Jul 1
Ideas 101
I like the way David Pearson used asymmetrical illustrations to create these unique, decidedly symmetrical book cover designs.
The use of symmetry in design has long intrigued me. I guess it is some deep psychological attraction to the foundational balance and order of nature. It pays to recall how profoundly we are influenced by design.
Have you seen any other good examples you can point us to?
David Pearson's Great Journeys series for Penguin...
A passage from The Elements of Graphic Design by Alex W. White on Symmetry and asymmetry...
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Jun 29
Web Design
I must get some kind of endorphin rush from "different." I like to see people break the mold, send the conversation in another direction, turn the tables, innovate, and so on. Web pages that scroll sideways are no longer revolutionary but I still love the fact that they are so counter-intuitive. Here is yet another excellent example pointed to by my brother Jim (thanks buddy). Music ain't bad either.
Elvis Costello's site...
If you're curious, here's the background image...
The illustrations are by (the strange) Tony Millionaire...
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Jun 26
Typography
In addition to the fact that OurType offers some interesting typefaces, their web page offers some unique ideas about navigation. I must admit it took me a couple of beats to figure out that you click and drag the orange arrows to move up and down, but other than that I like how the designer has made everything accessible from one screen. The only downside being I can't point you to specific information--no variable URL.
OurType...
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Jun 24
There is a theory that pose that making something complex makes it seem more valuable. But that is not always the case. This web page--a single page--is a great example of how effective it can be to tell a complex story in simple terms.
You condense your message to its essence and in doing so show respect for the fact that I don't necessarily have the time to read ten or twenty pages and condense it myself. That (in many cases) is what you want your reader to come away with correct? If you can do the condensing for me if would seem I am far more likely to get an accurate account.
The First Twenty...
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Jun 22
Typography
Art director and designer Kent Henderson has assembled a wonderful collection of type specimens via Flickr under the umbrella of Depression Press.
Kent's “Typecase” set...
More print- and type-centric sets...
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Jun 19
Learning
Occasionally I find a shortcut for simplifying a process and I kick myself thinking, "Why didn't I take the time to figure this out before?"
If you know Google well, GoogleGuide.com will seem elementary--but if you use Google for nothing more than simple word or phrase searches you will find this information quite useful.
The Google Guide for Experienced Users...
A cheat sheet for making informed searches...
Another easy way to get the most from Google: Advanced Search...
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Jun 17
Illustration
Catalina Estrada is an illustrator who has turned her illustrations into a small industry. Some applications of her intricate repeat patterns and icons are used to draw attention to another product, service, or idea--others make her illustrations the product itself. An important distinction.
If you've read this blog for more than a few months you know that, to me, commercial graphic design is not self-expression. This is an excellent example of the exception--how a designer or illustrator can successfully segregate professional and personal focus.
Catalina Estrada...
Estrada's bio and some downloads are featured on her rep's site...
Estrada's clothing line for Levis...
Her web site...
And another fashion site...
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Jun 15
Illustration
It is, "the run-of-the-mill stuff that keeps the mill running." That's not a dig--I say it with great respect and affection. This is the type of work that rarely commands the recognition high-profile advertising work does, but that is often more consequential because of the much needed information it imparts. Hats off.
Jim Kopp...
Joe Saputo...
John Hartman...
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Jun 12
Illustration
I love how he recasts this type of retro style with vivid colors, hard shapes, and surprising perspectives.
A dreamlike bon voyage ...
Another surprising perspective...
Drama!...
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Jun 10
Graphics Tech
In less than 25 years we have moved from pasteups and X-acto knives to simplistic desktop publishing to the advanced graphic design systems and software of the moment. The transition from the board to desktop publishing software made it possible for the designer, who once spent a day assembling the parts and pieces of an advertisement, to produce the same product in an hour. In doing so, it allowed them to increase their work load and/or to devote more time to substance.
I'm guessing that transition will pale in comparison to the transition we now face. "Assisted" design further automates aspects parts of the production process. Instead of inventing your own systems for moving tasks forward you adopt a process built and perfected by others. Assuming it is equal to or better than a system you could create, why wouldn't you use it?
Content management systems are one example of how this transition is manifesting itself, EightShapes Unify offers another. Unify is a comprehensive collection of (primarily) Adobe InDesign templates and graphic elements you can use to present and prototype web pages. I point you to it not only because it is a very cool (free) product, but because it appears to me as another signal of a shift.
As the tools are improved, expectations increase, process is diminished, more resources are devoted to substance, and (in most cases) quality and effectiveness improves. You can easily see how each step prepares us for the next--the question is: where are we headed?
An overview of EightShapes Unify...
Samples of the results...
Download Unify...
The EightShapes web (the folks who created the templates and libraries and released them to the community)...
Nathan Curtis, one of the founders of EightShapes, has a book coming out this summer--Modular Web Design...
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Jun 8
Ideas 101
I recently read an excerpt from Adolf Loos essay, Ornament & Crime (1908). He posed that, "The evolution of culture is synonymous with the removal of ornament from objects of daily use." He believed that "style" and "ornament" was "wasted manpower."
One-hundred years hence, to what I am sure would be Loos' great dismay, we are awash in graphic design--some ornamental, some practical, much of it both.
Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill, one of the world's leading architectural firms, offers some good examples of the degree to which graphic design is integrated into every level our lives. Their web site features everything from articles detailing the design of multi-million-dollar buildings to an article detailing the design of carpet: "Three individual carpet patterns derived from the random graphic appearance of landscape, traffic, and water."
It got me thinking, what ARE the best purposes of graphic design? Is our best work ornamental? Functional? Essential? Instructive? Timeless?
The SOM carpet design...
SOM Graphics Projects...
The SOM Ideas page...
The SOM home page...
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Jun 5
Illustration
I'm sure you've read about Tokyo street style. And that the world fashion industry keeps an eye on how young people are dressing there--that it is one of those places from which designers draw inspiration.
Anna Rusakova reminds us that we need to keep our eyes open for inspiration everywhere. Though this might not be your style, I doubt you would disagree that she has a wonderful sense of her's. She creates fascinating illustrated Moleskine notebooks and presents them within an eclectic kind of color palette-interior design-fashion environment kind of thing that makes it all work.
I just found it very interesting that all these pieces, even the way she has organized and photographed a selection of candies, seems to establish a very clear sense of style.
What do you call this mix of design, illustration, fashion, place, and typography? Is there a better description than simply "style?"
Candies...
Anna Rusakova's Moleska...
An interior design vibe...
And a fashion component...
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Jun 3
Shopping
When it comes to illustration, Bob Staake is the top tier. His list of corporate clients includes names such as Sony, Disney, and Hallmark; Publishers such as Random House, Simon + Schuster, and Scholastic; Publications such as The New Yorker, The Washington Post, and Barron's.
His finished color illustrations command thousands of dollars, but you can buy an original, signed Staake doodle that you design for $40? Yup, no kidding. To me, one of the coolest, most unusual gifts you could get or give. (I know this sounds like an advertisement but nope, no commission, don't know Bob Staake.)
Bob Staake's Doodlekaboodle samples...
The order form...
Some examples of Staake's work...
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Jun 1
Learning
If you are interested in technology, you have likely already heard about the three new tools announced in the last week--WolframAlpha, Wave, and Bing. I've included the links to each--each is a very interesting story--but my point is more about the environment in which those technologies are made possible than the technologies themselves.
It's not rocket surgery. Advances such as these are the result of the rapid expansion of knowledge made possible by the World Wide Web--historically speaking, a newborn that was just delivered moments ago. It stands to reason that as more people have access to knowledge, there will be more innovation. My point is: it seems we have begun to move in fast-forward.
What does this mean to graphic designers? I suspect that if you are talented at the craft and/or art of communicating ideas you are about to become very popular and quite valuable. Why? Because I believe that a talent for successfully instigating, facilitating, and improving communication is going to be in high demand. That the ability to break through the clutter and to identify and promote worth will be highly prized.
Stand by.
WolframAlpha: A computational knowledge engine...
Bing: Microsoft's "decision engine"...
Wave: Google's new model for communication and collaboration...
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May 29
Ideas 101
Here is the 2009 installment of Bill Gardner's excellent logo design trends report for LogoLounge.com. As always, it is a must read.
Bill Gardner's logo design trends 2009...
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May 27
Learning
Density Design began as a part of a Master Degree Course in Communication Design at Politecnico di Milano in Italy. As they explain it, "Using complexity as a keyword to understand reality, combining it with a continuous research for information aesthetics and representation, DensityDesign explores the emergent relationships among communication design, information visualization and complex systems."
To me it is yet another example of the fast-forward progression of design discovery.
An example of a Density Design visualization--specifically, The Federlegno-Arredo System - Federlegno Environmental Report 2008...
A quick way to review much of the work--DensityDesign's photostream on Flickr...
DensityDesign's site...
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May 25
Print Design
I have often thought about how badly the license plate needs making over. If clear identification is the goal, most plates (with their scrunched up type and incomprehensible layouts), fail miserably. If style is what you're after, the only real challenge would be to do it worse than it is being done now.
A while back GQ invited nine designers to re-envision the license plate--here are their ideas. Though these are a bit frivolous, the exercise does get you thinking about the possibilities for clearer communication, tighter security, increased safety, and better communication. But that would require state and local governments to take it seriously.
License plate makeover (1.1MB PDF)...
An interesting article by Mark Simonson about how many designs actually obscure the primary purpose of the plate...
Looks like an international problem...
If you're really interested, here's a big list of license plate links...
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May 22
Mind Vacations
Well--would you settle for Fonts, a couple of entertaining film shorts? You can thank (or blame) my son Jeff for bringing these to our attention.
Font Conference...
Font Fight...
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May 20
Ideas 101
The older I get, the less I seem to know about the story I am a part of. By that I mean I have come to believe that we are a part of a system we know very little about--one that continues to reveal itself to us in unexpected ways.
Take the example of DNA. Imagine how profoundly the understanding of this code (now in its infancy) will ultimately effect life on our planet.
