Use your talents and experience to devise a better approach. Dig into the market, find out what people are doing in other areas and see what might apply. Invent something new! I find clients are almost always open to dealing with the reality of the market and will experiment with you if you are able to make a compelling case for your idea.
A designer who has a wonderful sense of style and the technical expertise to create a compelling layout should maintain a pretty consistent work load. A designer who is an inventor and problem-solver will have to turn clients away.
Tell your client this: Every organization is unique—the sooner we identify your organization's unique advantages, the sooner we can begin telling the world about them.
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Jul 5
Illustration
I had the good fortune to meet Daniel Pelavin years ago when I was working on a book. As you will see by the video clip, he has a passion for his craft, a self-effacing attitude, and wonderful talent for cooking ideas down to shape and color.
An example of his illustration skills...
A typeface design...
In this recent interview he reveals his passion for the design craft...
And his web site...
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Jul 2
Learning
I want to point you to an article that addresses the subject of problem-solving from an unexpected angle. (It is the first in a series on broader philosophical issues but I believe you'll see the connection.) I point you to it because, to me, it speaks to the core set of skills a designer must develop: an ability to delve into unfamiliar areas of interest and to understand them from multiple angles—from the perspective of the market, the client, the prospect, and the customer.
The thrust of this article is this: There are things we know we know. There are things we know we don't know. And there are things we don't know that we don't know. The author got me wondering just how much I don't know--unknowns to me certainly, but also unknowns to everyone. I like it because it gives me a sense that, if I apply myself, I can attain a much higher level of understanding about the subjects I apply myself to.
To that end, Cornell professor David Dunning, the gentleman who originated much of the research referred to said this, "I often urge my student advisees, to find out who the smart professors are, and to get themselves in front of those professors so they can see what smart looks like." That is advice I will take to heart.
Thanks to my friend Ashton Hardy for pointing us to it.
The Anosognosic's Dilemma: Something's Wrong but You'll Never Know What It Is (Part 1)...
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Jun 30
Web Design
The great gift of the digital age is shared knowledge. Technology makes it possible to document levels of information that, until recently, were just too costly and difficult to capture and maintain. In the case of writing and design there is a repository of information, much of it freely available, that provides us with an extraordinary opportunity to dramatically improve the quality and effectiveness of communication.
It provides a foundation of ideas, expression, and practical information on which to build the next, better solutions. Want to write better documentation? Create a better web menu? Understand why people interact with messages the way they do? It's all there for the taking. Here's a taste...
Introduction to Apple Human Interface Guidelines...
Example: Menus...
Apple Publications Style Guide (1.14MB PDF)...
Windows User Experience Interaction Guidelines...
Example: Visual Index...
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Jun 28
Typography
What's that font?
It's a common question but with ten's of thousands of typeface designs in use, finding an answer can be a challenge. (My terminology rant: A "typeface" is a design and a "font" is the vehicle for delivering it. If you want to identify a particular design, you want to identify a "typeface" not a "font". The feature-length rant by Allen Haley: They're not fonts! here...)
My first step to identifying a typeface design name is to attempt to find it myself. I don't like asking directions and I prefer to wander through a store and find what I'm looking for myself—yes, it's some sort of stupid macho thing. (Could be a trifecta for A&E: Intervention, Obsessed, now Directions?!)
Step 1 > Identify the category. Finding a particular typeface is a simple process of narrowing and the first way to narrow the search is to identify the typeface category and to do a quick scan of the associated faces to see if you can pick it out...
Step 2 > Capture an image and upload it to WhatTheFont. Take a photo, grab a screenshot, or find a URL for a sample of the typeface and feed it into the WhatTheFont database. It show you some suspects. (There's even an app that allows you to shoot and send samples from your iPhone)...
Step 3 > Narrow the possibilities Using Identifont. If that doesn't do it, try another do-it-yourself strategy—Identifont. It asks you a series of questions about various features of the typeface and narrows the search as you go...
Step 4 > Ask the experts. Still can't find it? Time to ask for help. Try the typophile Type ID Board...
OR more experts... at the WhatTheFont Forum on MyFonts.com...
Still can't find it? It might be a design by a somewhat obscure designer or foundry, a custom design, or perhaps a typeface that is not yet available in digital form.
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Jun 25
Illustration
Don't you love these illustrations? Miyuki Sakai uses a sewing machine to craft these unusual, organic-like images. In a new series for Martha Stewart Living the effect is multiplied by juxtaposing actual prepared food with the illustrated plates. They are, to me, fascinating to look at.
Kudos too to Design Director James Dunlinson and photographer Johnny Miller.
The illustrations for the June 2010 issue of Martha Stewart Living...
A closer look at another illustration...
Sakai's web site...
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Jun 21
Illustration
Two recent finds from France. First, a store that sells vintage-looking designs imprinted on pillows, bags, and such. I point you to it as much for the design of the site as the design of the products. I particularly like the combination of typefaces and sizes the designer uses.
Second is a collection of 20,000-plus vintage advertising and design pieces being archived by a French woman who goes by Pillpat, Patricia, and pita ou franck--it is a real service to the world community of graphic designers.
Bonjour mon coussin...
Pillpat's wonderful collection of ephemera...
An earlier post on Graphic design and ephemera...
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Jun 18
Photography
Whether you call the technique "miniature faking" or "tilt-shift" the idea is to selectively blur sections of an image to simulate the shallow depth of field you'd see in a close-up photograph. In this case, the image is in motion.
When you adjust the focus and speed up the film, the effect is mesmerizing.
The Sandpit by Sam O'Hare...
About the film...
About the director...
My post about tilt-shift from 2008...
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Jun 16
Ideas 101
This is a fun design that offers a valuable lesson. You can command a lot of attention when you apply a common solution to a situation in which it is unexpected. Thanks to Paul Butt for pointing us to this.
Flying 101...
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Jun 14
Print Design
I was looking for a simple, comprehensive list of current desktop publishing software and could not find one. Here's mine. If I'm missing something, please comment here and I'll add it.
A note to the purists: Don't freak on me--this is merely a reference list, I'm not making any judgement of quality or suitability for any purpose.
Adobe FrameMaker...
Adobe InDesign...
Adobe PageMaker...
Apple iWork Pages...
Broderbund Print Shop...
Corel Ventura...
InPage...
iStudio Publisher...
Laidout...
Microsoft Office Publisher...
PageFocus Pro...
PageStream...
QuarkXPress...
Ragtime...
Scribus...
Serif PagePlus X4...
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Jun 11
I always learn something by looking at a portfolio but I've always thought that seeing their day-to-day workflow would reveal even more about their process and passion.
Dan Cederholm and Rich Thornett have figured out a way of doing it. They describe Dribbble.com as "show and tell" for designers, developers, and other creatives. It is a space for creatives to post screenshots of works in progress, parts and pieces of larger projects, and recent work completed along with comments. What is so terrific about this site is some very well-respected designers are contributing.
Contributions by Jesse Bennett-Chamberlain...
Jason Santa Maria...
Cameron Moll...
Jesse Gardner...
Veerle Pieters...
Von Glitschka...
The front door...
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Jun 9
Graphics Tech
Here's another chapter in the--of-interest-to-geeks-only--saga of the battle between Adobe's Flash and HTML5.
Huh?
It really is kind of interesting. In case you missed it, there has been a bit of a falling out between big players such as Adobe, Apple, and Microsoft regarding the adoption of the software used to code dynamic content.
Are you still with me? Read on...
An overview from AppleInsider...
The Adobe press release: Adobe Unveils Digital Viewer Technology for Magazines...
Introducing WIRED on iPad...
From the NYT: Does HTML5 Really Beat Flash? The Surprising Results of New Tests...
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Jun 7
Illustration
My friend Daniel Will-Harris was kind enough to give us a heads-up about this unique offer from French Paper. What they are offering is the free use of a host of black and white images from CSA Images when the project they are used for is printed on French Paper. You'll need to read the small print but it looks like a pretty interesting offer.
