Mar 8
Reference
As every graphic designer knows, you are not free to simply add an illustration or photograph to a brochure or web site without first knowing who owns it and what rights they have to it. Some images are copyrighted—which means the owner dictates how it can be used. Others are copyright-free or their copyrights have expired (generally referred to as being in the public domain)—which means (in most cases) you are free to use it without permission.
The good news is there are millions of public domain images available for use&mdashthe bad news is it isn't always easy to distinguish what is protected and what isn't.
All that said, I have compiled a few pages that point to the issues and one that will get you started finding what you're looking for.
This recent article by John Mark Ockerbloom of the University of Pennsylvania Libraries—Shedding light on images in the public domain—offers a good introduction...
Peter B. Hirtle of Cornell University provides a useful overview of the current laws: Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States...
With that information in mind, you should be sufficiently armed to wander around Wikipedia's "wild west" of public domain image resources—there's lots of opportunity there but travel the territory with caution. (Just because it's listed doesn't mean it's safe to use.)...
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Feb 12
Ideas 101
Eric Baker started out spending 30 minutes each morning finding and sending odd and interesting images to a friend online—a good idea soon draws a crowd. If you need an occasional creative nudge, check out Eric Baker's Today, it just may do the trick.
Baker's first post from October 2008—Today on designobserver.com...
A recent example...
The archive...
Baker is one of the principals at The O Group. Their portfolio...
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Feb 10
Basic design
What I like so much about Fred Showker is that he sees the graphic design industry from more than one angle--he's is a working designer, an experienced teacher and presenter, a bit of a technoid, and the creative mind behind one of the top marketing and design resources on the Web--the Graphic Design & Publishing Center.
Not only does he stay curious about what's next, he has amassed a huge archive of insightful articles and tutorials on design, photography, typography, marketing, and the business of graphic design.
He recently did a major reorganization and re-launch of the site so, if you haven't already, I urge you to take a look.
The Design & Publishing Center...
Example 1: Visual Proofreading: 10 Rules...
Example 2: Designing Spaces...
Example 3: Throw Your Press Release in the Trash...
Fred's bio...
I've been a subscriber to his newsletter, DT&G NEWS, for years...
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Aug 24
Photography
A work of art? I certainly believe it is.
Here's a bit of a controversy I'd like to hear your opinion on.
I love the Shorpy photographic site but something shown there struck a (dull) chord with me. It is the coloroization of an iconic black and white photograph--Dorothea Lange's Migrant Mother.
I don't think the contributor is a bad person for doing this, I just think they don't fully appreciate the fact that it is wrong to copy and or edit someone else's work without their permission.
Personally, I believe a photograph is a creative work that should be protected from this type of defacement (ethically, if not legally).
I can't image anyone having the temerity to colorize Ansel Adams' The Tetons--Snake River. Or Pablo Picasso's Guernica. I doubt most would look favorably on a budding writer who decided to add a chapter or two to Joyce's Ulysses and republish it.
Is this any different?
The image in question...
The original image...
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Jul 10
Ideas 101
Photograph 1 is fascinating. Photograph 2 is shocking. The difference is not that both animals are strange, the difference is that the second animal is shown in a totally unexpected context--surrounded by a pristine white background.
Makes me wonder how I better communicate a message by taking something people are used to seeing in one context and showing it in another.
Photograph 1...
Photograph 2...
See more of these wonderful creatures...
See how photographer David Doubilet captured these images on a specially constructed underwater cyc--and I thought I had some bizarre photo shoots...
I describe one slightly strange photo shoot here (hop down the page to "The glamorous life of a design executive"...
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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...
Jun 2
Photography
What is your favorite holiday? Christmas? Thanksgiving? Halloween? As if we don't have enough reasons to take the day off—Corbis (the photography and footage supplier) is celebrating World Pinhole Camera Day with the release of a series of do-it-yourself camera designs. You download a PDF of the design, print the parts, cut them out, and build your own pinhole camera.
The site...
One of the camera designs (1.4MB PDF)...
If you're really into it, leave time at the end of the day (after the gift exchange and festive pinhole camera dinner) to check out the world's largest pinhole camera...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Task Force Clip Art...