So here's the, "is Chuck a crackpot" question: Do you think there could be such a thing as a design equivalent of DNA? Some type of underlying blueprint that map non-visual information in visual form? Is it possible there is some hidden structure to all things that design is, in a clumsy way, trying to reveal?
At first blush it sounds nutty, but consider the fact that many folks have attempted to identify just that--a formula or approach that breaks design down to some "true" or "correct" combination of dynamics--white space, grids, form and color selections, and so on.
But, I digress. All that leads me to Stefanie Pasavec's Writing Without Words. Don't get me wrong, I do not equate it to some type of literary DNA, I simply find it fascinating to contemplate yet-to-be-defined alternatives for envisioning the world around us.
Love to hear your thoughts on this--I think. Use "Comments" below--I answer every entry.
THE packaging design playground...
A detailed view...
An excellent article on Pasavec's work...
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May 18
Illustration
You can enjoy this site on two levels. First by exploring the fabulously rich visual environment and the vast network it opens doors to. Second, to read some interesting theories about where planet earth and our universe is headed. Genuine "wow" stuff.
And now: a little visual stimulation...
Don't miss the fact that, as of this writing, there are six pages in the gallery. (There is navigation at the very bottom of each page.)
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May 15
Ideas 101
Let me make a simple point using a site in a language I do not speak--French. That way, it will be a tiny bit more difficult to find words that help to explain the significance of the imagery. As roughly translated via Google Translate, the first link shows a list of organizations and their logos associated with a creative media contest. I chose it because, you would expect that this type of organization would be particularly interested in branding.
My question is, what do these logos tell you about the organizations they represent?
Do they reveal anything about the organization's product, service, philosophy, derivation, purpose, or industry?
Or, from another angle, are these logos distinctive, versatile, memorable, durable, timeless, or symbolic?
My intention is not to ridicule--you have only to look at any random grouping of logos to see the prevalence of this type of white noise. I just wonder, if a client doesn't have hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars to imprint its brand on its audience, shouldn't the logo at least tell some part of its story?
I have had my fair share of communication failures--my point is simply, when we don't fight for meaning, we haven't done our job.
Do you have a good definition of the purpose of a logo? Share it with us using "Comments" below--I answer every entry.
See the stack of logos down the left side of the screen...
Paul Rand's thoughts on logo design...
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May 13
Print Design
Here is an excellent example of doing the work AND taking the time to present it in a way that shows it at its best. These studio LOOVVOOL is Tallinn, Estonia.
Have another example of great logo presentation? Share it with us using "Comments" below--I answer every entry.
The Souperie--great design...
The Kaerajaan Restaurant...
Custom Furniture...
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May 11
Marketing PR
The skill is curiosity. I call it a skill because it is a discipline that can be learned but that, to be mastered, requires dedication.
To produce work that really helps clients achieve goals, you've got to look at their products, services, and ideas from all angles and understand the salient issues as well as, if not better, than they do. That is one of the great challenges of our occupation and (if you're curious) one of its great joys.
If you are working a project with a copywriter, it will likely fall to the writer to do most of the research and to compile some type of outline of the important ideas and themes associated with it. The point is, whether there is a writer or not, you need that information--to create a logo, an advertisement, collateral material, a web site, even a trade show display or a banner ad. It is all but impossible to create sound communications design without it.
Following are examples of two useful ways of organizing that core information--a creative brief and a copy platform. Yes, there are as many definitions of these documents as there are models and these are by no means definitive. In many cases, you may not even compile the information for anyone but yourself. I simply offer these examples as a reminder of their importance.
Do you know of another model or have your own? I'd love to see it. (Use "Comments" below--I answer every entry.)
A model for a copy platform...
From an advertising perspective: How to create a brief that sets creativity free (1.38MB PDF)...
An example of a creative brief (64KB PDF)...
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May 8
Illustration
When I was a kid, my father had a subscription to the New Yorker. I would always study the covers and remember thinking how amateurish the illustrations were. My young eyes did not appreciate the insight and restraint it takes to create great illustrations (I even wrote to them offering my services but never heard back).
Christoph Niemann understands whatever it is that equips you to see the world as a series of little stories. He is the quintessential idea animator.
Abstract City, Niemann's blog for the New York Times web...
Niemann's portfolio...
Niemann's The Pet Dragon: A Story about Adventure, Friendship, and Chinese Characters ...
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May 6
Marketing PR
Stirring up controversy, making a bold statement, and challenging conventional views are all valid ways of making a point. But using controversy as a tool of marketing is dangerous territory. If you use it, you should use it for a clearly defined reason that offers some substantial advantage.
Which leads me to an example of how not to use it. I came across it as I was looking through the newspaper a couple of days ago--it was a full-page version of this ad to announce the makeover of a city web site. (Go ahead and take a look before you read on.)
I couldn't help but ask myself, "What the heck do nude people have to do with the makeover of a city web site?" and, "What advantage does this controversial approach offer that outweighs the potential for narrowing or eliminating prospects for the clients product?"
I see at least three fundamental marketing mistakes:
Mistake 1: Assume that your audience knows what you know.
The first problem is that the ad speaks primarily to the existing audience. There isn't enough here to explain what Richmond.com is so who cares about the "new" version? An ad that speaks to the insider excludes the outsider.
Mistake 2: Don't say what you mean.
This ad is a misdirection. Everything it shows and much of what it says gives you no information about what the product is. "We've Gotcha Covered" how? Why a nude person? Why this location? Do you care enough about this anonymous product to make the effort to find the answers? Even more puzzling is that, as of this writing, if you go to site the ad points you won't see any nude people (thank goodness) and, if you search the phrase "We Gotcha Covered," there is not even mention of it.
Mistake 3: Be controversial for the sake of being controversial.
At a minimum, the sexual innuendo here sends a clear signal that the site is inappropriate for children--HUGE mistake. And in sending that message, it likely alienates the parents who already are burdened with monitoring every aspect of online life. It obviously slams the door (with relish) on any audience that doesn't share the same sensibilities as the ad's designer. Controversy has an insidious way of representing one narrow view, one sense of humor, and one way of understanding.
To me, good marketing takes a thoughtful, innovative approach to identifying and speaking to the greatest possible audience. Narrowing that audience is perfectly acceptable if you do it for a good reason. But if you narrow the audience simply because of your approach, your approach is wrong. Period.
All that said, I don't mean to pick on the folks who created this ad, I've made my share of marketing mistakes. It is simply the most recent case I've seen that perpetuates the "marketing is magic" theory--that, if you know the secret formula, you can get people to take meaningful action contrary to their own interests by being clever, controversial, or funny--it is a myth.
Your thoughts?
The ad...
It's a campaign...
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May 4
Print Design
Vendor Power! is a pamphlet designed to explain basic New York City street vendor rules and procedures in five different languages and to provide and overview of vendor issues. It is a collaboration between the Street Vendor Project, designer Candy Chang, and The Center for Urban Pedagogy. Pretty interesting.
A story in the NYT about the Vendor piece...
The actual Vendor Power brochure, side-two (2MB PDF)...
Several publications (including Vendor Power) from The Center for Urban Pedagogy...
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May 1
Print Design
I can't even remember how I got started looking for information about menu design. I do not currently have a client in the hospitality industry, although I have designed a few menus in my years as a graphic designer. What got me hooked on the subject was the fact that, as with many design specializations, menu design has become quite complex and multifaceted. To the extent, for example, that the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University offers a Ph.D. program in Consumer Behavior/Menu Psychology.
Design and layout of menus now falls under the umbrella of "menu engineering" along with the disciplines of (as defined on Wikipedia): psychology (perception, attention, emotion/affect), managerial accounting (contribution margin and unit cost analysis), marketing and strategy (pricing, promotion).
As an introduction to the subject, I'll share some of my preliminary finds. I cannot testify to the veracity of each source, I have not even read them all word for word, but I thought you might be interested or at least curious.
Just for fun, let's start off with now NOT to design a menu...
The Psychology of Menu Design from Restaurant Resource Group...
The Ten-Minute Manager's Guide to Menu Design from R&I...
A short article about menu engineer Gregg Rapp from Time Magazine...
A full concept design for South St. Burger Co. by Jump Branding & Design Inc....
A case study from Restaurant Startup & Growth...
Some history from the Miss Frank E. Buttolph American Menu Collection, 1851-1930 at the New York Public Library...
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Apr 29
Color
This elegant tool by Czech designer Petr Stanicek allows you to create color schemes using monochromatic, complementary (contrast), triad (soft contrast), tetrad (double-contrast), analogic, and accented analogic models. It also offers presets, adjustments, reporting, and even simulates various forms of color vision deficiency. (via a mention by Jim Dudley through LinkedIn)
The Color Scheme Designer...
Petr Stanicek's site...
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Apr 27
Marketing PR
When new designers ask for advice, I tell them to master their presentation skills:
"If your presentation skills are weak, you must improve them. Not should--must. Today, as you are reading this page, there are thousands of truly brilliant ideas being generated in the minds of timid people. They will never see the light of day because the artists are unable to sell them--they are too nervous, too intimidated, or simply lack the skills to communicate their ideas with clarity and enthusiasm."
Graphicology.com has produced an excellent series of interviews with industry pros (in PDF form) that speak about the art of presenting.
Nigel Holmes, Principle of Explanation Graphics (PDF -150KB)...
Debbie Millman, Managing Partner, Sterling Brands (PDF -150KB)...
Sally Hogshead, Creative Consultant (PDF -150KB)...
Peter Coughter, Jr., Owner, Coughter & Company; Professor, VCU Adcenter (PDF -150KB)...
Bart Cleveland, Creative Director, McKee Wallwork Cleveland (PDF -150KB)...
And, you'll find others listed in the right-hand column on Graphicology.com...
My post "Advice for new designers"...
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Apr 22
Learning
What strikes me about this collection of interviews is not only how different the disciplines of illustration, communication design, and fine art are (they are all represented here), but how differently each person sees himself and his craft. (I particularly like what Michael Lebowitz has to say about the fundamental changes we are in the midst of.)
