Topanga, I Hardly Knew Ye- Ive always wondered why anyone with taste would pay thousands of dollars to publish one of those text-heavy, type-awful, full-page magazine advertisements void of any semblance of graphic design nuance or sophistication.... (more)
- Design Observer Party: Denver, October 12
- It is now a Design Observer tradition to host the best party at the AIGA Biennal Conference. This year's event is in Denver at The Milk Bar @ The Shelter. Friday, October 12 from 9:00pm to 2:00am. 1037 Broadway, "South of Colfax Nightlife District."... (more)
- Rest in Peace, Herbert Muschamp
- Officially published for the first time as a posthumous tribute: a loving parody of the writing of the late, great architectural critic Herbert Muschamp.... (more)
- A Plea to The New York Times: Index Your Art
- Why does the art that adds so much to the texts published in The New York Times disappear? Why cannot The New York Times simply index the art that it publishes, at least leaving the bibliographic tracings of the work in their newspaper?... (more)
- Wood That We Could
- Remember back in the late 1980s, when Minneapolis was a hotbed of creative energy? Back when brochures were tied together with braid and twigs? Minnesota was making a play for the next big thing: the North Woods look. Well, it's back...... (more)
- Stan Brakhage: Caught on Tape
- For Stan Brakhage, that concentration resulted in extraordinary explorations of many things, including the life cycle of a moth, caught on adhesive strips of tape, and subsequently captured on film where it regained however briefly the magnificent illusion of mobility. For designers, faced by budgets and clients and deadlines, the luxury of so much isolation seems a distant, if not an altogether perverse paradigm. But are these intentions really so mutually exclusive?... (more)
- Burma (Myanmar), 1989
- This slideshow of photographs from 1989 is offered in solidarity with the people of Burma as they again confront one of the most brutal regimes in the world.... (more)
- Decorative Books: The End of Print
- Back in 1956, The Times promotion department provided a viable answer in the form of its 65 Ways to Decorate with Books in Your Home, a book/zine with a reasonable $1 cover price. Steven Heller looks here for answers to repurpose of these venerable materials into useful life-enhancing goods.... (more)
- May I Show You My Portfolio?
- My art school portfolio has sat in a box, largely untouched, in the closets and basements of the three places I've lived in the last 27 years, sort of like a slowly decaying design time capsule. A few weeks ago, I opened it up for the first time in a long time.... (more)
- Designers and Dilettantes
- Dmitri Siegel discusses graphic design authorship and the impending release of Elliott Earls new film, The Sarany Motel.... (more)
- Nicolas Bourquin 2/2
- Do books like Los Logos kill creativity? Nicolas explains the best way to use Los Logos. Will there be a Quatros Logos? Logos rejected by clients are often the best. Being swiss pursuits him, also in Berlin, but it’s also an advantage. What are the differences between the Swiss and the Germans? Nicolas tells us why he moved to Berlin, his future plans, like Etcetera publications. Does he have a favourite Swiss designer? (Recorded at Typeradio’s Sweet16)
Nicolas studio: Onlab ::... (more)
- Nicolas Bourquin 1/2
- Nicolas Bourquin explains what he does, he sets things in context, be it a book, video or an exhibition. As an art director / editor for Die Gestalten he finds this multi-disciplinary work inspiring. He motivates why books are not at all an obsolete medium and talks about the Los Logos book project and the selection process for it. (Recorded at Typeradio’s Sweet16)
Nicolas Bourquin ::
Die Gestalten ::
File Download (15:31 min / 21 MB)... (more)
- Klaus Voormann 2/2
- Why did Klaus Voormann retire from the music business? What filled the gap that music left in his life? What current bands does he like? He talks about his cooperation with Stefan Gandl, the Hamburg Days book, the Turbonegro record sleeve and finally his music production work for the German band Trio (Da Da Da). (Recorded at Typeradio’s Sweet16)
Stefan Gandl ::
Hamburg Days book ::
Trio - Da Da Da video ::
File Download (14:09 min / 20 MB)... (more)
- Klaus Voormann 1/2
- Typeradio talks on the phone to graphic designer and musician Klaus Voormann. He tells the story how he met and hooked up with The Beatles. Voormann designed the covers for The Beatles’ Revolver and Anthology albums. Besides that he played bass guitar with members of the Beatles, Mannfred Mann’s Earth Band and many other world famous artists. But what is the favourite musician he played with? (Recorded at Typeradio’s Sweet16)
Klaus Voormann ::
The Beatles ::
... (more)
- MeekFM 2/2
