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 26
Reference
Occasionally I contribute a review over at Kevin Kelly's Cool Tools--just a little something to add to his wonderful list of tools, machines, books, software, gadgets, websites, maps, and ideas housed there. I think of it as a kind of "Consumer Reports" for interesting stuff.
I've pointed you to it before but I wrote a review that they posted today--which gives me cause to point you to it again.
Me and my chair--okay, not a spellbinding subject...
Cool Tools is now being edited by Elon Schoenholz...
Spend the afternoon...
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Dec 11
Print Design
If you've ever designed a book you know there are many parts and pieces--they run the gamut from the purely aesthetic to the legally mandatory. The trick is to understand the differences and to use them to your advantage. Here is a terrific source I came across recently produced by a guy who has a proven track record. Meet book designer Joel Friedlander...
An example: The copyright page...
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Oct 26
Illustration
Pictorial Webster's: A Visual Dictionary of Curiosities is a book compiled by John M. Carrera. It features over 1,500 engravings that originally graced the pages of Webster's dictionaries in the 19th century. Here is a fascinating look at the production of the book and the story behind it.
An overview of the project via video. Pictorial Webster's: Inspiration to Completion...
A discussion of the project at Quercus Press...
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Sep 4
Marketing PR
We all know that sound research can help us avoid many of the mistakes typically necessary to arrive at good solutions to common graphic design and marketing problems.
One source of such research is the Software Usability Research Laboratory (SURL) at Wichita State University. This group specializes in software/website user interface design, usability testing, and research in human-computer interaction.
I'd like to hear of other sources of graphic design and marketing research--all types. Do you have a source to recommend? A favorite study? A particular statistic that had a significant effect on your work?
SURL...
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Jul 31
Basic design
Everyone involved with designing web sites and creating illustrations needs to understand copyright and fair use. Even if you think you have a good grasp of the subject, you need to periodically refresh your view because it is ever-changing.
Here is a great, new-to-me source of excellent information by (what I assume are) legal experts.
I also include a link to The Center for Internet and Society (CIS)--a public interest technology law and policy program at Stanford Law School--that "brings together scholars, academics, legislators, students, programmers, security researchers, and scientists to study the interaction of new technologies and the law."
Stanford Copyright & Fair Use website Overview and Resources section...
An interview with Attorney Richard Stim, author of Getting Permission How to License & Clear Copyrighted Materials Online & Off...
The Center for Internet and Society (CIS)...
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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...
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...
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 11
Reference
Need details about the 22 possible elements of a copyright page? How to punctuate an indirect one-word question? Under what circumstance to abbreviate the books of the Bible? It's all in the The Chicago Manual of Style: “One essential reference for all who work with words—writers, editors, proofreaders, indexers, copywriters, designers, and publishers.”
A searchable version of the fifteenth edition is now available online (it started as a pamphlet in 1906 and is now 984-pages). An individual, one-year subscription us $30 and they offer a 30 day free trial.
The Chicago Manual of Style Online...
A list of proofreader's marks...
For those into the nitty-gritty: The University of Chicago Press Art Submission Requirements (570KB PDF)...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Creative Business CD-ROM...
Jun 18
Reference
Curious about what other designers make? Here are the results of the annual salary survey commissioned by the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA). Don't miss the calculator, it allows you to search by the type and size of organization, the client base, and the location.
The AIGA/Aquent Survey of Design Salaries...
The Salary Calculator...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Becoming a Graphic Designer: A Guide to Careers in Design, 3rd Edition...
May 16
Reference
In January of this year the U.S. Census Bureau announced the publication of the Census Atlas of the United States—the first comprehensive atlas of population and housing produced by the Census Bureau since the 1920s. It is 300 pages long and contains almost 800 maps.
There are two reasons to take a look at this PDF version of the atlas. First, it contains an amazing amount of fascinating information. And second, it is a fine example of clear, insightful information design.
Census Atlas of the United States...
Another extensive government resource: The National Atlas of the United States...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Becoming a Graphic Designer: A Guide to Careers in Design, 3rd Edition...
May 7
Reference
Every designer should be a student of copyright and trademark laws. These laws not only protect your work and mine, they protect the work of others—everyone from artists and designers to corporations and public institutions. Part of our job is to be certain that the illustrations and photographs we incorporate into our work do not infringe on existing copyrights or trademarks. Or, if they do, that they are properly recognized and documented.
It is not as simple as it looks. Here, for example, is a technical wiki for the royalty-free illustration and photography site istockphoto.com. It is designed to help the those who submit work for sale to understand what can and cannot be distributed under royalty-free guidelines. You might be surprised at the scope of the imagery that cannot be used without the permission of its owners.
The istockphoto wiki on copyright and trademark issues ...
Copyright basics...
Trademark basics...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Design-It-Yourself: Graphic Workshopa...