Passion is the genesis of genius...
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Apr 20
Learning
I don't know where or when it began, but there is a terrible misconception lurking out there that creativity has something to do with youth. While younger people might seem to be more creative (perhaps because they are less encumbered by established rules)--I can't imagine any thinking person would actually try to claim that ground.
If you need proof, you have only to examine the 65-year career of one of the world's most talented and prolific designers--Milton Glaser. Now in his 80th year he seems (to me) every bit as bold and interesting as he did during his days at Pushpin Studios in the 1950s and 60s. He was an innovator then and he is an innovator now.
What gets me on this rant is when I talk to a designer--sometimes as young as 40 or 50--who seems to think their creativity is somehow used up. Ridiculous. To me, what they have misplaced is their appreciation of the craft--the privilege of participating in the exploration of new ideas and projects--and the joy of helping others to communicate them.
Whether you're designing a brochure for an industrial manufacturer or a web site for a leading edge start up, it is entirely up to you whether your work is drudgery or grace.
A sampling of Glaser's work...
Some of his iconic posters...
As Glaser explains it, "The possibility for learning never disappears..."
I laughed out loud when I found a press release dated April 21, 2009 extolling Glaser's his latest project--he remains "on the case..."
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Apr 17
Print Design
It is easy to underestimate the dimensions of the communities that exist to support and promote individual software products. I created a Twitter page in March to share tidbits about InDesign (Adobe's desktop publishing program) and, in doing so, have met hundreds (on Twitter alone) who have a similar interest in its workings.
In the course of my research I have been tracking down the experts--authors, trainers, and InDesign insiders. If you are a fan of InDesign, allow me to introduce you to some folks who have a similar passion.
Meet Rufus Deuchler, Adobe's Senior Worldwide Evangelist for Creative Solutions (by chance, the first follower of the indesignstorm twitter page!)...
Meet Michael Ninness, Adobe's Senior Product Manager, InDesign...
Meet Bob Bringhurst, Adobe's Senior Technical Writer for InDesign...
Meet David Blatner, editorial director of InDesign Magazine and author of (among other titles) Real World InDesign CS4...
Meet Michael Murphy, author and InDesign Certified Expert...
Meet Anne-Marie "HerGeekness" Concepcion, author, trainer, and consultant...
Meet Pariah S. Burke, author, speaker, trainer, and host of quarkvsindesign.com...
Here is the InDesign Brain-Storm Twitter page...
Apr 15
Learning
If I could promise you that for a mere $500 I could explain how (literally) the brain works to make decisions, would you pay it? I would. But here it is, an entertaining little book that purports to reveal at least some of the answers so many marketers seek--for less than the cost of a modest restaurant meal.
Here is the fascinating interview that introduced me to Jonah Lehrer and How We Decide and The rational rider atop an elephant.
With Robert Krulwich at the Strand Bookstore in New York...
Lehrer at the 2008 AIGA Business and Design Conference: Why the Sciences Need Art: Or, What a 19th-Century French Chef Can Teach Us About the Brain...
Frontal Cortex is his blog on scienceblogs.com...
Jonah Lehrer's web...
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Apr 11
Web Design
I did not write this book--but I sure wish I had. As someone who actively searches the Web for great design, I can testify to the thousands of hours it must have taken Patrick McNeil (of DesignMeltdown.com) to locate, categorize, and assemble such a large cross-collection of superior web ideas. Simply having a snapshot of these hundreds of sites at this time in the history of the Web is well worth the price.
The Web Designer's Idea Book by Patrick McNeil...
Apr 11
Print Design
Here is an interesting case study of how industrial design firm Kerr & Co. teamed up with Hahn Smith Design to create a new line of Gourmet Settings utensils that could stand out in Costco's bare-bones retail environment.
I find it particularly interesting to contemplate being involved in the entire cycle--identifying the audience and distribution point, developing the product, and then marketing it appropriately. As you know, communication designers are typically involved with just one or two steps of the process.
The Gourmet Settings Case Study (860KB PDF)...
A better view of the work begins of page 29 of the Hahn Smith Design Capabilities Brochure (8.5MB PDF)...
Hahn Smith Design's web...
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Apr 10
Graphics Tech
I happened on a site this week that caused me to glance back at the road behind us. It is tempting to always be looking forward, but a dose of history from time to time doesn't hurt. The page I point you to offers the reflections of a man who ran THE most successful software company of its day--Pete Peterson and WordPerfect.
There are many points to be made about marketing, program development, competition in the industry and so on, but what I recall most by my encounter is the dramatic transition between the stark, code-like programs of the DOS era and the what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) programs of today.
Want to feel really old? Did you use any of the original versions of these: WordStar, Ami Pro, MultiMate, DisplayWrite, WordPerfect.
Almost Perfect...
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Apr 8
Web Design
Here's another version of the "infinite canvas" idea articulated by Scott McCloud. This time, we move screen-to-screen, box-to-box. I just wish I could isolate and point you to a specific frame--that, to me, is the big negative of Flash development.
Hawaiian Modern, The Architecture of Vladimir Ossipoff...
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Apr 6
Ideas 101
On his blog, you can view the photograph of Daniel Will-Harris--hands clasped across his forehead--as an artsy portrait of an urbane intellectual, or the final attempt of a defeated soul to keep his brain from exploding. Whichever you presume, I encourage you to read this laugh-out-loud design review of what Daniel crowns the worst of all hotel web sites.
Bad design at a design conference...
More...
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Apr 3
Ideas 101
Our local newspaper (The Richmond Times Dispatch) laid off 59 employees yesterday. One in a long series of recent reports that would have you believe that nothing can save the newspapers.
Nonsense. To my way of thinking, the reason this and so many other newspapers are struggling is not simply from "a loss of advertising revenue," "changes in the classified market place," and "the difficult economic environment." What is killing newspapers is an extraordinary lack of creativity. Extraordinary because unlike other institutions that continually reinvent themselves to remain relevant to their audiences, city newspapers (generally speaking) seem to be paralyzed by their legacy.
The lords of news and knowledge need to wake up. We are in the midst of a fundamental shift in the control and distribution of knowledge. A kid with a computer in a remote corner of the planet can monitor a lecture at MIT. And I can sit in my chair and navigate my way, block by block, through the streets of Paris. To imagine that a publication, designed, written, produced, and delivered in much the same way it was 20 years ago, can continue to flourish, is not short sighted, it's blind.
Shutting down creativity is a destructive reaction to success. Instead of continuing to innovate--the very thing that lead to our initial success--we often cling to our original notions. Instead of devoting the research and resources necessary to take the next step we opt to carefully, cautiously, incrementally dabble around the edges of the old ideas--at times, beyond all good reason.
I have no doubt innovators in the newspaper business will survive and thrive. The resulting product may have little resemblance to the newspaper of today but a reinvented model that capitalizes on what works and lets go of what doesn't will surely emerge. It will come from those who, rather than fight the profound technological shift we are witness to, recognize how lucky we are to be living at such a seminal time in history and jump in head first.
The pursuit of making the world a better place is what makes life such a blessing. I find a real glimmer of hope in discussions such as these:
From a recent talk at TED: Can design save the newspaper?...
About reinventing newspaper classifieds...
The local story. Could this web site be any more nondescript?
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Apr 1
Print Design
This post from the faceoutbooks.com blog points to a dramatic book cover Timothy Goodman designed for Scribner. Take a look and then take a few minutes to browse his portfolio--he does some nice work.
What really strikes me is how different (generally speaking) one piece is from the next. I know I harp on this but I really do think it is one or the fundamental qualities of a good designer--someone who is able to get so absorbed in the client's need that they are able to shed their own identity.
Goodman's cover...
A closeup...
The designer's portfolio...
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Mar 30
Packaging
If you were hopelessly addicted to looking around for exceptional design, you might have come across this striking package design on the Norwegian Design Council's site. It was designed by Strømme Throndsen Design for the Trygve Nesje flour mill.
Package design for flour from the Holli ancestral farm...
The design is discussed in depth here...
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Mar 27
Web Design
I love the idea of exploring the size and shape of the page. In this TED presentation, author and artist Scott McCloud explains and demonstrates his "infinite canvas" design strategy.
It is SO easy to lull ourselves into adopting restrictions that are often the remnants of decisions that, in many cases, is no longer irrelevant.
I realize this is not a new idea, but it is the first time I have heard it formally discussed. Best of all, it has got me thinking about ways to expand on the idea.
Thanks to my friend Don Snyder "Don The Idea Guy" pointing me to this.
Scott McCloud lays out the premise (pretty entertaining)...
A written explanation from McCloud's site (be sure to look around, there is lots to see there)...
A "hypercomic" by Daniel Merlin Goodbrey...
Don The Idea Guy...
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Mar 23
Typography
We've all run up against a typeface we want to use but can't identify. Just in case you had not come across it, here is a link to one of the type community's great resources: The Typophile Type ID Board. If this collective can't name it (or at least give you a hint to its origin) you may as well give it up.
And while we're on the subject, kudos to those of you who are willing to participate in the un-puzzling. The only thing that makes a forum like this possible is the willingness of those who participate in it. As someone who needs an occasional assist, I thank you.
The Typophile Type ID Board...
If, by chance, you are not familiar with the great resource that is Typophile, here is the front door...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Getting It Printed...
Mar 20
Ideas 101
I got a plea for help the other day. A designer who frequents this blog had shared a recent post with an engineer friend and the reply was a bit condescending. The post, "The talent that makes a good designer great," points to an engineer who I thought was particularly innovative. My purpose in drawing attention to him was to emphasize the importance of the same type of innovative thinking to the field of graphic design.
The essence of the engineer's response was they saw little correlation between the skills of an engineer and those of a graphic designer. How could that type of innovation, they posed, have anything to do with a designer's sense of style, their ability to choose typefaces, their knowledge of color, and so on. After all, the subject of my post, the engineer asserted, was a PhD candidate.