- We hear the M.E.E.K. typographic synthesizer in action. While Frank is playing the instrument, Rob is explaining what is happening and what can be seen. (Recorded at Typeradio’s Sweet16)
Meek FM ::
File Download (17:46 min / 25 MB)... (more)
- MeekFM 1/2
- Rob Meek and Frank Müller developed the M.E.E.K. typographic synthesizer for their project MeekFm as an interpretation of type as sound. They tell us how the project came about and explain how the synthesizer works. It’s all about the interaction between the visuals and the sounds. What will it develop into? (Recorded at Typeradio’s Sweet16)
MeekFM ::
Rob Meek ::
Frank Müller ::
File Download (14:42 min / 20 MB)... (more)
- Justus Oehler 3/3
- Was it a good idea to start a Pentagram office in Berlin? Justus Oehler tells us how he came to know the president of Sardinia and design the Sardinia identity. What are the Pentagram Papers? How does Justus like to be remembered? (Recorded at Typeradio’s Sweet16)
Pentagram Papers 37: Forgotten Architects ::
Pentagram Papers - the book ::
File Download (15:12 min / 21 MB)... (more)
- Justus Oehler 2/3
- Justus Oehler explains the criteria to become a Pentagram partner, and how the design process in Pentagram works, both in finances as in design work. Justus also tells us how he learned to work the computer, what he likes to work on, why he moved to Berlin and how things will work out. (Recorded at Typeradio’s Sweet16)
Pentagram ::
File Download (14:52 min / 21 MB)... (more)
- Justus Oehler 1/3
- Justus Oehler runs the Berlin office of Pentagram. He talks about how he got started in design, his parents and how he ended up at Pentagram. What is typically Pentagram, in design and thinking? What are the differences between the various Pentagram studios? (Recorded at Typeradio’s Sweet16)
Pentagram ::
Pentagram Berlin ::
File Download (16:09 min / 22 MB)... (more)
- Node 2/2
- What is the influence of the Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam and how did it change? Node are reluctant to define their graphic style. They explain their typographic sound projects and bring us the song ‘Make The Logo Bigger’. But what is Node’s claim to fame? And have they lived up to their parents’ expactations? Do they consider themselves to be digital bohemians? (Recorded at Typeradio’s Sweet16)
Node's Audio Alphabet ::
Node's All Sound project ::... (more)
- laser-cut sound analysis sculptures
-
a series of 4 different physical "sound sculptures": 3D artworks based on audio analysis & custom software that extract meaningful data from sound signals, to create unique mappings between the audio & other media. the sculptures are based on audioworks by Freiband (Nl, Frans de Waard), & Alexander Rishaug (No), & were created using digital fabrication technology such as rapid prototyping, CNC & laser cutting, which allow for the direct translation of a digital model into physical form.
[l... (more)
- caffeine usage arcs
-
several visualizations of real-time coffee consumption tracked by hacking a real (& online) coffee machine. the arcs graph shows the average time caffeine remains in the body. the circles applet represents individual days as unique circles. circles are positioned based on the time coffee was taken, while color saturation & size convey the quantity of coffee.
an open, online API, allows anyone to create alternative visualizations of the coffee usage dataset.
[link: colmeia.tv|via flowingd... (more)
- zoomii visual amazon store
-
a visual bookshelf browser of over 21,000 books from Amazon's catalog. books are visualized as stacks in shelves, with covers ordered alphabetically by author & organized by genre. following the typical Google Map interaction metaphor,users can click & drag across Zoomii's landscape of shelves, zoom in & out, or select a book's cover to receive basic statistical information.
[link: zoomii.com|via arstechnica.com]
see also:
. Amazon book map
. another Amazon book map
. amaznode
. oskop... (more)
- mapping scientific citations
-
a network visualization that shows the flow of knowledge between scientific fields based on the weighting of citations by subject field. a static map represents between fields. the dataset is based on Thomson Scientific's 2004 Journal Citation Reports (JCR), consisting of 6,434,916 citations from 6128 journals.
orange circles represent fields, with larger, darker circles indicating larger field size as measured by eigenfactor. blue arrows represent citation flow between fields. an arrow from ... (more)
- collective prediction network
-
a "social experiment" that harnesses the collective intelligence of the web to visualize & uncover hidden relationships among future & historical events. users are invited to leave predictions of future events, while an encompassing network-like visualizations allows the identification of patterns "by connecting the past, present & future".