The occasion of this offer also gives me an excuse to point you back to CSA's substantial body of work. I first wrote about Charles S. Anderson and the CSA Archive Company in Clip Art Crazy a book I wrote for PeachPit Press back in 1995. Even then, Anderson had compiled close to 1,000,000 twentieth-century line art images that were being used on prominent projects such as the Turner Classic Movie Channel and for licensed products for Paramount Pictures.
The beat goes on. Listed below, for example, you will find a gallery of book cover designs created in recent years using CSA Images.
The offer from French Paper...
Another collection and purchase option...
A gallery of book cover designs created using CSA Images...
About the collaboration...
The French Paper Sampler Room...
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Jun 4
Print Design
My first thought was: Why would anyone put a portfolio of static print and web design on video? Here's why. MINE, the design office best known for it's "Everything is OK" campaign, has a bright, upbeat vision. I'm a big fan.
MINE's portfolio...
MINE's "Everything is OK" campaign...
I must have a roll of that tape...
Follow MINE on Facebook...
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Jun 2
Books
I'm pointing to Mark Boulton's Five Simple Steps publishing venture for two reasons. First, because I suspect you'll find his book, A Practical Guide to Designing for the Web, interesting and useful. And second because I think the the publishing model is worth noting.
I've written for three publishers: Random House, Rockport, and PeachPit—but I have also published my own books through my company Logic Arts. So I am interested to see how other folks re-work the conventional publishing models. Five Simple Steps employs Seth Godin's model of giving away a free online version of the book and charging for a download or hard copy.
I'm interested in other models if you are interested in sharing what you've found.
The online version of A Practical Guide to Designing for the Web...
Or you can download a sample (542KB PDF)...
Or buy a download or hardcopy...
A look behind the scenes. Looks like other titles are in the works...
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May 31
Ideas 101
I got this question from another designer recently: "My client requested a logo design. She filled in my design brief questionnaire, I presented a few concepts, and we went through three rounds of concepts, variations, and tweaking. They were not sure of any of the designs and finally backed off. Though I did get an advance, it did not come close to covering the time I invested in the project. How do you handle this type of situation?"
Whether you charge a few hundred dollars or a few hundred-thousand dollars, the great conundrum of logo design is this: If you can't provide the client with a mark that they are excited about and invested in you haven't done your job. It is that simple.
Designing a logo is a responsibility that should not be taken lightly. Remember, we're asking the client to build their organization on a framework that we provide—to adopt our ideas, our style, our palette, and to identify themselves with that brand for years, even decades to come. If we ask for that type of commitment from them, it seems entirely reasonable (to me) for them to be excited and energized by what we design.
That type of commitment does not come cheap. You cannot learn what needs to be learned and do what needs to be done in a few hours. I have no idea how many hours my friend budgeted to create the logo, but my advice to him is this: Charge what is necessary to deliver a compelling solution or turn the job down—you owe that to your client and your client owes that to you.
Logo design requires a commitment from both sides to see it through to its end. That means you need to charge enough to do the research necessary to understand the client's industry, their competition, and to clearly understand where they fall within that landscape—enough to create a design that not only speaks to those issues but that aligns with the aesthetic and intellectual sensibilities of the people within the organization who will be living with it. That's a lot of people to satisfy, but that's why logo design is not for the faint of heart.
How do you avoid my friend's problem? By making everything crystal clear up front. Some designers prefer a formal contract, some a letter of agreement, others just a few paragraphs in an e-mail before the job begins—whatever you choose, choose something. If you wait until you are in the heat of the project to address difficulties, you're going to get bruised.
Here are a few examples of such agreements.
The Graphic Artist Guild's Contract Monitor—about reading and writing contracts...
The AIGA's Standard Form of Agreement for Design Services...
Of course you can't beat seeing what a real working document looks like...
You might also be interested in my Design Constitution...
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May 28
Graphics Tech
I heard this week that Apple has surpassed Microsoft's market value so I'm going to use the occasion to share my perspective on the long standing Mac versus PC debate.
First, if you are still reading this after that intro I consider you a pretty hardcore geek. You, of all people, will understand that other designers are often surprised to hear that I am, primarily, a user of the Windows operating system. I started using computers in the mid 1980s—I worked with both IBM PCs and Apple computers early on but switched primarily to PCs when the company I worked for began doing projects for IBM.
As the battle played out in the design profession, Windows was a lonely place to be. I think the primary reason the Mac system captured the graphic design market was because, in those first years, a Mac system running QuarkXPress had superior type handling capabilities. That seems like a minor detail today, but back then it was critically important.
Before the introduction of desktop publishing software and digital typesetting, the process of working with type involved a good deal of craft. It was not unusual for a designer to spend hours pasting down sheets of type on a board and then cutting and repositioning individual words, even letters, until it looked right to their eye. (The same process is accomplished today by building complex collections of kerning pairs into a typeface design.) In any case, Apple won the lion's share of the graphic design market early on—an advantage they maintain even today.
I guess it was my rebellious nature that kept me in the Windows camp—most of my peers were using MACs but it seemed rather heavy-handed of Apple not to allow others access to its operating system the way Microsoft did. (I've always found it funny that the public perception was exactly opposite.) In any case, in hindsight, my reasoning sounds as silly as that of those who thought they were rebels for using a MAC.
The question of what system to use, to me, became moot 10 or 15 years ago. In the early days Quark and Aldus PageMaker (later Adobe) developed version updates first for the MAC and second for Windows. I really thought the tide had turned when most developers began releasing new versions simultaneously. In any case, for the last decade-plus, the user interface of the primary publishing and design software has worked almost identically on both platforms.
All that said, my next primary system will be a Mac. Why? Three reasons:
First, I received an iPod Touch as a gift and I have since purchased an iPhone. It is the single most elegant computer device I have ever used—the user interface makes it a joy to use. Any company that can make that device, is headed in the direction I want to go.
Second, the MAC now runs both operating systems simultaneously—and from what I understand—pretty reliably. Running both systems is useful when you are designing web sites, templates, and such.
Third, and more importantly, I think Microsoft may be headed in the wrong direction. If you ever used Office 2007 you know what I'm talking about. Microsoft has chosen the "complexity" path—the cram-everything-you-can-possibly-cram-into-the-software path. The be-all-things-to-all-people road. Apple, on the other hand, seems to be trying to create more complex devices that are easier to use.
To my way of thinking, we have entered into an era when, instead of being its own vocation, computer use (for many of us) has simply become an integral part of everyday life. And in that type of world, if you don't make features intuitive and accessible, you may as well not make the features at all.
I'm guessing the organizations that make devices and processes accessible will win out—and at this time in history, that looks like Apple.
A wiki article about the history of typesetting...
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May 26
Print Design
Time to revisit Beast Pieces, the site that features the letterpress work of Studio On Fire. They seem to produce a very high quality product—whether they do the design of allow others to take the lead. Wow, that is difficult—very impressive.
Business cards for Many Fold Farm...
Stationery for Vista Caballo ranch retreat...
Atomic Playpen drink coasters...
The Beast Pieces home page...
The Studio On Fire arm...
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May 24
Illustration
Asif R. Naqvi's site design reminds me of the fine filigree work a seventeenth century jeweler might produce. I picked out a few parts and pieces of his site to highlight. I particularly like the giant, intricate nameplate collage on the home page.
The cover page nameplate...
A scaled down version of the nameplate used on second-level pages...
Example 1 of supporting images...
Example 2...
Example 3...
Naqvi's portfolio site...
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May 21
Typography
It is not often that I see something that seems distinctly different than anything I've seen before—this is one of those rare cases. Dado Queiroz's work (to me) is VERY different and I like it a lot.
My first reference to Dado Queiroz comes from livingdesign.info—more on that next time...
Example 1...
Example 2...
Example 3...
A font design (available from MyFonts.com)...
His web site...
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May 19
Web Design
Pattern Tap is an invention of Matthew Smith at Squared Eye. It is (loosely) similar to other pattern libraries (Yahoo has a notable one) in that it presents the what, how, and why of user interface. The value is, instead of searching through a thousand sites for interesting and innovative UI ideas, you can discover designs someone else has found to be particularly notable.