I laughed out loud. Every designer has had (or will have) this conversation. At its root is the implication that devoting one's career to the design of communications and an interest in the aesthetic is somehow less of a calling than some other, more significant field of endeavor.
My response is this:
The ergonomics and aesthetics of design are to engineering what taste is to food.
Remove the aesthetic qualities (style, organization, presentation) of the clothing you wear, the book you are reading, the automobile you drive, the room in which you spend your time, and so on, and all you have left is...function.
It is important for every student of design (and engineering) to recognize and appreciate the importance of form to function and vice versa. And it is equally important to understand that to be a exceptional practitioner of either discipline requires out-of-the-ordinary instincts, curiosity, knowledge, craft, and so on.
Lots of people view art and science as a comfortable coexistence. But for those who are particularly attuned to one or the other, it is good to remember that the most debilitating form of blindness is to minimize the way in which others see. It is not only a sure way to limit your potential--it is a certain and swift strategy for diminishing your influence.
An example of substance without style...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Templates for InDesign, QuarkXpress, or PageMaker...
Mar 18
Graphics Tech
If you use Adobe products you are likely curious about the future of those products and, perhaps, the workings of the company that invents, produces, and markets them. Adobe makes itself known in many ways but I think this unassuming little page is among the most interesting.
Adobe Blogs aggregates posts from blogs written by the folks who do the work--the execs, engineers, writers, designers, and so on. If you have a passion for a particular Adobe software product or technology, this is where you will find someone who shares it.
Abobe Blogs aggregates the most recent posts from a long list of Adobe blogs...
And here is the LONG list of blogs from which it draws...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Becoming a Graphic Designer
Mar 16
Packaging
Here, the designers contrast the mechanics of typography with an organic background. Reminds me that, often, the designer's primary challenge is to find new ways of doing familiar things. (The work is credited to Why Not Associates in collaboration with Gordon Young.
Typographic tree columns at the Crawley Library in Essex ...
While you're there, check out the rest of the designer's (Why Not Associates) portfolio. I especially like the FutureLab logo...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Before & After: Graphics For Business...
Mar 13
Web Design
I've been a fan of Hornall Anderson for a long time. I point you to their site to show you some interesting ideas they have incorporated into the user interface. (Yes, they may not have invented these, but seeing them in this configuration caught my attention.)
A blog calendar time line (bottom) and pop-up search (top right)...
Hold your mouse pointer over an image for a slide show...
A slant column on each portfolio page that moves off frame when you click the "X"...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Pantone Guide to Communicating with Color...
Mar 11
Web Design
Watch how the designers employ screen symbols to demonstrate Facebook's new home page design--the three screens below the heading, "More about the publisher." I like how they simply silhouetted the elements to show the position of what they are describing.
It's all about the details.
Look at the screens below the heading: "More about the publisher"...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Before & After: Page Design...
Mar 9
Print Design
What I'm trying to say is that she has a gift for making a combination of disparate pieces look as though they were invented exclusively for her purpose. She got my attention with her wonderful layouts and illustrations Esquire magazine but she hooked me with these bold, colorful covers for the Seattle Times.
A collection of covers...
Another great illustration...
In the Ideabook Design Store: The Desktop Publisher's Idea Book...
Mar 6
Mind Vacations
That, in essence, is what I told a good friend today. He is looking to make a job change and I was posing the possibility that he offer up his substantial experience online. Not that he hand out his social security number, but just that he begins to cultivate new relationships by networking online--Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and such.
But that is not his thing, he explained. He is a private person and the idea of sharing information with the public does not sit well. My response was, "Well you'll just have to get over it."
The link below is the embodiment of my point. Thru-you is a groundbreaking collection of songs mixed together by a Tel Aviv musician named Ophir "Kutiman" Kutiel using pieces and parts of YouTube clips. What is so striking to me is that the people who play the music clearly had no way of knowing that this outcome was even possible.
Like my friend, they did not understand that their contribution could net them something far greater than what they planned.
The front door...
My favorite cut: 03. I M NEW....
I'm guessing a surge of traffic has crashed this (Kutiel's site), but that would be the preferred way to view these pieces....
In the Ideabook Design Store: Templates for InDesign, QuarkXpress, or PageMaker...
Mar 4
Illustration
Eamo has a penchant for fluid, complex lines and an acid-hot color palette. Nice stuff.
Eamo's portfolio...
And his blog...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Design-It-Yourself: Graphic Workshop...
Mar 2
Ideas 101
Last week I heard filmmaker Ken Burns say something that I think applies to every communications designer.
In the process of discussing his reverence for the stories and imagery he uses in his films he said, "...We, in the present, think that because we've survived we're somehow smarter, or better, or different from those who went before us--and it's not true. For ten thousand or more years human beings are the same, the conversations they have...are no different, the degree of understanding, the glibness of rhetoric--whatever you want to call it--is the same: we love, we hate, we feel jealousy and passion, in the same ways that other people did and it is the responsibility of those of us who labor in these historical vineyards to remind people of that."
So I am asking myself and you, to pause and think about what we can learn about going forward from what has passed. How do foundational concepts such as top to bottom, left to right, and beginning, middle and end dictate the borders of our creativity? How can we avoid losing simplicity in sophistication?
The Kish Tablet...
NEW in the Ideabook Design Store: Tintbook CMYK Process Color Selector...
Feb 27
Print Design
This is nothing short of bizarre. Within the last month or so three major companies have introduced logos reminiscent of amazon.com's well known mark. What the heck is with that?
If you doubt it, here are some references:
A Kraft Foods news release reads, "Starting today, people around the world will begin to see the new identity that deliciously features a smile, the natural reaction to delicious foods and experiences, and a colorful flavor burst."
And, if you look at the what is reported to be the original pitch on the Pepsi logo, (here) you will see the reference to the faces (and smiles) beginning on page 22.
Many sources (in 2000) pointed to documents that explained how the amazon.com logo "depicts the ultimate expression of customer satisfaction--a smile."
To be fair, I was unable to find any official or semi-official mention of a smile on the Jack in the box logo, I leave that for you to decide.
I don't mean to imply there is something unethical happening here, I just hope a discussion of this will keep others from repeating the same idea yet again.
Kraft Foods...
Jack in the box...
Pepsi...
And amazon.com...
In the Ideabook Design Store: The Copywriter's Handbook...
Feb 25
Illustration
You'll find Edwin Fotheringham's illustrations all over the web and on everything from books to billboards. Stylistically they are (to me), at the same time, both old and new. Love his web design (last link).
A retail application...
an editorial example...
His web portfolio...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Moleskine Notebooks...
Feb 20
Ideas 101
As we go through this rough spot on the financial road, I'm sure there are plenty of folks in the job market who are considering going out on their own.
That fact reminded me of a rather profound (to me) insight I learned years back from Michael E. Gerber the author of The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It.
The crux of it is this: being highly skilled at what you do does not necessarily translate into being successful at running a business based on that skill.
That's all I'll say—the book was written in 1995 so you'll have to determine for yourself how relevant Gerber's solutions are today. I just point you to it because, as a business owner, I think it is an important point to consider if you are contemplating starting your own business or if you are trying to figure out how to make your existing business more successful. Hope it helps.
Reading Chapter 1 with get you right to his point...
Here's the author's site...
In the Ideabook Design Store: FontHead Typefaces...
Feb 16
Learning
This morning the AIGA pointed me to another in a long line of high-profile copyright infringement cases, this time, regarding the infringement of a photograph used to illustrate the now famous Obama campaign poster.
If you don't know what "fair use" means and what your responsibilities are when it comes to copyright, you need to learn. As the saying goes, ignorance is no defense. It can cost you—big time—hundreds of thousands of dollars and your reputation.
The new twist is this: As I understand it, Shepard Fairey is actually defending his right to appropriate the image.
Here is a good resource page from Harvard's Law School..
And here is the current case I am referring to...
Here is Shepard Fairey's web site...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Becoming a Graphic Designer
Feb 13
Web Design
I like how this web experience begins with an establishing shot and then how the larger picture is subdivided into conventional categories. I was also drawn to the subtlety of the menu changes.
delicatessennyc.com...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Before & After: Graphics For Business...
Feb 11
Ideas 101
I happened across this site recently and got to thinking about how profoundly non-designers have embraced the design world in the last decade. There has long been an appreciation for the design of clothing, automobiles, architecture, and such but we're seeing something different here aren't we?
More and more people seem to appreciate design, understand it, and want to try their hand at it. I makes me think the market for professional design is going to continue to expand, perhaps far beyond what we now see.
The general appreciation of and desire for good design is expanding...
Love the design of this site and its crisp, bright photography...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Pantone Guide to Communicating with Color...
Feb 9
Learning
John McWade is one heck of a design detective. He arrives at the scene, assesses the situation, studies the details, and unravels his theory about how the deed was done. Here is his latest—a clear, studied look at the new Pepsi logo.
Does Pepsi's new logo work?...
An earlier post where he asked for other opinions...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Before & After: Page Design...
Feb 6
Marketing PR
I firmly believe that commercial graphic design is not about self-expression. That said, lots of designers produce work and invent products that are very much self-expression--and the world is richer for it. Here is an excellent example of how one designer, Will Staehle, has turned his passion for type and design into a collection of eclectic products complete with a fascinating story line.
Staehle's Dollar Dreadful Family Library...
Staehle's store, The Bazaarium...
A bio of the designer...
In the Ideabook Design Store: The Desktop Publisher's Idea Book...
Feb 4
Ideas 101
Why does a client hire a designer? For our sense of style? For our ability to choose and use typography? Our knowledge of color? Sure, all those things. But first and foremost, they hire us for our ability to innovate. For our ability to see the problem so clearly, to analyze it so comprehensively, that we are able to discover something about it that they themselves may not have even seen.
Here is a wonderful demonstration of that talent. Johnny Chun Lee has an amazing gift for taking something that is already "understood" and recasting it in a whole different light.
A brief presentation of two ideas...