[link: weboffate.com|thnkx Paul]
see also:
. community opinion graphs
. collaborative news prediction
. geographical buzz map... (more)
- all the water in the world
-
all the water in the world (or 1.4087 billion cubic kilometres of it) including sea water, ice, lakes, rivers, ground water, clouds, etc. (left). all the air in the atmosphere (or 5140 trillion tonnes of it) gathered into a ball at sea-level density (right). both shown on the same scale as the Earth.
[link: phiffer.com|via boingboing.net & benfry.com]
see also relative size of our world.... (more)
- reflect conversation table
-
[infosthetics @ EPFL] a light-emitting meeting table that monitors specific aspects of cverbal onversations (e.g. amount of time spent on topics or the relative amount of time a person talks) captured via directional microphones & that displays a real-time visual feedback of the conversation state using arrays of colored LED lights.
beneath the frosted-glass surface of the table, an electronic circuit board with 128 individually-addressable multi-color LEDs provides a low-resolution v... (more)
- BBC news white spectrum
-
a data visualisation tool which tries to analyze the debate sparked by the BBC White season of programs which aired on BBC2. the interface shows a number of particles floating around in space. each particle represents a sentence taken from the debate & is assigned a color corresponding to the type of emotion (i.e. anger, fear, hurt, confusion, happiness & caring) word found in the sentence.
particles also have a size which reflects the intensity of the emotion expressed & a brightness which i... (more)
- interface for medical knowledge
-
an interactive interface that displays VCM (Visualisation des Connaissances Medicales; visualization of medical knowledge) icons organized around an anatomical diagram of the human body with additional mental, etiological & physiological areas. the interface explicitly represents information implicit in the drug monograph, such as the absence of a given contraindication (i.e. the pictogram will be grayed out).
the interface includes 3 identical looking "Mister VCM" interfaces (placed beneath e... (more)
- code swarm organic software visualization
-
an "organic software visualization" that shows the history of commits in a software project. a "commit" happens when a developer makes changes to the code or documents & transfers them into the central project repository.
both developers and files are represented as moving elements. when a developer commits a file, it lights up & flies towards that developer. files are colored according to their purpose, such as whether they are source code or a document. if files or developers have not been ... (more)
- Working with web developers in India: why, whom, and how
- In the past decade or so, multi-national corporations have taken to diverting many of their customer service hotlines to Bangalore and other metropolitan centers in India, primarily as a ”cost-saving measure.“ Yet they’re perpetrating a greater injustice than simply annoying their customers to save a few cents. By giving their distant call center operators little training and even less authority to help customers — as most of them, with a few notable exceptions, seem to d... (more)
- Building and managing virtual teams
- I constantly get the same question, “How do you manage a virtual team and actually get stuff done.” At Wildbit, each of the 10 team members work from home or a coworking environment. We’re spread out across four countries and many timezones. With such separation, we still manage to get a lot done and enjoy our work.
Before writing this article, I had not given much thought to exactly how we work in a virtual environment. My first answer was simply practice and many mistakes. Al... (more)
- Same DOM errors, different browser interpretations
- Introduction
In this article I will explore the DOM, look at some common kinds of errors that are found in the DOM and how different debugging tools can be used to find such DOM errors and make sure that the DOM is interpreted consistently across browsers. Along the way, I’ll introduce Opera Dragonfly, the new kid on the web development debugging block, and show how it performs.
What is the DOM?
When a browser receives HTML code from a website, it creates a structured overview of the HTML ... (more)
- Good products don't make up for bad service … but they help
- April 30th was my birthday and I took the day off. It was supposed to be a relaxing day. It began by making pancakes with my wife, then playing video games for a while. Soon after I went to get a massage followed by some lunch. Lunch threw my day off. We went to a new-to-the-neighborhood, upscale, sit-down sandwich place called Jerry’s. Their menu is gigantic. I figured that deciding what to eat would be the biggest problem I’d have there. I was wrong.