Apr 14
Reference
Guy Kawasaki makes it look easy. This time he, Will Mayall, and Kathryn Henkens (all principles of Nononia, Inc.) have birthed Alltop—a table of contents to “all the top” stories on the web.
What type of semantic computational algorithm could possibly make such a subjective judgment? The human brain. Yup, these industry innovators propose that what we need is not another regurgitation of every other machine-picked list, but a lineup selected by people.
“The bottom line,'” as they describe it, “is that we are trying to enhance your online reading by both displaying stories from the sites that you’re already visiting and helping you discover sites that you didn’t know existed. In this way, our goal is the 'cessation of Internet stagnation.'”
We are honored to be included on the Design page.
The home page with all the categories...
The Alltop.com Design Category—LOOK, there's pageplane.com next to the kid with the circle on his shirt...
In the Ideabook Design Store: FontHead Typefaces...
Feb 11
Reference
Designers Toolbox is a collection of resources worth a look. It provides quick reference to topics such as envelope, pocket folder, and DVD/CD cover and label dimensions, standard stock sizes, lists of HTML characters, proof reading marks, and so on. They also offer a variety of paid products and services. All nicely designed.
Designers Toolbox...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Templates for InDesign, QuarkXpress, or PageMaker...
Jun 4
Reference
None of us lives in a vacuum; we are all influenced by the sparks of concepts, imagery, color, configuration, and typography we see in the world around us. Early books on advertising and design are an excellent source of inspiration—they show the seeds of today's crop.
Optos Books is a rare and out-of-print bookstore that specializes in books on design and the decorative arts. Find something interesting? You'll also find a fair number of these titles on amazon.com—some reprints and some from other resellers under the “Used & new” option.
Here is the graphic design and typography category...
An example of a title on early 20th century signage (click to maximize the illustration)...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Moleskine Notebooks...
May 14
Reference
This site offers a free tool for mapping all the pages of a Web site (up to 500) and for exporting the map/list in several different formats. Why map a Web? It is another way to see how it is structured and to capture the URL of each page. It is also plays a role in optimizing a site for search engines.
Start mapping with XML-Sitemaps.com...
Nov 27
Reference
Every client, designer, photographer, illustrator, and writer should know the basics of copyright. If you're new to the subject, this is a good place to begin:
www.copyright.gov
Nov 22
Reference
Here's another amazing leap toward the virtual. Microsoft Live Local offers a bird's eye view of a the planet. What makes it so different is the growing number of areas photographed from low-flying airplanes in high-resolution. For example: a lighthouse on Gasparilla Island, in Florida:
local.live.com (Florida)
The home page...
And a companion site that points to many interesting destinations—www.birdseyetourist.com
Nov 8
Reference
The gethuman database offers toll-free phone numbers and keys to connecting with a human being at some of the world's largest organizations.
gethuman.com
Aug 7
Reference
Bartleby.com publishes the classics of literature, nonfiction, and reference free of charge. It began as a personal research experiment in 1993 and since its incorporation in 1999 has become the most comprehensive reference publisher on the Web.
The cover page.
http://www.bartleby.com/
Jul 10
Reference
I saved this for last because, if you're anything like me, you could spend half a day searching Google's groundbreaking new map application. Check this out:
Here's a map showing the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco...
Click on “Satellite” (upper right) and you get the same image in photographic detail!
Cross country
Then, try clicking on the page above and drag your mouse to move right. Unbelievable! You can actually travel across the United States (by map or satellite image) to the east coast!
Jun 23
Reference
If you are reading this (and I'm writing it), neither of us is attending TED this week in Monterey, California (we'll just have to ride it out). TED, an acronym for Technology, Entertainment, and Design, is an invitation only, four-day conference that presents an impressive roster of speakers including some of the most renowned creatives, innovators, entertainers, and provocateurs on the planet—everyone from Bill Gates to Billy Graham. Looks interesting. To get a taste, go...
http://ted.com/about/introduction/flash_page.cfm
Then select “Highlights.”
May 3
Reference
Postal Explorer is a virtual library of postal information designed for business mailers. Everything you ever need to know about designing mail pieces. For example, w Wondering exactly where to place the mailing indicia? Search “permit imprints.” Want to know what postcard dimensions qualify for first class card rate? Search “postcard dimensions.”
http://pe.usps.gov
Feb 15
Reference
Looking for a source of CD-ROM packaging? Paper coasters? Clear mailing tubes? Tin paint cans? Thomas Register is online (you've probably seen its big green books in the reference section of the library). It catalogs the names and contact information for over one hundred and fifty thousand manufacturers in the United States and Canada.
http://www.thomasregister.com/
Jan 13
Reference
One of my favorite things: every morning, more than 100 newspapers from around the world submit their front pages to newseum.org via the Internet. It is not only a great way to get the news, but a great source of newspaper design inspiration.
http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/