I think you will find that Matthew Smith know of what he speaks. His company site, Squared Eye, is nice to look at AND easy to use—I have long admired it.
Pattern Tap...
The Pattern Tap Twitter page...
Matthew Smith's Squared Eye...
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May 17
Typography
Palaeography is the study of ancient handwriting. Look closely at early handwriting and you will find the roots of much modern language and typography. You can shortcut the process by reading some learned practitioner's interpretations of such study or you can spend some time doing a little digging yourself. I think you'll find it fascinating.
A tutorial about reading handwriting from 1500 to 1800...
What is Palaeography? by Julian Brown...
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May 14
Copywriting
In high school, my objective in English class was to get the biggest laugh, not to actually learn anything. Onlinestylebooks.com, as I image it, was created by the girl in class who listened attentively and chuckled when someone said "chomping at the bit" instead of "champing at the bit".
For the record, a style manual is a set of style, usage, procedural, and technological standards adopted by a particular organization for the writing, design, and production of documents. Mary Beth Protomastro, the founder of Copyediting newsletter, owns and operates OnlineStylebooks.com—a search engine for 50-plus online stylebooks.
(To the best of my knowledge, she did not attend my high school.)
The search tool...
The stylebooks referenced, by subject...
The Copyediting newsletter web site...
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May 12
I'm guessing you information graphics aficionados are way ahead of me on this. It seems that Fernanda Viégas and Martin Wattenberg, until recently, were the leaders of IBM's Visual Communication Lab. Now they have founded their own company Flowing Media, a studio focusing on media and consumer-oriented visualization.
Keep an eye on them. They have done some groundbreaking work, some of which you will see here. The first example is a project title Luscious. To create it they used a custom algorithm to extract peak colors from a series of magazine advertisements. For example...
And example...
The Luscious project...
Further explanation...
A variation they created for Wired Magazine back in 2008...
Their new company--Flowing Media...
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May 5
Web Design
Graphic design is not art—that it is the mantra of anyone who hopes to make a living in the world of graphic design in 2010. You can make things flow intuitively and look smashing, but if you don't deliver the desired result, your design is more barrier than doorway. Results, of course, are subjective—this time you may simply want to capture an e-mail address, the next time the goal might be to complete a complex series of financial transactions.
ABTests.com demonstrates the reality of the nuance and science of current-day web design. It is a forum analyzing two versions of a page and results of which performed best. It is, at once interesting, useful, and frightening. If you love minutia, you'll love graphic design.
Thanks to Jeff Green for pointing us to ABTests.com.
An example: Firefox: 3.6% improvement on landing page...
The original test writeup...
The ABTest.com home page...
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May 3
I suppose if your work regularly appears on the pages of publications such as The New Yorker, The New York Times, Mother Jones, and Readymade—it can be said that you have arrived as an illustrator. But I love the idea that Erik Johnson's technique, though obviously sophisticated, remains loose and casual.
Example 1...
Example 2...
Example 3...
This is another illustrator whose work reminds Robert McCloskey's wonderful work...
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Apr 30
Print Design
Graphic design is a quirky business. You can explain what you do to relatives and friends, but no matter how hard you try, only about 10 percent seem to get it. The say, "Yeah, ____ is a graphic designer. We're, uh, real proud...real proud."
So when I meet someone who speaks my language I appreciate it. Jeff Gamet and Jay Nelson do a podcast hosted by CreativePro called Design Tools Weekly--they speak my language. It's nice to sit down once a week and hear a discussion about the hardware, software, and the general state of our business. I recommend it highly.
The Design Tools Weekly Podcast...
AND, as always, you can checkout a free sample issue of Design Tools Monthly here(1.9MB PDF)...
Jay's Twitter page...
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Apr 28
Ideas 101
I first read about the OKRA identity on Fontshop's Unzipped blog--they referred to it as "flexible design". As you'll see, OKRA landscape architects is an agency specialized in making plans and designs for public space in city areas and city related areas. It is a service that lends itself to this idea of creating multiple versions of a logo to fit the purposes for which they are used. It reminded me of another very successful execution of the concept for Tate.
It is certainly an idea worth considering when you tackle your next design project.
OKRA...
The Tate model...
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Apr 26
Ideas 101
This is a great reminder of the problem solving aspect of design. It got me thinking about the many techniques we use to solve problems and how important it is to our work as graphic designers and marketers. My curiosity led me to an excellent page on the subject by Robert A. Harris, Ph.D.
Thanks to my friend Cathleen Rittereiser for pointing us to this.
So you need a typeface—start by choosing the project you need the typeface for (center)...
The designer, Julian Hansen...
An excellent, in-depth page on problem solving techniques...
If the subject interests you, you might like this too...
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Apr 23
Ideas 101
A recent article in the New York Times points to a simple list that is making a rather profound difference in the world of medicine. "...A year after surgical teams at eight hospitals adopted a 19-item checklist, the average patient death rate fell more than 40 percent..."
A list is certainly the most rudimentary type of design structure, but it's easy to forget how important such "first principles" are. The information contained in the checklist at the center of this story is not new or unknown, it is that the way the information is organized and presented makes it accessible in a new and important way.
Stephen Sondheim says that, "Art, in itself, is an attempt to bring order out of chaos." Here is proof of the power of order.
The New York Times article on surgical lists...
The World Health Organization's Surgical Safety Checklist (450KB PDF)....
The World Health Organization's Surgical Safety Checklist page (take a look at the Implementation Manual)...
A wonderful discussion of lists on Edward Tufte's site...
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Apr 21
Illustration
When I look a John Hendrix's illustrations I get a sense I am close to seeing his thoughts. Where some illustrators package ideas—Hendrix seems to shout them out loud.
Example 1...
Example 2...
Example 3...
An example of his process...
The front door...
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Apr 16
Typography
One way is to focus on the quality of the kerning.
Kerning, as Robert Bringhurst defines it, is the act of "altering the space between selected pairs of letters". Though it is not widely discussed, it is a critical part of typeface design.
Kerning is both artistic and mathematical. The difference in spacing, for example, between an "O" and an "M" is different than the spacing between an "r" and a "w". Most typefaces employ independent definitions for each pairing to upper case to upper case letters, upper case to lower case, upper case to punctuation, lower case to lower case, and so on. It is not unusual, in fact, for a single font to have well over 2000 kerning pairs.
But here, let an expert explain. Igino Marini offers an auto-spacing and auto kerning service to type designers. That may sound like a yawn to those who are not fanatics about type, but for those of us who are, it is fascinating stuff.
Igino Marini's iKern...
An interview with artist/engineer Igino Marini...
And his wonderful (free) revival fonts...
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Apr 14
Ideas 101
Jack Schulze, the Director of New Product Development at BERG, offers yet another example of how it is possible to re-invent things--even something as literal as a map. This map puts the viewer simultaneously above the city and in it--both looking down and looking forward.
Then & There...
A more complete explanation...
An earlier post about BERG...
We're now on Facebook...
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Apr 12
Seb Lester has created typefaces and type illustrations for, among others, Apple, Intel, and The New York Times> He recently had the distinction of being chosen to re-design the covers of JD Salinger's books for Penguin Books. Here's why...
Seb Lester's "Hellfire"..
"Blazing"...
"The Catcher in the Rye"...
Lester's web site...
Seb's found type collection...
A recent interview...
Seb Lester on Twitter...
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Apr 9
Ideas 101
Scott Belsky, the founder of the Behance Network, poses that What the Creative World Needs Now Is Organization. I think he has a point.
"The sad truth is that most of our ideas will never see the light of day." Why? Because, "Creativity, it seems, is not only the catalyst for new ideas. Creativity is also the greatest obstacle to seeing our ideas through to the finish."
Why do we need organization? "Organization," Belsky theorizes, "is a major force for making ideas happen."
Enough said. If that intrigues you as much as it did me, read these 12 brief pages from ChangeThis.
What the Creative World Needs Now Is Organization...
Looks as if there is more to come next week...
Belsky's Behance Network...
Follow Scott Belsky on Twitter...