After we ordered, we noticed th... (more)
- Hats off to your own web business
- After I moved back from the States in early 2005, I started a web design and development business in Mumbai, India. At that time everyone was doing it. Outsourcing was a buzzword and getting paid in dollars was the new mantra. And with the relationships my wife and I had built staying in Chapel Hill, NC we were able to get off the ground quickly with a service business.
But after a few months and a dozen projects I knew there was something lacking in running a service business. I wanted to head ... (more)
- Designing a web app with character
- In this presentation, Denise Wilton, designer at Moo.com talks about how to build web apps that not only work well, but have their own special character and personality.
As well as sharing tips from her design experience, Denise discusses the important role that copy plays in building a credible, likeable web app too.
This session is from Future of Web Design London 2007, hosted by Carsonified. You can listen to all the event MP3s and download Denise’s presentation at the FOWD past events... (more)
- Building a web app the Microsoft way
- As an agency that helps clients in the web start-up market to design and build web apps, Howard Baines is familiar with the popular approach of using open source technologies and tools to get the job done economically. We’ve worked with PHP, Rails, MySQL and others, and have experienced the highs and lows of doing so. Late last year we decided to fly in the face of popular opinion and build a web app of our own… using the Microsoft platform.
Deciding on the app
We decided to build a ... (more)
- Developing with Google App Engine, Part I
- I’m a front-end engineer slash designer who likes to think he can dabble in code. With my simple side projects I do a passable job and my hacks limps along, most likely inefficiently and always on the verge of breaking, but getting the job (mostly) done. But where I almost always trip up and get lost — in days of hair pulling frustration — is when I’m setting up my local development or live production environment. It’s so difficult to find an accurate, knowledgeable... (more)
- The thrill of launch
- It’s 7pm in Austin Texas and I’m in a deserted lobby at South by Southwest with Nick Gonzalez from TechCrunch. Tomorrow is the day we’ve been building up to for ten months, the day we launch our product, Clickpass. I’m now demoing Clickpass to Nick who wants to review it for TechCrunch.
Almost everyone has left the building and are either back in their hotels or at the Facebook party, but for some reason the wireless is still saturated and has almost slowed to a halt.
On... (more)
- Subversion for Designers
- If you attended Future of Web Apps this year in Miami, or even listened to the audio, it’s apparent that version control is a crucial part of building web apps. As Cal Henderson put it, “If you listen to nothing else I say today, start using source control.” This might be obvious to developers, but many web designers still have not discovered the benefits of version control. Without version control, most web designers work in constant risk. Each time a new change is made, the p... (more)
- Signage and Carnage in the Year of the Dog
- Traffic signs set the rules of the road, but signage alone wont create order where only chaos exists. Caplan recalls the postwar pileup on Chinas highways and byways.... (more)
- Design Life Now: Curating the National Design Triennial
- How do you filter three years’ worth of design into one comprehensive exhibition? Author and curator Lupton shares some of her insider secrets.... (more)
- Bookatainment: An Interview with Jim Heimann
- Who wouldnt like to track down rare and exotic design ephemera for a living? Heller speaks to Taschen editor Heimann about his dream job.... (more)
- Jack, We Hardly Knew Ye
- Is there an island of lost logos, a place for bygone corporate symbols in a merger-crazed world? Patton ponders the fate of the Cingular Jack.... (more)
- Brand America: Of False Promises and Snake Oil
- On the streets of Beirut, a vernacular of graffiti, political posters and banners has been adopted by top-down messengers, and met with a ground-up reaction. Drennan, our correspondent in Lebanon, reports on the heated exchange.... (more)