Apr 30
Photography
Great. I have a new addition to my list of delusions—next time you see a photograph of a tiny little, toy-like model of a “real” scene, look again. It may not be a model at all, it may be the real thing edited using the “fake tilt-shift” effect in Photoshop (“real” tilt-shift is accomplished using a camera lens by the same name).
This is an illustration technique you will definitely want to add to you toolbox. The effect is achieved by changing the depth of field (among other things).
A set of examples...
More examples...
A Photoshop tutorial...
In the Ideabook Design Store: The Color Harmony Guide...
Apr 18
Photography
The photographs at Notes from the Road are stunning—they're captured using a traditional large format sheet-film camera. But the layout is why I'm pointing to the site. Though the understated, neutral palette and the type treatments are well worth noting, what caught my eye was how the bottoms of the anchor photographs are feathered into the article text—a simple but effective technique for integrating two dissimilar elements. (You'll have to dig deep to find the context of the Hokey Pokey bumper sticker.)
Erik Gauger's Notes from the Road...
Another nice example...
About the author, designer, illustrator, photographer...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Moleskine Notebooks...
Apr 2
Photography
There is a great lesson here. Photographer Andrew Zuckerman photographed animals commonly seen in the wild and brought them into a studio and photographed them on an infinity cyc (a seamless, white cyclorama used to focus all attention on the objects placed on it). It helped him to capture images that are very different than what you normally see.
My point is this: when you take a subject and isolate it from the normal ways in which it is described and shown, you are likely to find a new way of communicating it.
Creatures by Andrew Zuckerman...
Zuckerman's portfolio...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Design-It-Yourself: Graphic Workshop...
Feb 20
Photography
Here's another interesting illustration technique. Group94 adds a mesh or screen overlay to the background images of its portfolio. To me, it adds a sense of continuity to the diversity of images. The same type of effect could be equally valid in print. The question becomes: What type of screen or overlay can I employ in my work to create a visual connection between a series of diverse images?
The screen effect...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Getting It Printed...
Feb 8
Photography
Here is a stunning collection of 360 panoramas. I'm somewhat surprised we haven't seen this technology used more in conventional web design. (You typically see them used to tour a house or an automobile interior.) Have any suggestions?
360icon spherical HDRI panoramic photography...
More on the process and tools at panoguide.com...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Design-It-Yourself: Graphic Workshop...
Jan 2
Photography
If you are not yet familiar with HDR (high dynamic range) photography, here are some images and tools to pique your interest. An HDR image is photographed using a range if exposures that are then converted to form a composite. The resulting image provides a more complete range of information than a conventional image and gives the artist far more control over the range of shadow and light, the manipulation of color, and the application of effects. So much more control that I think of some of these examples as more illustrations than photographs.
Pete Carr's tutorial for creating composites using a conversion tool called Photomatix...
Ryan McGinnis's tutorial for creating composites using Photoshop...
More example by Michael Seljos...
Nov 13
Photography
I'm honored to have been invited to help judge The Crestock Photoshop Contest for 2007. There are four rounds with different themes. Looks like a lot of fun and they are offering an impressive lineup of prizes—one for each round.
Crestock is a high-end “microstock” provider of royalty-free images contributed by a worldwide network of photographers, illustrators, and designers. If you have not seen it, I guarantee you will want it on your list of resources.
Details about The Crestock Photoshop Contest for 2007...
The judges...
The Crestock Collection...
Aug 24
Photography
A black and white photograph shot using a large-format camera often has a depth and stillness to it that is nearly indescribable. Some images are so sharp, the people so real, I fool myself into thinking I can sense what it would be like to be there—like a time machine. Shorpy.com, named for a child worker photographed by Lewis Wickes Hine in 1910, is a photo blog about “what life a hundred years ago was like.” The challenge I pose to you is this: how can you and I apply this type of photographic storytelling to our design work?
An example...
A subset of Lewis Wickes Hine photographs...
New in the Ideabook Design Store: Creative Advertising...
Apr 30
Photography
As I heard it, Tom Shortlidge worked at Young & Rubicam Advertising in the late 60s and moonlighted part-time at Crate & Barrel to make ends meet. The owner, Gordon Segal, asked him to take a look at some packaging designs he was considering. Mr. Shortlidge had a better idea.