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Apr 8
Ideas 101
Ideabook.com, jumpola.com, and pageplane.com have afforded me the opportunity to communicate with many thousands of talented folks like you over the years—graphic designers, developers, marketers, writers, illustrators, photographers, and so on.
I created this Facebook page in the hope you will have the opportunity to meet some of them and that they will have the opportunity to meet you. Calling it a "fan" page is a misnomer, if anyone is a "fan" here, it's me.
Meet the friends of ideabook.com...
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Apr 7
Web Design
I was once told by the editor of a magazine that the rarest type of writer was one who can produce good design and then describe how and why they produced it. If that was once true, I don't know if it is true anymore. I am seeing more and more examples of amazingly well-rounded individuals and organizations that produce lots of good work and demonstrate a real talent for showing and telling how they did it.
Unit Interactive is one of those organizations.
The Unit Interactive blog...
Example of one of their project case studies...
UI also does some inventing—one of them is an web content editor called Unify...
UIs owner is designer and author Andy Rutledge...
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Apr 5
Illustration
Bryan Christie produces masterful "explanatory" illustrations. He does it by manipulating color and transparency, through the construction of cutaways and proportional scales, and through a myriad of other visual devices such as dropping an element into an illustration for the purpose of clarification. The enormous size of an ocean oil rig, for example, is instantly understood when you put a ship in the water next to it.
A pretty amazing body of work here for someone who appears to be fairly young.
Example 1...
Example 2...
Example 3...
Example 4...
An interview with Bryan Christie...
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Apr 2
Print Design
Surely printing on paper and systems for delivery of print have and are changing dramatically, but we are FAR from the disappearance of the print model.
There is a tendency for the web dog to bark at the print dog—as if the web dog is somehow smarter, more capable, better. But the web dog needs to remember where he came from. The web is awash in print metaphors—menus, file folders, pages, indexes, and so on—all foundational structures of the printed page.
It's exciting, to me, to discover people who are more interested in the next step than they are in the argument—in combining the strengths of both worlds to craft new solutions.
This is one of those cases. It is a new take on the conversion of the magazine from print to pixel. The producer is BERG, a design consultancy that works "with companies to research and develop their technologies and strategy, primarily by finding opportunities in networks and physical things."
A concept video on the future of digital magazines...
BERG's Twitter page...
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Mar 31
Ideas 101
Humble Pied is an inspirational project created by designer Mig Reyes. The idea is simple. He is asking one question of some of the design industry's top creatives: "If you had just one bit of advice to share with a young creative type or someone early on in their creative career, what would that one bit of advice be?"
The answers are funny, interesting, surprising--a few even, down right brilliant.
Jessica Hische says, "The work you do while you procrastinate is probably the work you should be doing for the rest of your life"...
Jim Coudal says, "Rip something off"...
Justin Ahrens says, "Learn the culture of a potential employer you admire. Be persistent, and do your homework."...
Every bit of advice...
Mig Reyes' Twitter page...
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Mar 29
Basic design
When I see something like FontShop's bigger-than-the-browser page, it reminds me that doing something a little unconventional can make a big difference. Is there a law that says all web pages have to be optimized for 1025 by 768 pixels? Absolutely not.
I must constantly remind myself that taking the same path as everyone else is going to get me to the same place as everyone else. That good design, in many cases, takes you on a different path to a new place.
Don't think small. FontShop's anniversary page...
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Mar 26
Ideas 101
Here's another elegant idea born out of a passion for a subject. The DailyLit divides a book—fiction or non-fiction, classic or contemporary—into a series of easily digestible pieces and emails them to you at a rate you prescribe.
I'm showing it to you for two reasons—first, because it is a great service, but primarily because it is such a good illustration of a powerful idea. It addresses a serious human dilemma—we promise ourselves we will do something that we never seem to get around to doing. In this case, reading a book we always meant to read.
The take away is this: There are countless human needs and wants that can be addressed by coming at problems from the new angles the World Wide Web and computer technology afford. It excites me to wonder about those next steps. What is truly worth doing? What is the best expression of it? How will it be made accessible and to whom?
I want to play.
A typical author page...
Categories of titles...
The front door...
DailyLit's Twitter page...
An interview with CEO Susan Danziger...
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Mar 22
Photography
I came across some "wiggle" stereoviews the other day and it reminded me of the bullet-time (time-slice) stuff made famous by the motion picture, The Matrix. I was curious as to how the effect is created and thought you might be interested as well. Here are some examples of the technique and details about how it is achieved.
One version, 360 degree imagery created by photographer Mark Ruff...
Two examples from Time-Slice Films—example 1...
Example 2...
The folks from Time-Slice show how it's done...
Those "wiggle" stereoviews I was talking about...
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Mar 19
Web Design
The two sites I want to show you are owned by the same organization—a multifaceted corporation called Luck Stone. I stumbled on what I'll refer to as the "before", their corporate site, while searching for a product. From there I found my way to the "after", where they house their consumer products.
What struck me was how profoundly different the two approaches are. To me, there's nothing particularly wrong with the corporate side—though it looks a bit dated, it's roughly what you'd expect. But the consumer side is entirely different. It conjures up a very different organization—I think of the consumer products side as sophisticated, forward thinking, and pretty design-savvy. I get a sense that it is the kind of place that has answers and insights others don't.
To me, it's a textbook example of what great design can do to re-define an organization and drastically change people's perceptions about it. It certainly changed mine.
(The consumer branding and web were created by WORK Labs—more on them next week.)
The corporate "before"...
And the consumer "after"--a sample product page...
Even the forms are elegant...
And the front door...
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Mar 17
Illustration
Clay Hayes' GigPosters.com features posters used to advertise music shows and events. As you might imagine, the subject matter allows the designers and artists great creative freedom—so you're going to see some exciting and interesting uses of type, color, and illustration. (The examples I link to are tame, but I'll caution you that if you wander around, there's also material some might find offensive.)
Example 1 by Gwenola Carrere...
Example 2 by Nate Duval...
Example 3 by Matthew Fleming...
The front door...
The GigPosters Twitter page...
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Mar 12
Print Design
The first issue of Popular Science magazine appeared just seven years after the close of the Civil War. This month it began offering (in partnership with Google) its entire 137-year archive for free browsing. Each issue appears just as it did at its original time of publication, complete with period advertisements. Amazing.
How the new Popular Science is printed, for example, is detailed in the October 1938 issue. It explains, "At the huge Dayton, Ohio, plant where POPULAR SCIENCE is printed, a workman, the other day, pressed an electric button and this record-breaking machine whirled into action." Then it goes on to show and tell one of its signature stories—filled with informative photographs and illustrations.
Thanks to Jim Green for passing this on—great find.
October 1938, page 74, How the new POPULAR SCIENCE is printed...
March 1984, page 99, Introducing the 32-bit Apple Macintosh...
August 1950, page 93, Typewriter with a memory "sets type" on photo film...
March 1963, page 35, Commercial art talent hunt open to you...
May 1872, page P5, Issue number one...
Search for yourself...
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Mar 10
Print Design
On its list of beliefs, the folks at Knock Knock point out that, "Despite the rise of the screen, much that is interesting and innovative can be done with printed matter..."
I wholeheartedly agree. I heart my computer, my iPhone, my HDTV, and so on--but I also love paper. Knock Knock has made a business of designing useful, often humorous pages.
For example, the Pack This! pad...
For business...
And Sticky Cubes...
The Knock Knock philosophy...
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Mar 8
Reference
As every graphic designer knows, you are not free to simply add an illustration or photograph to a brochure or web site without first knowing who owns it and what rights they have to it. Some images are copyrighted—which means the owner dictates how it can be used. Others are copyright-free or their copyrights have expired (generally referred to as being in the public domain)—which means (in most cases) you are free to use it without permission.
The good news is there are millions of public domain images available for use&mdashthe bad news is it isn't always easy to distinguish what is protected and what isn't.
All that said, I have compiled a few pages that point to the issues and one that will get you started finding what you're looking for.
This recent article by John Mark Ockerbloom of the University of Pennsylvania Libraries—Shedding light on images in the public domain—offers a good introduction...