- The Original Night at the Museum: An Interview with Milan Trenc
- How did an obscure children’s book by a Croatian illustrator turn into a box-office sensation? Heller speaks to Trenc about his Hollywood moment.... (more)
- The Resistance: Designers and Clients Go Head-to-Head
- If all is fair in love and war, then who wins when designers and clients struggle for power? FitzGerald devises a strategy for conflict resolution—on and off the battlefield.... (more)
- The Design of American Heraldry: An Interview with Charles V. Mugno
- Ever wonder who designs all the crests, seals, medals, and emblems for branches of government and military? The director of the Institute of Heraldry tells all.... (more)
- The Art of Designer Biographies: An Interview Kerry William Purcell
- Why are the biographies of designers kinder about their subjects than most biographies? Purcell, a design biographer, discusses the balancing act between professional and personal—and the limitations of this new form.... (more)
- Art Against Riots
- How do designers fight the threat of social unrest? Smith reviews the proactive way a city struggles to bring peace to a riot-torn French city.... (more)
- 3 days Great New Videos
-
Toejam video for Brighton Port Authority, production company: Streetgang. Director: Keith Schofield
Here’s a selection of brilliant new music videos for your viewing pleasure. First up is the video for the first single from Norman Cook’s new venture, Brighton Port Authority, which features guest vocals from David Byrne and Dizzee Rascal. Directed by Keith Schofield (who also directed the excellent promo for Supergrass track Bad Blood), the cheeky video shows how you can put censor... (more)
- Grass Art
-
Wimbledon artwork by Heather Ackroyd & Dan Harvey for HSBC. Ad agency: JWT London. Exec Creative director: Russell Ramsey. Creative director: Axel Chaldecott. Art director: Mark Norcutt. Copywriter: Laurence Quinn
Following on from the blog post on Olafur Eliasson’s Waterfalls in New York, we have some more nature-based art for you, this time by UK artists Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey. They have created this artwork, their first piece to be used in a commercial context, for HSBC as... (more)
- New York Waterfalls
-
Governers Island Waterfall by Olafur Eliasson, Photo: © Bernstein Photography
After wowing audiences at the Tate Modern in 2004 with his epic installation, The Weather Project, Danish artist Olafur Eliasson has turned his attention to New York, where he continues his interest in natural phenomena in this series of four enormous waterfalls that he has created across the city.
Brooklyn Bridge Falls, Photo: © Art Fund
Funded by the Public Art Project, the waterfalls are located at the Brooklyn... (more)
- Reflections on Cannes 08
-
The hotels have lowered their prices, our livers are slowly drying out, and nearly a week has passed since the end of this year’s Cannes Lions. So it’s time to reflect: what can we learn about the state of the advertising industry based on this year’s festival?
Firstly, that it’s confusing. This year there were more awards than ever, across an increasingly diverse array of categories. While the Cannes Lions organisers are happily cashing in on this development, it does o... (more)
- D&AD Student Awards
-
The winners of this year’s D&AD Student Awards were announced last night. Here’s our pick…
We loved this couch for couch potatoes by Charlotte Kingsnorth of Buckinghamshire New University which took First in the Furniture Design category. The brief, from Vitra, asked for “a sofa inspired by the new Vitra Edition collection that is unencumbered by commercial constraints and pushes the boundaries of innovative furniture design”.
Kingsnorth says she was inspired... (more)
- Degree Shows 08: Free Range
-
Shadow Narratives by Jon Hunt, University of Derby BA (Hons) Photography
Free Range is at the Old Truman Brewery on Brick Lane in London showing graduate art and design shows from colleges all over the country until July 21. When I visited, I saw photography shows from the University of Westminster, Nottingham Trent University, University of Derby, and City of Westminster College. Here’s a selection of highlights from the shows…
Before we begin though, I want to point out that I mys... (more)
- Rock-et. Ye-ah.