Johnny's "Poor man's steadycam"...
Lee is now working with the Applied Sciences group at Microsoft. His blog...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Templates for InDesign, QuarkXpress, or PageMaker...
Feb 2
Marketing PR
Help me out--what am I missing? If you were to remember the name of the company that sponsored this ad (I rarely do), would you associate it with a positive or a negative? Would you remember the few seconds of happy redirection at the end or the the powerful negative experienced by its main character?
A 30 second ad played during this year's Super Bowl was reported to have cost three million dollars. Honestly, I just don't get it. What is the thinking behind this type of advertising?
An ad for a floral service...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Design-It-Yourself: Graphic Workshop...
Jan 30
Typography
Check out this interesting series of interviews by font mega-reseller MyFonts.com. It includes profiles of some of the best including Jim Parkinson, Mark Simonson, Christian Schwartz, and David Berlow.
Creative Characters from MyFonts...
NEW in the Ideabook Design Store: Tintbook CMYK Process Color Selector...
Jan 28
Learning
I have tried all types of systems for taking notes, recording research, and brainstorming ideas--and I always revert to paper and pencil.
So I was happy to see this great post by a designer's designer, Pentagram heavyweight Michael Bierut.
Michael Bierut in 26 Years, 85 Notebooks...
More about his process...
Bierut's medalist profile on the AIGA's site...
In the Ideabook Design Store: The Color Harmony Guide...
Jan 26
No matter what your politics are, you've got to admire the efforts of the marketing department at furniture maker, Ikea. The tactic is to find a passionate audience and declare yourself a part of it.
Ikea invites you to create your ideal Oval Office...
In the Ideabook Design Store: The Copywriter's Handbook...
Jan 23
Ideas 101
ReCourses, Inc. is a management consulting firm that specializes in working with advertising agencies, design studios, PR firms, interactive companies, and the in-house marketing departments of large corporations.
I recently stumbled upon their generous collection of free position papers. A few examples:
Saying "No" and Caring Too Much
Changing Client Perceptions
Common Struggles in Firms
Don't Always Listen to Your Clients
Navigating a Downturn
Hobby, Job, or Company
Raising Your Prices
Recognizing Growth Pains
Promoting Timekeeping Compliance
The collection...
In the Ideabook Design Store: The Copywriter's Handbook...
Jan 21
The UK's Design Council is offering an interesting series of case studies that demonstrate how companies large and small are using design to improve performance.
Designs to overcome a downturn...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Brenner Pricing Tables...
Jan 19
The (new) Book Cover Archive for the appreciation and categorization of excellence in book cover design is the work of Eric Jacobsen and Ben Pieratt. It looks to be the beginnings of a great new resource.
The Book Cover Archive...
The associated blog...
A nice introduction to the site by Yves Peters over at The FontFeed...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Task Force Clip Art...
Jan 16
Graphics Tech
A friend asked recently how I troubleshoot Adobe software and hardware problems. While I realize they have an excellent support department, I know too that they can't answer every question, every time.
When I hit the wall--I turn to the Adobe User to User Forums. That is where you will find a bunch of other folks who are using the same software, sometimes even on the same brand and model of machine. More often than not, you will find someone who has run into the same issue and who, in many cases, has already discovered the answer.
Here, for example, is the Creative Suite for Windows forum...
Here's a listing of all the forums...
They even have forums on specific subjects such as design and typography...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Art Parts Clip Art...
Jan 14
Print Design
Issuu.com is a platform for publishing all types of documents for viewing online using an elegant, simple to navigate interface.
An example of a book, SitePoint's The Art & Science of CSS...
The front door of issuu.com...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Moleskine Notebooks...
Jan 12
Learning
Arts & Letters Daily is a ready source of stories, reviews, essays, and commentaries—one more interesting pond to fish for ideas and inspiration.
Arts & Letters Daily...
In the Ideabook Design Store: FontHead Typefaces...
Jan 9
Graphics Tech
Whenever a major software upgrade surfaces, I am tempted to dive right in. I have been using Aldus and Adobe products for over twenty years and I have yet to be disappointed.
But as the programs are more and more feature-laden, I find that my skill level and/or production time is not all that much improved. Perhaps it's because when you have used a program for a long time, you discover ways to work around missing functionality. By the time a better or faster way comes along, the work around you created is so ingrained, doing it the way you've always done it just seems simpler.
So, this time around, I need to do some homework. To delve into whether the features are compelling enough to justify adjusting my workflow. It is less a about cost than it is about the investment of time and resources it requires to purchase, install, and learn a new version of a complex program.
To that end, Adobe TV is an excellent place to hear and see the Adobe evangelists talk about the latest and greatest program features.
Here, for example, is a feature tour of Adobe Illustrator CS4...
Hard to believe it was 1985 when I first started using Version 1.0 of PageMaker...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Getting It Printed...
Jan 7
Packaging
If you happen to be traveling on Fifth Avenue in Brooklyn, New York, I can't help but think the storefront at 372 would catch your eye. The Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co. stocks some fairly unusual products--including gallon cans of Gravity, jars of Sasquatch Mucous, and a giant container of Helium Gumballs.
What it is, in reality, is a gateway for 826NYC--a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping students, ages 6-18, develop their writing skills. Here's the story:
Tell me-if you were walking down this street--the Brooklyn Superhero storefront wouldn't get your attention!
Another view of the storefront...
Inside the store is the entrance to 826NYC...
Some of the featured products...
The store was designed by Sam Potts Inc.--which features an equally interesting portfolio of work...
This is the 826NYC web site...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Becoming a Graphic Designer
Jan 5
Learning
David C. Baker poses that (in most cases) a designer's primary motivations are control and influence. Here is a two-page snippet that could save you a lifetime of flailing around, attempting to align your purpose with your profession.
How hard can this be, you ask? (1MB PDF)...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Before & After: Graphics For Business...
Jan 2
Marketing PR
As with all lessons, some of the most profound marketing lessons are learned outside the office. Two back-to-back segments of the December 19, 2008 episode of This American Life pose stories that got me thinking in marketing mode.
The first segment, the Prologue, looks at how profoundly one point of view can effect the communication and dissemination of a message.
And the second, titled "Shots in the Dark," is a stark reminder of the significance of the shift in attitudes between old attitude of "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few" and the new belief (of many) that "everyone is entitled to make the choices that they consider best for their own situation."
Give them a listen, I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Click "Full Episode" and listen to the first two segments...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Pantone Guide to Communicating with Color...
Dec 31
Illustration
Frank Chimero does. Where I might be tempted to add another layer of imagery and/or explanation to these illustrations, he is confident enough to hold back. That "sense of subtraction" is one of the most important skills a designer can possess.
One of Chimero's posters aimed at inspiring designers...
And his portfolio...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Before & After: Page Design...
Dec 29
Ideas 101
Time for the 2008 installment of Bill Gardner's excellent series on logo design trends for LogoLounge.com. Mark it "must read."
2008 logo design trends from LogoLounge.com...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Templates for InDesign, QuarkXpress, or PageMaker...
Dec 26
Web Design
I want to use this site as a catalyst for a discussion. I like the design--it's an interesting approach to teaching people how to react when an earthquake hits.
But it also raises two questions about user interface. First, does inviting the reader to pick and choose what they want to read and to potentially bypass a critical aspect of the presentation the best way to cover the information?
And second, is a multiple choice question that plants right answers among wrong answers the best way to help readers learn and retain answers in a potentially crisis situation?
UI experts (and others), I'd love to hear your thoughts.
The earthquake quiz...
NEW in the Ideabook Design Store: Tintbook CMYK Process Color Selector...
Dec 24
Typography
It's a claim that stirs more than a little controversy, but FontShop gave it a shot. They enlisted seven people who most would acknowledge as experts and weighted the list as follows:
Sales figures: 40%
Historical significance: 30%
Aesthetic quality: 30%
It is opinion, obviously, but pretty interesting.
The list...
A rough translation of the explanation (German to English) via Google Translate ...
A booklet with the list and illustrations (in German) (6.8MB PDF)...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Templates for InDesign, QuarkXpress, or PageMaker...
Dec 22
Illustration
Charmingwall.com bills itself as, "A New York gallery specializing in a curated selection of open-edition fine art prints." What I want to show you is how they establish a foundational illustration and take you to the different site categories by modifying that illustration. A solid idea that could be reinterpreted in many different ways.
Charmingwall.com...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Templates for InDesign, QuarkXpress, or PageMaker...
Dec 19
Ideas 101
If you have not been to an Anthropologie store lately, I encourage you to stop by. It is all about design--they offer an eclectic mix of woman's clothing, tableware, books, and furnishings all accentuated by truly creative, one-of-a-kind displays and fixtures.
I'm guessing this is at least one direction of future retailing. This approach (versus a conventional department store) sells one point of view, a certain set of tastes, a particular mindset—something approaching a lifestyle. I really love the place. For a chain with many stores nationwide, it is amazing how unique they are able to make each.
To get the idea, you'll have to take a field trip—what you do not get from the Anthropologie web site is the importance of the store displays and fixtures to the experience. They are, in some cases, the best part.
Anthropologie.com...
They have some great letters...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Design-It-Yourself: Graphic Workshop...
Dec 17
Illustration
Isn't that what faux drop shadows and reflections are all about? Russian designer Yulia Brodskaya did just that by creating a series of three-dimensional cut-paper illustrations for G2, a supplement of the British newspaper the Guardian.
An example from G2...
Brodskaya's illustration portfolio...
NEW in the Ideabook Design Store: Tintbook CMYK Process Color Selector...
Dec 15
Web Design
A solid set of notes is often the most valuable outcome of attending a conference. Good notes are certainly not a substitute for attending and making all the associated connections, but composing and referring to a thoughtful set of notes is definitely useful.
To call Mike Rohde's "sketchnotes" useful would play them short. These notes are both a valuble resource and a lesson in visualizing information.
User Interface Engineering...
The Sketches category of Rohde's blog...