Peter B. Hirtle of Cornell University provides a useful overview of the current laws: Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States...
With that information in mind, you should be sufficiently armed to wander around Wikipedia's "wild west" of public domain image resources—there's lots of opportunity there but travel the territory with caution. (Just because it's listed doesn't mean it's safe to use.)...
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Mar 5
Web Design
Anyone who thinks graphic design is merely about style doesn't understand consumption. You can bake a pretty cake, but the true test of its quality is in the eating.
To me, the future of graphic design is clearly in the development of intelligent user interface. On paper or the screen, the most highly prized skill will be a designer's ability to recast information in ways that make it most interesting and useful.
The recently redesigned blog of designer Simon Collison is a good example of that type of user-centric thinking. He generously gives as an in depth insight into his inspiration, ideas, processes, and type and design choices.
Mr. Simon Collison...
An indepth look at the site design...
Watch for the details. For example, the treatment of footnotes...
In February of 2010 Collison left the firm he cofounded—Erskine Design...
Collison's Twitter page...
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Mar 3
Mind Vacations
If I hear one more commercial about investing in gold I think my head will explode. I know you don't look here for financial advice but I'm going to give you some anyway—here it is:
If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, buy the new This American Life App.
For three bucks you get on-demand, FREE access to every episode of this intelligent, funny, heartbreaking, beautiful, bizarre radio program, ever produced—literally hundreds of hours of listening. Is it possible you are not yet familiar with This American Life—wow, are you in for a treat.
Three dollars. What the heck are you going to do with gold anyway—eat it?
This American Life--the app...
Ira Glass, the show's longtime host, on Wikipedia...
Interested in the dynamics of producing this unique form of media? See Ira Glass's Manifesto...
The This Amercian Life web...
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Mar 1
Illustration
I really like these blueprint-like illustrations created by Paul Kepple and Scotty Reifsnyder at Headcase Design. You may have seen them in books published by, among others, Quirk Books.
Example 1...
Example 2...
Example 3...
Headcase front door...
The weird world of Quirk Books...
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Feb 26
Reference
Occasionally I contribute a review over at Kevin Kelly's Cool Tools--just a little something to add to his wonderful list of tools, machines, books, software, gadgets, websites, maps, and ideas housed there. I think of it as a kind of "Consumer Reports" for interesting stuff.
I've pointed you to it before but I wrote a review that they posted today--which gives me cause to point you to it again.
Me and my chair--okay, not a spellbinding subject...
Cool Tools is now being edited by Elon Schoenholz...
Spend the afternoon...
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Feb 24
Web Design
You don't necessarily have to agree with all of what Liam McKay defines as "quality" to see the value in his post on the subject. In addition to ideas on type and spacing, he points out examples of excellent graphics craftsmanship--an important aspect of web design that I haven't seen discussed often enough.
How to Spot Quality within Web Design: Examples & Tips...
An interview with Liam MaKay...
MaKay's Twitter page...
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Feb 22
Illustration
I really like Nik's wonderful information-rich illustrations. Work from his studio, L-Dopa Design + Illustration, has appeared in an impressive lineup of publications including Popular Science, Make, and Wired.
Example 1...
Example 2...
Example 3...
Example 4...
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Feb 17
Web Design
You really need to see this. Bronwyn van der Merwe, the Head of Design and User Experience at the BBC just posted an article explaining a system-wide redesign they have been working on. I recommend you read it because I think it demonstrates how sophisticated web design has become and because I think (if you are into web design) that you'll find smart thinking to incorporate into your own work. I certainly did.
The article: A new global visual language for the BBC's digital services...
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Feb 15
Illustration
Here is some great insight into icon design from someone who knows a fair amount about it. Before starting his sole proprietorship, Felix Sockwell was the Design Director and co-founder of the Ogilvy, The Brand Integration Group—not bad credentials. As you will see, he has an amazing talent for condensing ideas into icons and illustrations. Be sure to see his portfolio, it is wide and deep.
Sockwell's show and tell about the development of icons for Real Simple magazine ...
Another project for The International Herald Tribune...
Sockwell's portfolio...
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Feb 12
Ideas 101
Eric Baker started out spending 30 minutes each morning finding and sending odd and interesting images to a friend online—a good idea soon draws a crowd. If you need an occasional creative nudge, check out Eric Baker's Today, it just may do the trick.
Baker's first post from October 2008—Today on designobserver.com...
A recent example...
The archive...
Baker is one of the principals at The O Group. Their portfolio...
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Feb 10
Basic design
What I like so much about Fred Showker is that he sees the graphic design industry from more than one angle--he's is a working designer, an experienced teacher and presenter, a bit of a technoid, and the creative mind behind one of the top marketing and design resources on the Web--the Graphic Design & Publishing Center.
Not only does he stay curious about what's next, he has amassed a huge archive of insightful articles and tutorials on design, photography, typography, marketing, and the business of graphic design.
He recently did a major reorganization and re-launch of the site so, if you haven't already, I urge you to take a look.
The Design & Publishing Center...
Example 1: Visual Proofreading: 10 Rules...
Example 2: Designing Spaces...
Example 3: Throw Your Press Release in the Trash...
Fred's bio...
I've been a subscriber to his newsletter, DT&G NEWS, for years...
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Feb 3
Mind Vacations
I'm so engrossed with the design world that I often miss the mainstream stuff. From the look of it Rocketboom has quite a following. Each day its correspondents dig into a subject and report on it from unusual angles. Mostly humorous, often insightful, always interesting--Rocketboom.
Here, for example, is coverage of the Futura vs. Verdana IKEA Smackdown...
Another, a brief biography of Edgar Allan Poe...
Rocketboom also produces Know Your Meme...
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Feb 1
Illustration
What first drew me to Nigel Buchanan's illustrations was how adeptly he tells a story. They are, at once, striking, unusual, and technically interesting.
But he really got me wondering about the tools he uses to create his illustrations--it looks like he uses an old-fashioned mechanical airbrush but they also have a distinctive digital quality about them. So I asked.
He tells me he primarily uses Adobe Photoshop--at times creating images with as many as 100 layers. If the illustration includes elements such as typography or mechanical-looking items he might also incorporate Adobe Illustrator. "I used an (mechanical) airbrush years ago," Buchanan says, "and the computer technique I use now employs the same principles; paths as masks and a pressure sensitive stylus."
But here's the takeaway for young illustrators: his emphasis is on creating a clear concept and a beautiful drawing to work from. "It is too easy to rely on computer programs (and filters or trace tools) to make an illustration look acceptable. What many illustrators forget is that it's the strength of the image and the idea behind it that makes an illustration successful."
Well said.
Example 1...
Example 2...
Example 3...
An interview with the artist...
Buchanan's site...
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Jan 29
Web Design
It is sometimes referred to as 2.5D animation, sometimes as pseudo-3D, this technique involves creating a series of 2D images separated into layers and animating them simulating film moves such as trucking and zooming. It can be elaborate or simple but either way it's eye-catching.
Thanks to Twitter friends Joel Wires, Paul Casper, PJ Cassel, Jean-Claude Tremblay, Filmjr, Harold Thompson, Jesse Gardner, Ken Fisher, and others for helping me research this...
Example 1: This is the sequence that first got me interested in digging into the subject (the opening sequence from the Luck Development Partners site)...
Example 2: Jesse Gardner points us to the VISA "Trip for Life" TV Spot...
Example 3: Ken Fisher points us to a very cool variation using CSS...
Example 4: The opening from the Showtime's United States of Tara...
And here's a tutorial from Chris Gates at Digital Juice that lays out the process of creating a 2.5D animation using Photoshop and After Effects...
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Jan 27
Graphics Tech
Today Apple announced a 9.7-inch, touch screen device that gives the user access to the Web, books, music, news, all types of social networking, commerce, plus every type of creative tool you can imagine--and a 16 gigabyte version will sell for $499.
Now pause and take that in. In 1980 IBM produced and sold the first one gigabyte hard drive for $40,000.00. And it weighed 550 pounds. Today--sixteen times the size for $500 at 1.5 pounds.