Make no mistake about it, Crate & Barrel has a long track record of searching out, designing, and developing products that people want. But I doubt they would argue that Tom Shortlidge played a major role. He established a design palette that makes the product shot the center of interest—a palette so simple and insightful that it has survived, nearly intact, for over thirty years.
Crate and Barrel...
Apr 23
Photography
Photographing food is a true art. If you haven't watched an experienced photographer and stylist work, you may not appreciate the magic that goes into attaching emotion to food. Foodesign.com, home of veteran stylist Lisa Golden Schroeder, provides some interesting insights on the process and an extensive list of resources.
The Foodesigns.com site...
Portfolio of master practioner Jim Scherer...
Feb 7
Photography
What does it look like when you combine an interest of motion picture special effects with conventional photography. A world that is too fantastic, to be real, and too real to be fantasy. On the inside menu choose “photos” and be sure to click “how it was done” at the top left of each image—fascinating.
Thomas Herbrich...
Nov 3
Photography
A great photographer can take a simple object and give it an aura of its own. Foster's Web is as elegant as his work.
www.richardfoster.com
Sep 6
Photography
For her “Walk Through Durham Township” blog, Kathleen Connally says she shoots in RAW format and does some post-process work with Photoshop CS. The product is stunning. Three of my favorites:
http://www.durhamtownship.com/portfolio/archives/001329.php
http://www.durhamtownship.com/portfolio/archives/001771.php
http://www.durhamtownship.com/portfolio/archives/002435.php
Aug 9
Photography
Don't blame me if you don't get anything accomplished today. I didn't create the New York Public Library's Digital Gallery, I'm just going to point you to it. I find the photographs of everyday New York in the 1930s particularly fascinating. I can't help but think that, if you could awaken someone who died just seventy-five years ago, they would see today's world as science fiction.
A few samples: Herald Square:
http://images.nypl.org/?id=1219153&t=w
The Bread Store:
http://images.nypl.org/?id=482591&t=w
Whelan's Drug Store:
http://images.nypl.org/?id=482744&t=w
The cover page:
http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/
Aug 2
Photography
Black and white photography has a magic all its own. Watch how these stunning photographs tell the story.
http://www.niebaum-coppola.com
Jul 17
Photography
The Science Photo Library (SPL) is a UK-based provider of science photos covering all aspects of science, health & medicine, space exploration & astronomy, technology & industry, earth science, satellite imagery, and nature & wildlife.
http://www.sciencephoto.com/
Jun 5
Photography
A truly great photographer has two talents—an extraordinary ability to capture and interpret the moment and the discipline and foresight to get to, and be in the places where the moments happen. Frans Lanting, obviously, is a great photographer.
http://www.lanting.com/index.shtml
May 8
Photography
If you buy royalty-free or stock photography and you are not yet familiar with the Visual Symbols Library—I have a real treat for you. These images are drawn from the best of designer Clement Mok's acclaimed image collection (formerly sold as part of PhotoDisc's Object Series). It is not only great stuff, the price is right too.
http://visualsymbols.com/
Mar 24
Photography
My favorite type of photography involves the documentation of everyday things. Show me how people live their lives, the human condition, and off-the-beaten-path sites. That is just what designer, photographer Eugene Kuo does in his stunning travelogue of China.
http://www.226-design.com/china/
Feb 24
Photography
Once you've seen it, you'll find it easy to recognize Pete McArthur's distinctive style of photographic illustration. His clever concepts grace the pages of many publications and are used to market all types of products and services. How do we get into the action? He licenses stock images and custom work through his Web. (Love the cover.)
http://www.petemcarthur.com
My favorite of his illustrations?
http://www.petemcarthur.com/portfolio/index.asp?offset=14
Jan 2
Photography
As stated in its mission, “The National Archives is not a dusty hoard of ancient history.” Among its assets is an enormous collection of fascinating design and photography—I haven't met a designer yet who did not draw inspiration from the imagery of the past. The NARA site offers this ever-changing gallery of exhibits.
The National Archives...
While you're there, to catch “Picturing the Century.”...