-
Sony ad from Fallon London. Art director/copywriter: Matt Keon. Production company: RSA Films. Director/designer: Johnny Hardstaff
Fallon London has teamed up with director Johnny Hardstaff to create an excellent series of spots for Sony. Disturbingly though, they are set to a soundtrack of Def Leppard…
The campaign, which includes the 30 second spot above, and a series of idents that are airing during the F1 season on ITV, are based on the simple premise of “testing high definitio... (more)
- Degree Shows 08: Royal College of Art (Show 2)
-
The Royal College of Art show is always one we look forward to here at Creative Review. Such a wealth of interesting projects - from posters and books to typographic exploration, projects that explore interactivity, great animation work and new product design. We had a look yesterday at the Communication Art & Design work and couldn’t help but notice that collaboration between the students seems to be a recurring theme this year. We took a few photos on our journey round the showR... (more)
- Degree Shows 08: D&AD New Blood 2
-
More from D&AD’s New Blood show
Jason Holroyd of Nottinghamshire Trent produced this beautiful laser-cut poster. Smaller versions of details from the poster made lovely business cards, jason.holroyd@hotmail.co.uk
Poster by Kevin Murphy of Croydon, kevindanielmurphy@hotmail.com
From a series of Penguin covers by David Jenkins at Norwich, jenkinsdave9@aol.com
By Gil Cocker from Edinburgh
Debossed crop circle patterns by Emma Harrison of Bath Spa
From a series of posters of prover... (more)
- Degree Shows 08: D&AD New Blood 1
-
The Plymouth University stand at New Blood
D&AD’s New Blood show, featuring work from graduates from all over the UK, opened this evening. Here are some of our favourite projects…
Photographer Will Edgecombe from Plymouth showed this project on the declining Cornish clay industry
Poster by Tim Jackson of Nottingham Trent
Idea for Hamleys signage by Paul Meikle and Jo Dailly of Duncan of Jordanstone
Poster by Paul Huxen of East London
Poster for a workshop by Jonathan Ell... (more)
- Thoughts on Thoughts on Democracy
- In his 1941 State of the Union Address, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt expressed four freedoms that should serve as a foundation not only for the U.S. but for the world: Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear. Two years later, in 1943, the weekly Saturday Evening Post magazine published, in four consecutive issues during February and March, the four famous posters created by Norman Rockwell that visualized — in his unmatched depiction of every... (more)
- Qs / Vol. 18 / June 23 - June 29
- The top 15 out of a 24-quip week.A = Authors | C = Community
A / No. 68 / Joe Marianek / Radar Mag gets Cooper Blacked. Beautiful.
A / No. 69 / Armin / If you enjoyed Quip No. 63, Smashing Magazine has put together a cornucopia of clever calendars.
C / No. 38 / Joey Pfeiffer / Barack Obama has revealed a new Presidential Seal, replacing 'E pluribus unum' (Out of many, one) with 'Vero possumus', which is Latin for 'Yes, we can' along with replacing the shield with the 'O' from his logo.
A / N... (more)
- Word It for July
- In public, or within your family, with quick, hot, regret and extreme pain that time and a bit of joy can help heal. Down the middle or in your home, as a prank or simply for pleasure, which ever which way, your name might fall flat, unless your inspiration goes beyond the expectations.You can't hide it in a box, nor toss it in the garbage. This might be an oops you can't wiggle your way out of, so beware of what you do with it and use your star studded doom wisely, and don't let a cut of any k... (more)
- Judging Books by their Covers and Movies by their Posters
- For their 1,000th issue, Entertainment Weekly has gathered 1,000 "New Classics" representative of the last 25 years in the realms of books, movies, music, and television. 50 of those new classics are prime matter for discussion among graphic designers: 25 Perfect Movie Posters and 25 New Classic Covers. Like any list, theirs is as valid as yours or mine, and unlike a design annual, the selections in this list seem more inherently tied to the pop cultural impact of the movies or books these desig... (more)
- Inside the Herb Lubalin Study Center
- Yesterday, while the humidity in New York grew to more than an inch thick, Bryony and I had the pleasure of spending the day inside the Herb Lubalin Study Center (HLSC) in famed Cooper Union. Founded in 1985 — and first curated by Ellen Lupton until 1992, and now headed by Mike Essl and Emily Roz — the HLSC houses one of the most impressive (and one of the few accessible) collections of graphic design work from the twentieth century. As the name implies, a remarkable amount of the co... (more)
- Qs / Vol. 18 / June 16 - June 22
- The top 15 out of a 27-quip week.A = Authors | C = Community
A / No. 43 / Armin / Four designers attempt a better Google icon. [Via Design You Trust]
C / No. 30 / Colin / Check out these beautiful, honestly described quality fonts for all your professional requirements. (Via H & FJ.)
A / No. 40 / Armin / This one goes out to our pun-loving contributor, Joe Marianek: The 50 Best Pun Store Names. [Via Dark Roasted Blend]
C / No. 34 / George / Endangered text
A / No. 55 / A... (more)
- Otl Aicher: An Expanded, Abridged Story
- By now some of you are aware of the stress-inducing book we are working on, Graphic Design Referenced. This week I had the pleasure of writing the entry of German designer Otl Aicher. Unfortunately I got carried away and wrote much more than the word count I knew I had to meet. So, since the book will only have a 285-word version I wanted to share the extended one for anyone that might be interested in learning more about this great designer or just getting an abridged version of his story &mdas... (more)
- Qs / Vol. 18 / June 9 - June 15
- The top 15 out of a 27-quip week.A = Authors | C = Community
C / No. 18 / Jon Dascola / Like doing spec work? Probably one of the worst things ever.