Makes me wonder how many people had the experience of being on planet earth when the wheel came into being? Or when the dramatic effects of the printing press were first taking hold? And I think how fortunate you and I are to be here at the dawn of an age where computing is becoming available to the billions.
What will it mean in decades to come for so many to have access to so much knowledge? For so many to connect with those so distant from their physical place on the planet? I'm guessing it will produce amazement we can not yet even comprehend.
Pretty cool.
Steve Jobs presents...
The Apple iPad...
Apple's official release...
Video overview...
Coverage and first comments on MacRumors.com...
Coverage and first comments on AppleInsider.com...
Okay developers let's get started...
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Jan 25
Print Design
Designer (and friend) Jeff Russell points us to a pocket-sized map that, as it unfolds, "zooms" in on the information. Pretty cool idea.
Map2's zoomable map on paper...
If you like that, you're bound to like this...
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Jan 20
Web Design
The FWA (Favourite Website Awards) describes itself as "...an industry recognized website award program and inspirational portal based in England and is one of the World's leading website recognitions". Throughout the year the FWA names a SOTM (Site Of The Month) winner and then enlists an impressive panel of judges to discern the web site of the year.
Such judgments are, of course, subjective, but you can bet that the winner is something worth seeing. For 2009, the winner is WeChooseTheMoon.com. The concept, design and development is credited to The Martin Agency and Domani Studios.
There is also a People's Choice Award, Soytuaire.Labuat.com developed by Herraiz Soto & Co..
The FWA 2009 site of the year: WeChooseTheMoon.com...
The 2009 People's Choice Award winner: Soytuaire.Labuat.com...
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Jan 18
Illustration
Kevin Kelly's illustrations caught my eye. I like them, they feel new and different and are obviously well-crafted.
Example 1...
Example 2...
Example 3...
Kelly's site, Pixel Pusher Design...
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Jan 13
Ideas 101
Copywriter Jessica Hagy explains ThisIsIndexed.com as "...A little project that lets me make fun of some things and sense of others. I use it to think a little more relationally without resorting to doing actual math."
Her big collection of little diagrams is well worth a look.
ThisIsIndexed.com...
Explanation of a Venn diagram (relations between groups)...
An interview with the author and copywriter Jessica Hagy...
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Jan 11
Basic design
Wonderwall is an interior design firm that specializes in commercial space. First of all, its amorphous project page is, itself, pretty unusual. Second, its collective eye is very different and very interesting. Don't miss The Ice Cream Store--a high-end apparel retailer in Hong Kong--it's just plain weird (not that there's anything wrong with that).
Wonderwall Inc....
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Jan 6
Ideas 101
Paul Overton explains DudeCraft.com like this: "I think it's great that there is so much DIY going on these days and that access to techniques and advice is fairly universal, but I'm bummed that there aren't more guys out there making things. Enter DudeCraft."
DudeCraft.com includes many idea starters that could be applied to graphic design as a well. Great for men AND women.
Paul Overton's DudeCraft.com...
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Jan 4
Ideas 101
I happened on a post by Grant McCracken, the author of Chief Culture Officer. He says, "At year's end, I have an unhappy thought, that some of the creative professionals who rose to prominence in the first decade of the 21st century will be eclipsed by the end of the decade coming, that the first decade of the 21st century will be, for some creative professionals, a brief moment in the sun."
Some perhaps, but overall I pose that consumers are becoming more sophisticated about the quality of design, not less--and that, contrary to riding into the sunset, designers are just now seeing the dawn of a new day.
My propositions:
1. Markets are multiplying.
The Web provides for conventional worldwide, regional, and local markets as well as an entirely new class of specialized markets that were not previously feasible. The proliferation of products, services, organizations, and ideas that make up those markets point to a virtually endless stream of work differentiating one from the next.
2. More markets mean more stories and more frequent story cycles.
For most organizations, the design of all types of communications is not an end, it's a cycle. As markets become more competitive and design becomes more of a distinction, it stands to reason that more designers will be needed to cast and recast the messages.
3. Core design skills cannot be automated.
There is no such thing as an organization that is exactly the same as its competitor--location, timing, finances, and personnel are just a few of the many factors that make each organization one-of-a-kind. A smart designer is able to see an organization and its products and services in ways that the organization itself cannot. You can't replace the need for, or automate the creation of, intelligent analysis and vision-casting.
4. The definitions of design, communications, and marketing are ever-changing.
Certain approaches to design run their course, but no one believes that design can be confined to any one course. Those who are able to effectively identify, define, and communicate organizational, product, and service distinctions are more in demand than ever before.
The future of design, I believe, has never been brighter.
Grant McCracken's post, Creativitys brief moment in the sun...
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Jan 1
Graphics Tech
As the inventor defines it, Readability is a browser utility that "removes the junk around what you're reading and displays a clean, readable view." It is quite simple, what amounts to a series of generic style sheets that remove extraneous information and reformat text for optimum readability. Hats off to the folks at arc90 for seeing the trees and the forest.
Thanks to my friend Lee Garvey for pointing us to this.
arc90's Readability experiment...
More projects from the arc90 lab...
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Dec 28
Illustration
At one time or another Bill Nelson's rich, beautifully detailed color pencil illustrations have appeared on the pages of most of the major publications I can think of. But they are by no means the whole story. Bill also has a passion for 3D work--ventriloquist figures, dolls, masks, and so on.
I've known Bill for many years and just caught back up with him recently. It recalled several times when I had the privilege of sitting in his studio and watching him work his magic on paper. It's great to see all the wonderful work he has produced in recent years.
Bill Nelson's signature style...
Ventiloquist figures...
Studied portraits...
Exaggerated, "pushed" portraits...
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Dec 16
Basic design
This article describes four types of symmetry: rotation, translation, reflection, and glide reflection. If you are a nut for symmetry (me too), it is helpful to understand it from every angle.
The Four Types of Symmetry in the Plane by Susan Addington...
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Dec 14
Illustration
I admire Chris Whetzel's thoughtful ideas and the bright, sharp shapes of his illustrations. If you haven't worked with an illustrator before, his blog posts also teach a bit about the typical interchange between and illustrator and his or her client.
An project example including the rough cut...
Whetzel's portfolio...
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Dec 11
Print Design
If you've ever designed a book you know there are many parts and pieces--they run the gamut from the purely aesthetic to the legally mandatory. The trick is to understand the differences and to use them to your advantage. Here is a terrific source I came across recently produced by a guy who has a proven track record. Meet book designer Joel Friedlander...
An example: The copyright page...
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Dec 9
Web Design
I'm a sucker for this type of 3D-design. It gives you a sense of depth you just can't match with most artificially built shapes and shadows.
Another great cover...
While you're here, they also have a portfolio of work well worth a look...
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Dec 2
Typography
Alison Morris at Publishers Weekly points us to a couple of typefaces with big personality. One culled from a 1923 Speedball lettering manual and several from the Tart Workshop--a great source I had not yet found. (Thanks to my sister Deb Green for pointing us to Alison.)
Milk Script from Sudtipos...
Silverstein from Tart Workshop...
Nelly Script from Tart Workshop...
Seasoned Hostess from Tart Workshop...
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Nov 30
Typography
In her own words, "The Daily Drop Cap is an ongoing project by typographer and illustrator Jessica Hische. Each day (or at least each WORK day), a new hand-crafted decorative initial cap will be posted for your enjoyment and for the beautification of blog posts everywhere."
It is a sight to behold.
An example...
The home page...
A stellar Christmas present type lovers...
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Nov 27
Illustration
McConnell & Borow creates props, displays, and editorial illustrations for a long list of clients including Absolut, AT&T, IBM, and so on.
Fooling the eye...
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Nov 25
Graphics Tech
Don't know if you caught this. Pranav Mistry, a PhD student in the Fluid Interfaces Group at MIT's Media Lab, invented a wearable device that demonstrates one possible direction for future user interface. I am less interested in these early prototypes than I am in his broad vision for how we might integrate the digital with the physical down the road.
Though you certainly don't need a crystal ball to predict it, it would seem that the future of graphic design, likewise, will be more about 3D than 2D.