In the Ideabook Design Store: The Color Harmony Guide...
Dec 12
Web Design
The saying is, "Do as I do, not as I say." If you want to see what the usability experts view as state of the art interface design, you would expect they are using it themselves. There is much to learn by simply looking at how the experts set up their own site navigation.
A few interesting examples:
User Interface Engineering...
Nielsen Norman Group...
Adaptive Path...
In the Ideabook Design Store: The Copywriter's Handbook...
Dec 10
Color
In this recent article, David Pache at Dache presented the logos of 100 leading branding firms in black and white to, in essence, level the playing field. It made me wonder if it might be time to adopt the use of color as a foundational component of logo design. Isn't the reasoning for the need of a straight black and white version antiquated?
100 Brands of Interest...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Templates for InDesign, QuarkXpress, or PageMaker...
Dec 1
Web Design
This struck me as a particularly interesting use of positive and negative space. I like the way the designer changes the colors in the counterforms of select letters and numbers and how she uses a mixture of positive and reverse type.
Lots of good design appears to be uncomplicated (which means, of course, that it is)--it is often more about confidence in your choices than it is your ability to be wildly creative.
NEA Jazz in the Schools...
Agnieszka Gasparska of Kiss Me I'm Polish is credited with the design...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Pantone Guide to Communicating with Color...
Nov 28
Print Design
What is the equation for excellence? One aspect of it, certainly, is a passion for the subject. Dieline.com is a site created by package designers for package designers—folks with a real passion for it. As they put it, Dieline.com's "purpose is to define and promote the world's best examples of packaging, and provide a place where the package design community can review, critique and stay informed of the latest industry trends and design projects being created in the field." It is all that and more.
This is one of my top 25 web sites for communication designers.
THE packaging design playground...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Before & After: Page Design...
Nov 26
Print Design
The AIGA is behind an exhibit of the design of everyday items from around the world. As they put it, "From the wood screenprinting blocks used to make sari patterns in India to the cartoon-like graphics on Japanese stationery, there are many beautifully designed and highly functional items that may inform and inspire other kinds of design."
Everyday Design...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Before & After: Page Design...
Nov 24
Illustration
I saw one of Serge Bloch's illustrations in a magazine the other day and looked him up. I really like the idea of combining objects with illustrations and I wanted to see if he had done other projects using that same technique. He has. Here are a few examples.
The basic idea is to combine an object with an illustration...
Another nice example...
And something a little more complex...
Serge Bloch's portfolio...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Design-It-Yourself: Graphic Workshop...
Nov 21
Graphics Tech
There mountains of speculation about what makes a web site search engine friendly. On November 12th, Google published a paper that sets the standards. There is nothing new here, what is new is that Google put their name on it. To me, we now know the standard. Seems like everyone who wants to be Google-friendly should check to ensure that their sites comply.
The post on Google's Webmaster Central Blog...
Google's SEO Starter Guide PDF (519KB)...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Templates for InDesign, QuarkXpress, or PageMaker...
Nov 19
Graphics Tech
If you are familiar with terms such as "Amberlith," "burnisher," "waxer," and "Presstype," I suspect you will experience a bit of joy from a tour of The Museum of Forgotten Art Supplies.
The Museum of Forgotten Art Supplies...
NEW in the Ideabook Design Store: Tintbook CMYK Process Color Selector...
Nov 17
Print Design
If you have never designed a piece printed using the letterpress process, you're in for a treat. What you see here is the result of pressing a rigid, raised plate against a soft paper surface. Ohio based CrankyPressman.com, founded in 1934, has a portfolio that will get your creative juices flowing.
The CrankyPressman.com site...
Their Flickr portfolio...
In the Ideabook Design Store: The Color Harmony Guide...
Nov 14
Web Design
For the uninitiated, it is broadly referred to as a content management system (CMS). The idea is, instead of starting from scratch, you build your web to sit on a proprietary or open source CMS platform. That way you profit from all the thinking and development already contributed by others. Here is a good place to compare systems head to head.
Compare hundreds of different content management systems at cmsmatrix.org...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Moleskine Notebooks...
Nov 12
Typography
FontEmbedding.com states it clearly: "Applications, authoring tools and operating systems provide various, often very powerful, ways to manipulate, package, embed and modify fonts. But just because your software makes it easy to do does not mean you have the legal rights to do so. That is why it is very important to understand the license agreement which covers various commercial fonts."
As we design web sites using methods such as sIFR (Scalable Inman Flash Replacement) and electronic documents using encoding processes such as PDF (Portable Document Format), we need to be aware of the underlying information being attached in the background.
Does a special license need to be purchased? Do security special measures need to be instituted? This is an ongoing discussion between communication designers, type designers, IT managers, and so on that is resulting in a mishmash of licenses and rules. Since you and I must understand and comply with the results, we need to be aware of the issue. In case you have not yet addressed it, here's an introduction.
An overview of font embedding...
An example of how one leading foundary (Hoefler & Frere-Jones) addresses the issue: "What's involved in using fonts on websites?" and "Can I use fonts to make PDFs?" ...
In the Ideabook Design Store: FontHead Typefaces...
Nov 10
Illustration
Don't get sidetracked with the joke here, this reality version of Photoshop communicates, without words, what a powerful software program Photoshop is. This idea of recasting a cold subject (software) in warm terms (boxes and cups of paint) helps the reader think about the subject in another way. Next question: How can I use the idea of substitution in my next project? Thanks to cartoonist George Coghill for pointing me to it.
Recasting Photoshop...
New in the Ideabook Design Store: Creative Advertising...
Nov 7
Web Design
Put this in the category of tools you will never need—until you need them. Browsershots is an online service (created by Johann C. Rocholl) that makes screenshots of your web design in as many as 85 different browser versions with a variety of settings (with and without Flash, various depth of color, and so on). If you wonder how others are seeing your work, this is a very educational and sometimes frustrating process.
Here's to all the folks who invest their time and spirit in the wonderful array of useful tools on the world wide web--if any of you are listening, thank you a thousand times.
Browsershots compatibility testing...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Getting It Printed...
Nov 5
Ideas 101
Do you call yourself a designer? Graphic designer? Communication designer? Commercial artist? Art director? Creative director? I believe this is a worthwhile discussion. As I began researching an article on the subject I found someone had already started the conversation--Errol Saldanha. Take a look here and tell me what you think.
A discussion about communication design...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Becoming a Graphic Designer
Nov 3
Web Design
TasteBook.com provides tools for re-purposing web content--in this case, recipes. The idea is simple: You find material you like on participating web sites and compile it into a book that is then printed and shipped to you. It's smart on three levels: One, it allows the reader to pick and choose the content of their book. Two, it offers a new revenue stream for the participants. And three, it provides the developer with a way of offering unique content without having to create it from scratch.
The cover page...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Before & After: Graphics For Business...
Oct 29
Illustration
Barnacle Press is a rather odd source worth knowing--odd because it seems rather anonymous and covers some material that is not easily divided by two. Dig in and you'll find lots of ideas about communicating and comic illustration.
Comics 1.0 from Barnacle Press...
A Rube Goldberg classic...
Papercraft toys are from the LA Times...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Pantone Guide to Communicating with Color...
Oct 27
Print Design
One way is to make fun of yourself. And that is what got me to actually read one of the bazillion credit card offers I get every month. Somebody must have said, "These letters are a joke to consumers, let's laugh at it with them." Hats off the the copywriter or art director who though it up and to the corporate folks who let it stand. This is definitive marketing.
Blah, blah, blah...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Before & After: Page Design...
Oct 24
Print Design
There are two things I want to point you to here. First is Lance Wyman's work. He specializes in the design of wayfinding systems, as he defines it: "the branding, signs, maps and directional devices that tell us where we are, where we want to go, and how to get there." He is a master of it.
The second thing I want to note is the layout of his web site. It is a lesson in usability. It shows a time line of his work, uses a rollover image system to categorize the work (across the top, "Corporate," "Events," and so on), and it allows you to dig deeper by highlighting a logo and clicking through a string of images to see how it was developed and implemented. All from the same screen. Very interesting. (Thanks to son Rob for introducing me to Wyman's work following the designer's recent visit to VCU.)
Lance Wyman's one page wonder...
An excellent overview of Wyman's work and the development of wayfinding systems...
In the Ideabook Design Store: The Desktop Publisher's Idea Book...
Oct 22
Illustration
For my money David O'Keefe is the world's top 3D caricaturist. His sculptures are absolutely spot on—at once, humorous and revealing. They have appeared on the covers of Sports Illustrated, Mad Magazine, The Village Voice, within the pages of TIME, and so on.
An example of David O'Keefe's sculpture, in this case, of David Letterman...
O'Keefe's sculpture menu...
David O'Keefe Studio cover...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Templates for InDesign, QuarkXpress, or PageMaker...
Oct 20
Graphics Tech
A word cloud is a visual representation of how often a particular word appears within a particular document. So if you have a document in which the word "design" appears 20 times and the word "color" appears 10 times, "design" will be shown at twice the size of "colors."
Jonathan Feinberg's Wordle is a cool online utility for creating a cloud from any web page, web site, or a document. You identify the text and then choose a font, layout, and color scheme.
It's very interesting to see what words predominate.
A word cloud for ideabook.com...
Jonathan Feinberg's Wordle...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Design-It-Yourself: Graphic Workshop...
Oct 17
Graphics Tech
A good communications designer knows how to parse what they see—they disassemble the parts to figure out what's going on. One key part that is easy to overlook is the influence of the medium on the design. For example, the difference between a typeface in print and the same face displayed by pixels on a computer screen.
Recently, the folks at Mister Retro were kind enough to share a new product with me. Permanent Press is a collection of filters for Photoshop that allow you to simulate the effects of various forms of printing. The filters include effects such as rubber stamp, vintage decal, washed out CMYK, and and so on.
The results are very convincing. You have only to look at the samples shown on the page I have linked to. If you are interested in a subtle (and not so subtle way) to distinguish one piece from the others, I encourage you to check it out.