A / No. 24 / Armin / A more accurate set of flags for the world's superpowers.
A / No. 27 / Armin / "The Pattern Foundry is an archive of decorative patterns, open for anyone to see, license and use, created by designers and artists from around the world." [Via Manystuff]
A / No. 25 / Armin / A list of all the product placements in the S... (more)
- Book Printing, The Hard Way
- When Golden Krishna e-mailed me a few weeks ago submitting the ShamWow! piece I did what any global citizen would and I googled his name. Clicking through his web site I came across a great video Golden found of what printing looked like in 1947. I took the legally-audacious liberty of borrowing the video and making it more easily accessible here. So, if like me, you are curious about what printing was like before digital-to-plate technology, I recommend spending ten minutes watching the followi... (more)
- Chicago International Poster Biennial Night
- Guest Editorial by Mig Reyes
For two days, eleven esteemed international jurors whittled over 1,600-plus poster entries down to just 100 for the Chicago International Poster Biennial (CIPB). As a board member for the STA (Society of Typographic Arts), an official sponsor of the CIPB, I had the opportunity to work the jurors opening night celebration. While the judges were winding down the last of the Biennial finalists at the UIC Innovation Center this past Saturday morning, the rest of the mad... (more)
- Yesterday Elvis and the Opposite
- A 14-year old video blogger called Fred somehow managed to get a fan base of almost 45 Million users. Now instead of asking how that’s possible, Seth Godin and Robert Scoble trivialize his success. Did they forget what Elvis said?
Just to be clear: Fred is no Elvis. Fred is the most annoying little nag I have ever seen. I had to force myself through one of his painful videos this morning, and I can still feel the agony. Yet I am fascinated by the mathematical possibility of his success.... (more)
- Newsnetz
- Perhaps Switzerland’s most ambitious news project to date, “Newsnetz” joins the forces of major Swiss newspapers and a series of local Swiss papers to become the country’s leading news domain in terms of reach, traffic, editorial size, and production.
It works by having a single, central online CMS process massive amounts of high-quality news that is fed to a conglomerate of large newspaper sites. These major sites in turn distribute specific local news throughout the en... (more)
- iA Opens Second Office in Switzerland
- We had to be unusually secretive about the following developments. But now, we can finally lift the curtain. First, the big news project is finished. Second, we have opened a second office in Zürich, Switzerland.
1. iA Redesigns a Series of Swiss Newspapers
What it is:“Newsnetz” is probably Switzerland’s most ambitious online news project to date. It can be thought of as a star-shaped news machine where major Swiss newspapers and a series of local papers join forces. The com... (more)
- Data Gourmet
- The IT-Revolution promised to free and enrich us. To free us from propaganda, to free us from mindless TV, to free us from advertisement torture, and to enrich us by letting machines do all the boring work so we’d have more free time. So, how did it go?
Good Internet Revolution
We read and write more today than we used to.
The public opening of digital publication technology (AKA “blogs”) has provided a free speech transport with rocket engines.
News has become more acces... (more)
- Surfing the Avalanche!
- The supposed recession is the best thing that could happen to us—to us readers, to us consumers, to us new media makers. Avalanche, take us with you!
Even though print continues to cash in significantly more ad revenue than digital media, printed news will—from a purely economical point of view—undoubtedly fail. In the long run, the distribution model of print simply cannot compete. One of my all time favorite articles explains why:
“[...] it helps to go back ... (more)
- Use Your Real Name When You Comment
- Dear anonymous reader, if you intend to be critical: Be our guest. But if you’re our guest, act like a guest.
Here is how it works on our channel. You are free to say whatever you like, as long as you post under:
your real name or
with a reference to an identifiable website or
anything else that identifies you to other readers
This is not a dating site, not a social network for artists or an underground association fighting against a repressive regime. From today on, we will delete ... (more)
- Web Trend Map 3: Get it!
- It was featured by The Guardian, WIRED, Le Monde, Corriere, kottke, Boingboing, Techcrunch, Mashable, Valleywag and literally thousands of blogs. We are happy to announce that the coolest gift for geeks, the A0 poster of the 2008 Web Trend Map (841mm x 1189mm / 33.25in x 46.75in), is now up for grabs:
Want a Lick of the Ice Cream?