Thanks to my friend Wayne Belvin for pointing us to this.
Pranav Mistry discusses his ideas...
More about Mistry and SixthSense...
More projects from the Fluid Interfaces Group at MIT...
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Nov 23
Print Design
This week marks the opening of the Tim Burton exhibit at the The Museum of Modern Art. Best known for his film making, Tim Burton is also a designer, an artist, and is, as you might suspect, a tad bit crazy.
The website created for the Burton exhibit...
About the exhibit and the design of the accompanying web site...
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Nov 20
Web Design
Here's another good way to show off you work. I suppose you could use it as a primary destination, or as a way of boosting your visibility by offering an alternative source. In any case, Carbonmade offers both free and paid versions.
An example portfolio for copywriter Kathleen Honey (nice stuff)...
Carbonmade features...
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Nov 16
Web Design
I wish other things worked like the web. In many cases it provides lots of value for very little money. Wouldn't it be nice, for example, if you could buy a years worth of chocolate cake for the cost of a cupcake?
Well that's roughly the equivalent of an offer I stumbled across today. As of a couple of days ago, you can hire Khoi Vinh, Design Director for NYTimes.com, and WordPress authority Allan Cole to design the underlying structure of you web site for a grand total of $45. Not $45 per hour--$45 period.
How? By purchasing the WordPress theme/template they took a year to develop. Is it good? You tell me. Vinh says, "If I were to redesign Subtraction.com today, it would look like Basic Maths." (Subtraction.com is his much written about and admired personal web site.)
It would seem to be worth the price if only to deconstruct it to see how it works.
This is a live demo of the theme/template...
This is where you purchase the package...
Read developer Khoi Vinh's announcement of the release...
Allan Cole's WordPress blog...
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Nov 13
Illustration
My interest in the aspects of graphic design that can be "proved" continues to grow. By "proved" I mean visual and informational structures that are actually based on some type underlying formula.
I thought this article was particularly intriguing: "The mathematics behind the Droste effect." It poses that when M.C. Escher drew his Print Gallery, he was, without realizing it, following a rather complex mathematical formula.
It reminded me of our discussion a few months ago about whether there exists some type of "design DNA" that we do not yet understand.
Seb Przd's conformal mapping imagery...
More from Seb Przd...
The mathematics behind the Droste effect...
12-page illustrated article "Artful Mathematics: The
Heritage of M. C. Escher" from the American Mathmatical Society (1.8MB PDF)...
Our earlier discussion, "Is there such a thing as design DNA?"...
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Nov 11
Web Design
Stephen Bau has created a terrific collection of commonly used web elements built on Nathan Smith's 960 pixel grid system. As he explains it, "I have been looking for a means of rapidly developing interactive prototypes for our site designs at Domain7. So I have been building a library of commonly used HTML elements, combining these with CSS for typography and layout, and adding some basic effects available from popular JavaScript libraries."
Even if you don't use the code, the page itself will get you thinking about elements you might want to include in your design.
If you are unfamiliar with the 960 Grid system, I have also included a link below.
Stephan Bau's "design incluences" page...
Nathan Smith's 960 Grid System...
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Nov 9
Illustration
If you want some terrific presentation inspiration, head over to The Art of the Title Sequence. It demonstrates how top film title designers, past and present, combine pictures with words to communicate ideas in thoughtful and intriguing ways.
While there, check out the wonderful collection of alphabet posters created for the film Coraline. Take note of how each letter of the alphabet is modified to provide a secondary meaning.
These are the titles for Coraline...
For fun... the Coraline movie site...
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Nov 6
Illustration
I recently mentioned Pictorial Webster's: A Visual Dictionary of Curiosities and received a heads-up about another great resource from Caroline Fortin, Publisher of QA International. She referred us to The Visual Dictionary Online--an interactive dictionary with a long history and a futuristic approach.
"From the image to the word and its definition, the Visual Dictionary Online is an all-in-one reference. Search the themes to quickly locate words, or find the meaning of a word by viewing the image it represents."
Very cool.
Example 1...
Example 2...
Try it out. Choose a theme and drill down to a specific subject...
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Nov 4
Illustration
The Center for Cartoon Studies (CCS) offers a two-year course of study that centers on the creation and dissemination of comics, graphic novels and other manifestations of the visual narrative. It's curriculum of art, graphic design, and literature reflect the wide array of skills needed to create comics and graphic novels. CCS emphasizes self-publishing and prepares its students to publish, market, and disseminate their work.
The Center for Cartoon Studies (CCS)...
Download a free copy of CCS's How To Brochure (3.63MB PDF)...
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Nov 2
Basic design
Next time you are brainstorming an advertising or marketing piece, consider the idea of using an illusion to illustrate your point. I'm thinking, if you find just the right illusion (something somehow related to your topic) and write a thoughtful tie-in for it, you'd have a built-in reason for people to stop, look, and get interested.
Thanks to my brother Jim Green for sending me this link to the 2009 Finalists of the Best Visual Illusion of the Year Contest.
The 2009 finalists...
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Oct 30
Illustration
In the last five years Yuko Shimizu and her work has been written about in all the major design and illustration publications. If you are unfamiliar with her illustrations, you'll soon see what all the fuss is about. She has a distinct style and a real talent for dream-like storytelling.
Example 1...
Example 2...
Example 3...
This is Shimizu's site (includes R-rated material)...
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Oct 28
Web Design
I wish more of my work reflected the confidence and restraint this design does. So nice.
24hourplays.com...
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Oct 26
Illustration
Pictorial Webster's: A Visual Dictionary of Curiosities is a book compiled by John M. Carrera. It features over 1,500 engravings that originally graced the pages of Webster's dictionaries in the 19th century. Here is a fascinating look at the production of the book and the story behind it.
An overview of the project via video. Pictorial Webster's: Inspiration to Completion...
A discussion of the project at Quercus Press...
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Oct 23
Typography
Hope you'll share this with someone who has yet to grasp the idea that honest work deserves honest treatment. If they want to trade fonts and images outside of established licensing, all we ask is that they first email the designer to explain why they think the ability to create a design and the long hours necessary to produce and market it, does not merit compensation.
Here's an example of one step of the font design process. It does not even address the issue of the talent and dedication it takes to determine a need and to design something that is useful, stylish, and distinctive.
Watch John Roshell create the Moritat font...
The finished typeface...
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Oct 21
Ideas 101
I was in a local convenience store a few mornings ago and the manager mentioned how significantly their business increases as the weather turns chilly--the coffee drinkers return. Sales, she explained, will remain significantly higher throughout the fall and winter. (I would have thought cold drinks in warm months would balance sales out, but evidently not.) In any case, it is another example of just how much I have yet to learn about specific marketing applications.
So my invitation is this: Share a practical marketing and/or design idea that the rest of us may not have thought of. Doesn't have to be your idea or ground breaking, just something a little off the beaten track.
I'll lead off with one of my own--a "web card:"
My web card...
Share your idea in the comment section here...
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Oct 19
Mind Vacations
In the olden days we shot film positives (slides) or film negatives and printed the images on paper--why, all of a sudden, do I feel like Mathew Brady. If you've got some LPs or cassettes around, you likely have some slides and/or some black and white or color negatives--perhaps some stuff that you haven't looked at in years. The problem is, the old pictures aren't nearly so convenient to look at or share as the stuff we currently are able to churn out on our digital cameras.
ScanCafe.com doesn't fit the normal subject matter of these posts, but I thought it was a good enough find to merit a special mention (thanks to my friend Daniel Will-Harris for pointing me to them). In short, you bundle up your negatives or picture album and send it off to a place overseas where the folks at ScanCafe scan and spend a few minutes optimizing the images (don't panic, they claim the shipping is VERY safe--mine got there without a problem). Then, you review the scans online and choose (pay for) only the one's you want. The originals are then returned to you along with a disc containing the scans.
Reasonable prices, good quality, and it's fun to see all those forgotten places and faces.
The ScanCafe...
The founder's blog...
