graphic design, art, typography and architecture

Has it really been more than two months since my last post! Goodness, where does the time go? Well, since launching I Love Typography, things have been pretty hectic. Its success has come as something of a surprise, but it has thus far been quite an incredible journey, and one which I'm thoroughly enjoying. Anyway, enough of my excuses. Though I won't be posting here daily, I will try my very best to post something each week. I want to tell you about Jelly. Yes, I love it, but not as much as I love workatjelly.com. It's a truly inspired idea, that ... [more]

Smashing Magazine has compiled another one of it's great "Best Of..." lists. This time it's 45 Excellent Blog Designs. And, as usual it's a great source of inspiration. A couple of my favourites are in there, including Shaun Inman's. If Blogs could be eaten, then you'd want his for dinner. Wonderful use of white (orange in his case) or negative space, perfect layout, great typography, and attention to even the smallest of details. This Smashing Magazine Post is definitely one to Bookmark. [more]

Ground breaking, irreverent, boundary-ignorant, esoteric, new wave, alien, an historical milestone,... all terms used to describe the Graphic Design Magazine Emigre. First published in 1984, it was one of the first publications to use the new(!) Macintosh computer. At the time of its publication, many Graphic Designers and commentators were quite scathing in their attacks. The Design writer and critic Steven Heller was one of those critics, confidently predicting--In his 1993 Cult of the Ugly--that Emigre would be nothing more than a "blip in the continuum." Emigre continued to be published for another 12 years. I had pretty much forgotten about it ... [more]

Regular readers will know that I'm quite a big fan of typography. I'm often tempted to post more about typography on this blog, even posting images of typography that I photograph regularly. But then I had a brain wave (well, not a brain wave, really--just an obvious idea): post all the typography-geek stuff on a blog devoted to the topic. So off I rushed and bought myself ilovetypography.com. I've been working on a WordPress theme for some time. I've always like the Grid Focus theme which I've modified for this very blog, and I had started developing my own to replace ... [more]

It has been a while since my last post. I won't bore you with the details/excuses; suffice to say, it's been a particularly busy month. Anyway, my Google Notes is full of inspiration. Here is just a taste of things that caught my eye/inspired me in July: Typography: Type the Sky by Lisa Rienermann is a composite of photographs whereby the silhouette of buildings leaves the shapes of letters on the sky. I love this idea, and it's inspired me to think of other Photo-Type projects. Do you know of any similar projects? This next piece is fascinating, particularly for those of you who ... [more]

If you've never read the Adobe Magazine, then do. A great source of inspiration. We've reinvented Proxy magazine to create the all-new Adobe Magazine for Creative Professionals. Subscribe to this free, online quarterly, and discover fresh insight and tutorials from the wide world of visual communications. You'll see work that's breaking new ground, get an insider's perspective on how it was created, and find new ideas and tools to enhance your own projects. Being from Adobe they sometimes tie-in articles with Adobe products, but always in a way that's useful. I use numerous Adobe products, so I'm happy to learn new ways ... [more]

Creative Fix will be a regular round-up feature. I'll be listing and commenting on my favourite blog posts, stumbles and bookmarks. Here's my Creative Fix for June 2007: Website that caught my eye: This is a beautifully designed Flash web site; this kind of thing has been done a lot before, but this one is particularly worthy of mention: Architecture: LandMark Houses, an Architectural Housing Project set in the Cotswolds (UK). A complete showpiece village of landmark new homes by some of the best architects in Britain, and the world, is about to be built in the Cotswolds.--The Sunday Times Typography: 15 Years of Type for ... [more]

Tara over at the Graphic Design blog in a recent post, Graphic Design Cookbook, suggested, Maybe there is a way we could all start a shared design elements gallery on Flickr or similar image gallery (cool headings, navigation, folios etc) ?...or do you prefer to have your own personal resource? What do you think? And, as Randa Clay is not one to hang about, she kindly set-up the Flick Inspir Group, a place to share your own Graphic Design, and a forum for discussion. I'm also considering taking-up on Tara's suggestion, and creating a web site devoted to this; not to replace the ... [more]

I don't make a habit of taking up Memes, but I like this one. I'm always interested to know a little something about the authors behind the blogs that I read regularly. Marc Rapp (don't read his name too quickly), one of my favourite bloggers, tagged me. 1/ I live on Shikoku Island, Japan. I'm originally from Bath in the UK (I guess that's two things really). 2/ I published papers in economics journals, entitled "Insiders, Outsiders and Hysteresis: An Econometric Study of Two French Industries." and "An Econometric Study of the Behaviour of Real Wages." I'll send you copies if ... [more]

In a recent post, Green Architecture, I asked why more buildings (specifically skyscrapers) were not incorporating more wind turbines into their designs. It seems to make sense that taller structures that are naturally more "wind-resistant", should do something to harness at least some of that energy. Well, I've managed to find some more. I particularly like the Pearl River Tower, Guangzhou, China (SOM), due for completion in 2009. (71 storey, 303 meters). The huge vents are designed to accelerate the wind on its way to the turbines, providing power for heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems. The structure also makes use ... [more]