Mister Retro's Permanent Press vintage print plug-in for Photoshop...
MR offers a bunch of very interesting filters...
NEW in the Ideabook Design Store: Tintbook CMYK Process Color Selector...
Oct 15
Ideas 101
In case you haven't tried it, twitter is a good place to get to know folks in a slightly different way. You post brief thoughts and ideas (to be exact, 140 characters or less) and people who are interested in checking in answer back, make derogatory remarks, and so on. While some folks use it to answer the question: "What are you doing?" I am using it to answer the question: What are you thinking? Interested? Take a look.
Ideabook (me) on twitter...
In the Ideabook Design Store: The Color Harmony Guide...
Oct 13
Shopping
How about something on the light side? I added a new category to the "Design Shopping" section of jumpola.com recently titled "Paper products." It includes distinctive manufacturers and resellers of paper-oriented products. In it you will many types of archive materials, blank books and stationery, calendars, office supplies, and so on.
Cavallini...
Exaclair...
Hollander's...
Paper Source...
QuoVadis...
Russell+Hazel...
Talas...
In the Ideabook Design Store: The Copywriter's Handbook...
Oct 11
Color
That's the title of an article I wrote for the August/September issue of InDesign Magazine. It points to some of the simple ways you can tap the power of color within InDesign.
The bad news is you can't read it for free, you'll have to subscribe to the magazine. The good news is you'll have to subscribe to the magazine. Seriously, if you are a dedicated InDesign user, you'll find lots of thoughtful and detailed InDesign insight from simple to advanced. The masthead includes the names of top editors and authors you are sure to recognize including Terri Stone, David Blatner, and Sandee Cohen.
Here's a free trial issue...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Creative Business CD-ROM...
Oct 8
Web Design
If you're interested in ecommerce, you'll be interested in the Get Elastic Ecommerce Blog. It includes lots of in depth information on marketing, usability, design, and so on. Want to know how to minimize shopping cart abandonment? Or what to include in a comprehensive product description? Get Elastic is a good place to start.
Get Elastic, the ecommerce blog...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Graphic Artists Guild Handbook: Pricing & Ethical Guidelines...
Oct 6
Reference
Jott.com allows you to do just that. You call a toll free number and speak up to 15 seconds. Jott then translates your voice into text and emails you a notification. (Thus far I have found the voice recognition to be surprisingly accurate.) And, the basic service is free! Thanks to my good friend Daniel Will-Harris for introducing me to Jott.
Take a look at Jott...
Daniel Will-Harris introduced me to Jott. Visit his site...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Brenner Pricing Tables...
Oct 3
Typography
Recently, I've heard buzz from several corners about Museo, a font designed by a Dutch art director named Jos Buivenga and published by his foundry, exljbris.
There are two interesting things about it. First, it is a well-designed font that deserves a look. And second point of interest is how it is being marketed. The Museo family is listed on MyFonts.com in five different styles—what amounts to light to heavy. The mid-range weights are offered for free and the lightest and heaviest versions are priced like a regular font. A clever way to get you to try it. I, of course, want the other two weights as wells. Hence I will be light $33.
Museo at MyFonts.com...
A new family, Museo Sans at MyFonts.com...
Jos Buivenga's foundry: exljbris...
Jos Buivenga's blog...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Art Parts Clip Art...
Oct 1
Learning
These examples from the portfolio of Portuguese designer Goncalo Cabral reminded me of the how important it is to fully understand the context in which our designs will be used. It is not only is it important to grasp the literal environment in which the material will be used, it is also important to understand the underlying potential such as the pervasive mindset (if there is one) of the people who will be applying the design on a day-to-day basis. Or the current state of design in, in this case, the airline industry.
I don't pretend to know how deeply Mr. Cabal dug into the context on these projects, but I'm guessing it was well below the surface.
Goncalo Cabral—design in context...
An experimental postage stamp collection—a project where context is down right critical...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Moleskine Notebooks...
Sep 29
Mind Vacations
A (supposedly) True story.
A woman walks into an ice cream shop, steps up to the counter and orders a cone. After paying, she swings around and finds herself face to face with Paul Newman. He says hello and she nods, unable to speak.
Moments later, as she makes her way down the street, she realizes she doesn't have her ice cream cone. She returns to the shop and as she opens the door she again meets Newman who asks, "Are you looking for your ice cream cone?" "Yes," she concedes. He smiles and motions, "You put it in your purse with your change."
(Snopes.com calls it doubtful. Oh well.)
A few more of my favorites...
Sep 26
Graphics Tech
That claim, of course, is the what we hope any new software upgrade will provide. For those who love new tools, Adobe has announced what they are calling a major upgrade of Creative Suite: CS4.
I, of course, will need all of this—and not just the wimpy pro packages. I will need the gigantic MASTER Collection which will allow me to conquer both the Earth AND many of the outlying planets. (Anybody got $900?)
Adobe Creative Suite 4...
In the Ideabook Design Store: FontHead Typefaces...
Sep 24
Learning
Language is critical to design—what we do not show must be said. And there are many readers in the audience who will simply write us off if our messages include errors in grammar, spelling, and the misuse of words and phrases.
Are you a sufferer? Here is a great little document that "fleshes out" some of the phrases that some "couldn't care less about" but that others are "champing at the bit" to have used properly.
BTW, the solution to this problem is to have all copy edited and proofread by an expert. I use John Fakorede—an expert writer and designer whom I recommend without reservation (see the link below).
A good starter list of misused words and phrases from justsell.com...
BTW justsell.com has some other excellent sales performance resources for writers and designers...
You can contact one of my favorite proofreaders and editors, John Fakorede, through Studio Anino here...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Getting It Printed...
Sep 22
Learning
My son Jeff Green, a design student at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), recently introduced me to the work of Hugh Dubberly. I should know of him, he is a well respected designer and teacher who worked for Apple Computer in the 80s and 90s where he contributed in no small part to its innovative approach to product development. These days he is the principal of The Dubberly Design Office (DDO), a firm that specializes in interface design, usability testing, brand development, and so on.
What caught my eye when visiting his site was the selection of "concept maps." As they put it, "We create concept maps, a type of model, to explore and learn about complex information spaces. By showing everything—the forest and the trees—in a single view, concept maps help people create mental models and clarify thoughts."
I'm just getting started with it. I'd love to hear you thoughts about the model. (Click "Comments" below.) Thanks Jeff!
A Model of Innovation PDF (44KB)...
A guide to the map...
More concept maps...
New in the Ideabook Design Store: Creative Advertising...
Sep 19
Typography
Half the battle of organizing a toolbox is keeping track of what's in it. One handy resource we all have access to (but that I rarely use) is the collection of symbols and dingbats associated with various fonts on our systems. Jesse Gardner has made browsing and inserting these little gems a breeze with an ingenious tool called SymbolAssist.
The idea is simple: you locate the symbol you want to use on the SymbolAssist chart and click it to copy it to your computer's clipboard. Then, you simply paste it into whatever you are writing or designing. (Paste on the Mac is Command-V, on the PC is Control-V). Very cool.
SymbolAssist from Plasticmind.com...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Becoming a Graphic Designer
Sep 17
Color
Thanks to Suffolk Software for sponsoring an interesting new survey on color. They are inviting visitors to a match word (and its definition) to the colors that best matches it. I predict the exercise will reveal that there is no definitive consensus.
Why? Because there are too many variables. Our impressions of color are built on an incalculable set of influences--seemingly unrelated considerations such as our geographical location, upbringing, or education, or for explicit reasons such as the context in which the color is presented, the other colors it is mixed with, the background on which it sits, and so on.
I have long thought that "blue means cool" is an over simplification of a complex, highly personal impression. How do you identify the meaning of a specific color? I don't think you can but I'd be delighted to be proven wrong.
The Cymbolism.com experiment...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Before & After: Graphics For Business...
Sep 15
Photography
I was talking with a photographer friend today and we were talking about our propensity to get so wrapped up in the creative process that the business side suffers.
Digital Railroad, as they put it, is "An online archive platform and marketing services company for the professional photography community. DRR's mission is to empower the community of photographers, photo agencies, and image buyers with trusted technology so they can focus on what they love--being creative."
It is also a place for you and I as designers to license images from top photographers that you will not find on the mass-market sites.
Digital Railroad Marketplace—the front door for the buyer...
The back door for the seller or agency...
This will give you an idea of some of the seller who use the service...
An example of the quality of the work (in this case, by photographer Jimmy Williams)...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Pantone Guide to Communicating with Color...
Sep 12
Graphics Tech
No kidding. In March of 2008 it was reported that Google spent over two billion dollars in R&D last year. The amazing thing is many of the products and systems they have developed can be had without cost. They range from something simple like Google Alerts, an e-mail service that notifies you when new examples of a particular search term or string shows up. To something as deep and wide as Google Analytics a complex tool for recording and analyzing web traffic. If you have not looked over the list lately, give it a look. I'm certain you will find something of great value. All for the cost of looking.
Wikipedia's list of Google Products...
A couple of favorites: Google Alerts...
Google Analytics...
And for a preview of things to come, Google Labs...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Before & After: Page Design...
Sep 10
Web Design
Pretty interesting idea here—design a web using what looks like an organizational flowchart. It gives the customer a very easy way to find an item. I wonder if it might even work better for a project where the product images were not so key (I tend to think showing multiple product makes a page more interesting).
The Eva Solo flowchart design...
The cover page...
A broad view...
In the Ideabook Design Store: The Desktop Publisher's Idea Book...
Sep 8
Learning
Yeoh Guan Hong has a great talent for seeing. Take a moment, first, to read a few posts on his blog and then to watch how his simple, gentle insights influence his work. To me, it is a good reminder of how much of what we see day-to-day is reflected in the design we produce. I can't help but think that developing my abilities to explain what I see and record what I think will sharpen my design skills.
Yeoh Guan Hong's blog...
And his portfolio...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Templates for InDesign, QuarkXpress, or PageMaker...