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Oct 16
Typography
It's one thing to choose from a large catalog of typefaces--it is another to envision how those same faces might be used on specific projects. Font Bureau's Image and Project Galleries reveal how designers apply particular combinations of typefaces to actual publications.
Be sure to click the "Inside Pages" tab to see the complete demonstration...
And the Project Gallery...
The entire Image Gallery (not as complete explanations)...
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Oct 14
Basic design
As they explain it, "Trademarkia is the largest, most accurate, and most complete free search engine for U.S. federally registered trademarks on the Internet. We provide up to the minute contextual information about the current use of interesting business names, slogans, and logos through pictures, commercials, and conversations from Flickr, Google, Youtube, and Twitter for each U.S. trademark filed in with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) since the year 1870."
This is not a "best of" or "how to," this is the work that is or has been in use in the real world. It is a resource I'm guessing every designer will want to link to.
Trademarkia...
As you might imagine you can search in lots of different ways, by theme, company, attorney, and category...
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Oct 12
Print Design
Adobe has produced a very useful white paper titled Deciphering the Web, A resource for print designers. It speaks to traditional print designers who need a basic introduction to web and interactive design.
Who doesn't do web and interactive design in 2009? You'd be surprised, I know more than a few talented designers and art directors have little or no web knowledge and have resigned themselves to thinking that it's "too late" for them to catch up.
Well that is simply not the case--as they say in the white paper, "Good design is good design." As a matter of fact, if you count yourself among this group, you might even have a bit of an advantage. Today, with some clearly established ways of doing things online, you can skip much of the insanity the online community has had to navigate for the last decade or so.
It is not necessary to be a technical wizard--if you so choose, you don't need to learn to write code, you don't even need to learn how to use all of the programs involved. There are many talented developers and technicians who are more than happy to team with you to produce whatever you dream up. Like print, the key is in knowing what you want to say and show, how you want to say and show it, and in cultivating a network of experts to get the work done.
Deciphering the Web: A resource for print designers (2.79MB PDF)...
This is an in depth presentation that introduced the white paper at the recent Adobe MAX 2009...
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Oct 9
Marketing PR
I can bloviate about design this and marketing that all day, but experience is almost always the best teacher. A recent episode of The Office made mention of a YouTube wedding video. Curious, I looked it up and quickly discovered why a top-rated network television program highlighted a five-minute video staged, choreographed, and filmed by amateurs. It's a joy.
As of this writing, Jill and Kevin's Wedding video has been viewed 26,857,328 times. That's right, almost 27 MILLION times. Why? Because it embodies at least three elements of a good idea:
1. You've got to be willing to take a chance. These folks took a big risk--had they misjudged their audience they would have looked more than a little foolish. Obviously, part of the reason a good idea is good is because it's different. You've got to be confident enough in your own judgment to move forward.
2. A good idea needs a leader. Someone thought this up, convinced the others to participate, and motivated them to share the risks. Ideas are not exceptional until they are proven--someone has to believe in the purpose enough to be its advocate.
3. You've got to accept the fact that you can't please everyone. I'm guessing some won't find this as uplifting as others--they'll think it's silly or not befitting the ceremony--my point is, if you're going to be different, someone isn't going to like it.
Enjoy!
Jill & Kevin's Wedding...
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Oct 7
Web Design
Here is a 20-page web proposal shared by Rogue Element via HOW magazine. It is always interesting, often instructive to see how others conduct business. This (to me) is an excellent example.
The 20-page web design proposal (2.5MB PDF)...
Notes about the proposal on HOW...
Rogue Element's site...
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Oct 5
Basic design
I like the way Pinch describes their work as designers, "We believe in clear, reductive thinking, and in helping our clients say what they mean, without pretense or artifice, and otherwise staying out of the way."
Watch how well that philosophy works.
A recent Pinch design for Smith & Fong...
A case study of the project on the Pinch site...
Pinch on Twitter...
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Oct 1
Web Design
I ran a sitemap of GordonRamsay.com and it exceeded the 500-page limitation of the scan—a rather intimidating figure (much like its namesake).
But you wouldn't know it by looking at the home page. Simple, elegant images and a thoughtful user interface make the information easy to find and pleasant to look at. Interesting how well it mirrors Ramsay's own mantra of "classic" and "simple."
(For those who don't know him, Gordon Ramsay is a chef with what one might term an "acerbic" personality who stars in several reality television series.)
GordonRamsay.com...
Example of the depth of pages--a profile of the Head Chef at one restaurant...
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Sep 30
Typography
Just when I have fooled myself into thinking I have some type of handle on the scope of what designers are designing, I come across something like this. These organic, three-dimensional typographic illustrations by designer Luca Ionescu of Like Minded Studio redefine (to me) what is possible. Old dog. New trick?
Example 1: from Texas Monthly magazine...
Example 2... (Full post)
Like Minded Studio...
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Sep 28
Illustration
While we're on the subject of innovative informational design (my previous post), take a look at Newsmap—an application that "visually reflects the constantly changing landscape of the Google News news aggregator."
It is the brainchild of design engineer Marcos Weskamp.
Newsmap...
The Newsmap Blog...
Marcos Weskamp's web...
Not surprising Weskamp is also a Senior User Experience Designer for the Adobe Index group...
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Sep 25
Illustration
Beginning in 2005 Seed Magazine began publishing a series of what they label "cribsheets." The formal explanation goes like this: "Scientific issues and innovations are figuring into everyday conversation more than ever before. Recognizing that we could all use some brushing up, Seed offers its Cribsheet."
It appears the last edition (#18 Biofuels) appeared in 2008. The series is both interesting and innovate for its content and design.
Cribsheet #9 String Theory...
Cribsheet #7 Extinction...
Cribsheet #11 Plate Tectonics...
Most of the illustrations (all those I point to here) are credited to Cybu Richli who shares a practice with Fabienne Burri at C2F...
SEED Magazine...
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Sep 23
Marketing PR
This morning, Seth Godin points us to a new project—Brands in Public—"a collection of interesting, accessible, public-facing dashboards for your favorite brands - from Zappos to Virgin America to In-n-Out Burger. Each dashboard organizes a hot list of what's being said about the brand around the web, via Twitter and blogs and YouTube and Google Trends and more. As well as polls and debates and commenting for people who want to do more than just watch."
What is most interesting to me is the fact that the owner of the brand is invited to control a portion of the page contents.
It gets right to the heart of the questions I posed in my recent post, "The most important design and marketing questions of a generation."
They are: Can your client's product, service, or idea survive virtual scrutiny? When it is illustrated, diagrammed, and dissected—revealed for its true self—will it continue to command the audience it commands today?
Brands In Public could be the type of consumer/corporate coexistance necessary for brands to honestly, publicly address the inevitable, increasing scrutiny they will encounter in the days to come.
The Brands In Public cover page...
Example 1: The Home Depot...
Example 2: The MiniCooper...
The brand owner's interface....
The most important design and marketing questions of a generation....
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Sep 21
Illustration
I don't have a clue about the subject matter here but Aaron Horkey's illustrations and hand-lettered word groupings are fabulous.
BTW, anyone know of an official term for the assembly of individual words into a composition—the process of putting together the pieces of the puzzle? Seems as if there should be a term for it other than "word grouping."
Example one...
Example two...
His portfolio on Rock of Eye...
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Sep 18
Print Design
That is the beauty of the web—every so often you stumble on something really phenomenal. My latest happy discovery is this amazing collection of posters, photos and prints from the collection of Jaap Best, the Netherlands' largest collection of circus memorabilia. 3,500 colour lithographs and thousands of other pieces. Amazing stuff.
Circusmuseum.nl—the collection of Jaap Best, the Netherlands' largest collection of circus memorabilia...
The Circusmuseum.nl cover page...
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Sep 16
Typography
This site, to me, is interesting on at least three different levels. First, it uses a standard metaphor—the printed page—in a slightly different way. When you click "Preview" at the top right of the screen, the entire page shifts to reveal the surface underneath it.
Second, I like the subtleties of the folds and light manifest as different shades of yellow.
And third, the icons ain't bad either!
Royalty-free vector icons, glyphs, and symbols based on the Helvetica Bold typeface...
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