Of course, we’d like you to enjoy our hard work in a format that suits you best, so we offer the map in the following formats for you t... (more)
- From Yahoo to Yafoo?
- In addition to Microsoft and Newscorp, there are rumors of a third bidder for Yahoo: Yahoo Japan.
What?
Yahoo! is Japanese
Many Japanese believe that Yahoo! (pronounced as “Ya-foo”) is a Japanese brand and they get confused (and sometimes even angry) when faced with the facts. The reason why is a result of a smart brand strategy on the part of the favorite online brand of the Japanese. In order to be successful in Japan’s market, you have to be Japanese—or, at the ve... (more)
- E.T. and his iPhone
- Edward Tufte is big when it comes to information graphics in books—but a quick glimpse at his site will reveal that he is not the man to trust when it comes to interaction design.—Don’t beat an old man even if he’s throwing dirt they say, but when we saw him correcting Apple’s iPhone as if it was the white paper of one of his first year college students the iA alarm bells went of…
There is just too much randomness in this little lecture. Here we have a slid... (more)
- With or Without Yahoo! Part II
- This morning I tried to read the tea leaves. I’ve been studying the stocks of Yahoo, Microsoft, and Google to see whether Wall Street knows more than Silicon Valley.
Looking at the Stocks
Not much can be said for sure. At first it looks like the financial specialists don’t know much more than we do about the probability of Microsoft winning or losing the Yahoo-Blitzkrieg:
Yahoo went up.
Google continues its course (falling) like nothing has changed.
Microsoft continues its c... (more)
- Orlando Launches
- The Orlando Sentinel debuted its redesign this morning. Charles Apple’s got images and thoughts. The Wall Street Journal weighs in with a piece in Monday’s edition. (Tip: if you’re not a WSJ subscriber, go through Digg). Past experience shows...... (more)
- links for 2008-06-22
- Interview with Alan Taylor, Creator of Boston Globe's The Big Picture - Waxy.org Andy Baio talks to the man behind the Globe's awesome photo blog. (tags: blogs boston journalism media newspapers photography photojournalism interview)...... (more)
- Chicago Trib to Redesign
- The Chicago Tribune will launch a redesign in mid-September, Editor Ann Marie Lipinski told the staff today. "We are committed to determining the basic architecture and sectioning of the paper within 30 days; deciding on paging (how many and where)...... (more)
- Orlando Redesign, a Deeper Look
- Charles Apple has the definitive post on the upcoming Orlando redesign, including a Q&A with Bo Burton, images, the works. So go there....... (more)
- SND Vegas Schedule
- The schedule for SND Vegas has been posted. Check it out....... (more)
- Mario Garcia, Now in Blog Form
- Newspaper design legend Mario Garcia has entered the world of blog. It’s “about storytelling, design, the projects we work on, the things we learn along the way.”...... (more)
- More Ado About Orlando
- OK, here’s a passel of additional before-and-after Orlando prototype pages for the upcoming redesign, again thanks to Bo Burton. More pages after the jump. Local Sports Features...... (more)
- Much Ado About Orlando*
- There’s suddenly a lot of talk on the interwebs today about the June 22 Orlando Sentinel redesign. Seems an anonymous blogger (purportedly an LA Times employee) posted an image of a prototype Page One on Sunday. Newsosaur Allan Mutter...... (more)
- links for 2008-06-11
- Dallas Morning News to launch new publication The Dallas Morning News plans to launch home delivery Aug. 27 of Briefing, a free newspaper aimed at nonsubscribers who want a "quick-read" newspaper. (tags: newspapers journalism freesheets dallas dallasmorningnews) Stop bitchin'...... (more)
- links for 2008-06-03
- Design View - Poynter's Eye-tracking Follies Web designer Andy Rutledge updates his critique of Poynter's EyeTrack studies (tags: design poynter eyetracking webdesign)...... (more)
- Define the word space to suit the size and natural letterfit of the font
- If text is set ragged right, the word space (the space between words) can be fixed and unchanging. If the text is justified (set flush left and right), the word space must be elastic. In either case the size of the ideal word space varies from one circumstance to another, depending on factors such as letterfit, type color, and size. A loosely fitted or bold face will need a larger interval between the words. At larger sizes, when letterfit is tightened, the spacing of words can be tightened as&n... (more)
Graphic design