Sep 5
Graphics Tech
If you would take a few minutes to watch an interview of Leonardo da Vinci and Johannes Gutenberg, I recommend taking a look at this rare interview with Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. I realize there are tens of thousands of other women and me who have made huge contributions to the development of personal computing, but I doubt that anyone would argue these two are not among the core contributors. Want to prepare for the future? Understand the past.
Steve Jobs and Bill Gates interviewed by Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Design-It-Yourself: Graphic Workshop...
Sep 3
Print Design
The world continues to spin into control. Now it looks as though there will soon be an economical way to create a few yards of fabric from your graphic designs. As they put it, "Spoonflower gives individuals the power to print their own designs on fabric that they can then use to make quilts, clothes, pillows, blankets, framed textile art and many, many other things that might surprise you."
Imagine the applications for creating one-of-a-kind imagery for presentations, product models, and so on.
Sign up to be invited to test the process...
A collection of what other designers are doing with Spoonflower fabrics...
The Spoonflower Blog...
NEW in the Ideabook Design Store: Tintbook CMYK Process Color Selector...
Sep 1
Typography
John Parker, the Director of Brand Communication at Veer, has posted a sneak peek at Compendium. A hard-edged calligraphic script that boasts almost 700 glyphs.
Compendium Specimen (1.8MB PDF)...
Parker's post...
In the Ideabook Design Store: The Color Harmony Guide...
Aug 29
Typography
I have pointed to Michael Doret's typographic illustrations in an earlier post but I just became aware that Doret offers four comprehensive typefaces that you can use to build your own illustrations. Below is a link to the foundry (Alphabet Soup) followed by the instruction guides for each of the four typefaces.
Michael Doret's Alphabet Soup...
Metroscript (600KB PDF)...
PowerStation (900KB PDF)...
Bank Gothic AS (600KB PDF)...
Orion (1MB PDF)...
In the Ideabook Design Store: The Copywriter's Handbook...
Aug 27
Web Design
This type of design grounds me. It reminds me that you can never go wrong by focusing on basics. To differentiate your product or service from your competitors you identify benefits, communicate your passion, demonstrate your uniqueness, and establish your style.
Bakemania does it all—it is clear, passionate, and beautifully stated...
In the Ideabook Design Store: The Copywriter's Handbook...
Aug 25
Reference
I recently was asked if "mining" ideas, color schemes, layouts, and so on is intellectual piracy. My effort to provide a lucid answer led me to, among others, a series of articles written by Linda Joy Kattwinkel, an artist and attorney for Oliver, Kattwinkel & Sabec. I particularly appreciate her perspective because she sees things from a graphic design perspective.
Is it intellectual piracy? Maybe, never, and always...
More excellent insight...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Creative Business CD-ROM...
Aug 22
Illustration
If you have ever needed a detailed, accurate map for a project you know that, though there are maps galore on the web, finding and licensing one can be a complicated proposition. That's why I want to point to a recently launched rights-managed and royalty-free map resource from GeoNova Publishing, Inc.—StockMaps.com. They offer base maps for custom map creation and what they characterize as "market-ready maps for media, marketing, publishing and display." GeoNova Publishing is a Discovery Communications / HowStuffWorks company.
A new resource for maps...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Brenner Pricing Tables...
Aug 20
Web Design
I'm always on the lookout for interesting ways of navigating the screen. Johnson Banks uses a simple click and drag method to move around a big picture. To me, adds a sense of discovery to the process.
Climb the work tree...
There are many other interesting ideas to explore at Johnson Banks...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Task Force Clip Art...
Aug 18
Learning
Spend fifteen minutes skimming this article from Computer Arts and I guarantee you will come away with at least one significant insight on the design process--probably three or four. To me, there is nothing more valuable than stepping back from the wall and watching another climber navigate the same challenge.
50 ways to become a better designer...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Art Parts Clip Art...
Aug 15
Typography
I don't know that I have seen anything quite like this before. It is so simple yet so compelling, it just stopped me in my tracks. The fact that you must read your way through it ensures you get the message. On top of all that, the idea of supporting folks around the world with micro loans is a wonderful idea that is proving to be an valuable way to communicate caring and sharing--love it. Thanks to Jesse Gardner at plasticmind.com for pointing to it.
The Girl Effect...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Moleskine Notebooks...
Aug 13
Learning
Ree Drummond is a mother, wife, photographer, designer, and writer--a real Renaissance woman. She is also part pioneer. If you have not heard her story or enjoyed her clear, smart insights on photography and Photoshop (and those of her contributors), you're in for a treat.
The photography and Photoshop area of The Pioneer Woman...
The cover...
In the Ideabook Design Store: FontHead Typefaces...
Aug 11
Graphics Tech
This is a wonderfully simple solution for creating a online portfolio using Flickr and PictoBrowser. You use Flickr to upload and organize your images and PictoBrowser to customize and automate the display of the images on your site.
If you don't already have a Flickr account, the first step is to sign up and upload your images. Then you configure PictoBrowser to match the size and shape of your page and copy and paste the code. That's all there is to it. If you already have a Flickr account, you'll be up and running in a matter of half an hour.
Thanks to Diego Bauducco, Carlos Gomez, and Maya Gorton for PictoBrowser--a truly elegant system and set of tools.
An example I created from a set of snapshots for a client...
Create a Flickr account...
Then you configure PictoBrowser and copy and paste the code...
New in the Ideabook Design Store: Creative Advertising...
Aug 8
Learning
I came across another valuable resource today (a new collection of images from the National Archives on Flickr) and couldn't help but pause to reflect on the exciting potential of our world. It was around this time 100 years ago that the first stable aircraft flights and radio broadcasts were taking place. It would be another twenty years before rudimentary television and roughly forty before the first practical computers. Simple infections took people's lives and average life expectancy in the United States was under 50.
Today, less than one hundred years later, a child with access to the World Wide Web can tap much of the cumulative knowledge of mankind. Can you imagine where such awareness could lead?
The 100-year-old web page...
Imagine the potential of children who grow up with access to records of the past such as the Library of Congress' Prints & Photographs archive...
And access to graduate level university teaching...
And to much of the great literature of the age...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Getting It Printed...
Aug 6
Typography
On the cover of Adobe's Font page is an interesting collection of type plus motion. It demonstrates some theoretical uses and provides an abbreviated look at how you build an effect in programs such as InDesign and After Effects. I particularly like selection number five: DVD Menus.
Click “Step inside and be moved”...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Becoming a Graphic Designer
Aug 4
Typography
One way to improve your understanding of typography and to master proportion and placement is to study the relationship between characters and shapes in fine handwriting and calligraphy. And the ideal place to start is at the International Association of Master Penmen, Engrossers, and Teachers of Handwriting (IAMPETH).
The gallery......
A wonderful collection of out-of-print books on calligraphy and penmanship in PDF form...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Before & After: Graphics For Business...
Aug 1
Illustration
It's been a long time since I've come across a large collection of black and white vector silhouettes. These remind me of the material offered by Ultimate Symbol. Both are worth a look.
Examples of Neubauladen vector illustrations (and fonts)...
An index of the Neubauladen images...
The Ultimate Symbol Collection...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Before & After: Page Design...
Jul 30
Illustration
I don't often point to my own work but I think this is a nice solution to complex problem. Click2Mail offers a system for creating, personalizing, producing, and mailing print materials such as brochures, postcards, and letters. To explain how it works, we created a big-picture diagram and added mouse-over captions that provide in depth information to those who want it.
Click2Mail, how it works...
In the Ideabook Design Store: The Color Harmony Guide...
Jul 28
Web Design
The Mohawk Fine Papers web employs an interesting paging technique. It communicates the content via a stack of single pages which (to me) effectively mask the scope and complexity of the content.
Two questions. First, do you agree that the design communicates a sense of “less?” And second, do you see that as a positive or a negative?
Mohawk Fine Papers...
In the Ideabook Design Store: The Desktop Publisher's Idea Book...
Jul 25
Ideas 101
Maybe a more apt headline is, "the hidden value of smart thinking." If you study the list of the "Latest News" headlines on the cover of cnn.com, you'll spot a tiny t-shirt icon next to one or more of the listings. Click it and you are whooshed off to CNN Shirt where you can order a t-shirt emblazoned with the headline and stamped with the date and time it was created.
The idea is the work of The Barbarian Group, the folks who designed the site. I point to it because I think it is worth noting the little things that go into building big successes. As you'll see in a brief story about the project, it has created lots of buzz and (not surprisingly) sold some shirts. Dual-cool.
Look for the t-shirt icon to the right of the Latest News headlines...
The CNN Shirt archive...
A story about the idea...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Templates for InDesign, QuarkXpress, or PageMaker...
Jul 23
Graphics Tech
iA, Information Architects Japan, has published the latest version of its Web Trends Map—an fascinating index of what the authors view as the world's most successful and influential websites. The twist is the presentation—it is laid out in the form of a mass transit map (I could re-state in another way that but it wouldn't make any more sense the second time). Instead, have a look.
The printed poster...
A clickable version...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Design-It-Yourself: Graphic Workshop...
Jul 21
Reference
This link leads to the AIGA Standard Form of Agreement for Design Services—a model for establishing a fairly rigorous set of terms and conditions with clients. If you are a designer I'd like to know if you ask your clients to sign a similar agreement and the extent of it. And if you are a client, I'd like to know if you have been asked to sign such an agreement and the extent of it.
AIGA Standard Form of Agreement for Design Services (450KB PDF) ...
While you're here: another series from the AIGA that speaks to the design business and ethics...
Considering joining the AIGA? Here's an interesting conversation...
NEW in the Ideabook Design Store: Tintbook CMYK Process Color Selector...
Jul 18
Print Design
That's part of book cover lore explains designer John Gall in this interesting documentary short from Barnes & Noble Studio—The 5 Rules of Book Cover Design.
The 5 Rules of Book Cover Design...
An interview with Gall at Step Inside Design...
And a nice collection of his covers...
In the Ideabook Design Store: The Color Harmony Guide...
