May 17, 20076
Snippet-Post
I often come across little snippets that I want to share with people, but they don't really merit a full-length post, and they don't always fit neatly into the design theme of this blog. So, I considered starting another blog which would be a repository for all those snippets, bits and pieces, etc. The snippets I have in mind are a new pieces of design or architecture I like, an interesting or thought-provoking post on another blog, a snippet of code (PHP, CSS, JavaScript) that might be useful - that kind of thing.
So I thought I'd introduce the "Snippet-Post" - ... [more]
During a brief respite in a busy day, I unlocked the shackles that tie me to my Mac and made myself a coffee. I could ogle that espresso machine all day long: beautiful proportions, great colour (my favourite), nice detailing, uncluttered design and oh so easy to use; and, to boot, it makes great coffee.
And that got me thinking about the design within my own environment, the objects, gadgets et al that I see just about every day. The objects you feel comfortable with, those things which, no matter how often you see them, give you a little ... 
I'm always interested to see how type is dealt with in other scripts, whether that be Arabic, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Chinese, etc. So I'm pleased to learn that there is a contest open to all with Greek typography as its theme. Deadline is May 31.
In order to capture current trends in the design of Greek alphabets, the 3rd International Conference on Typography and Visual Communication and backpacker.gr invite Greek and foreign type designers to participate in a typographic exhibition, where the "Greek alphabet" (εα) is the leading actor.
The participants are asked to design Greek characters in order to set ... 
You're given a brief, you put some ideas together, meet with your client, and he wants to change just about everything. He wants a colour palette that makes you feel physically sick, he wants a splash page despite the fact that you've told him there's no need; and, as you progress towards completion, you begin to notice that you're not the one designing this thing after all - your client is (and badly).
Now, if you're a big agency and you are in a position to pick and choose your clients, then the above is of little consequence. However, for ... 
A client of mine, upon completion of her new web site, said "I love the new site, but could you make the logo bigger?" Brought to mind this post over at By Design.
You can hear the track "Make the Logo Bigger (mp3)" here. Well, made me smile at the end of a pretty hectic day. Could become something of a theme song for disgruntled graphic designers. 
As a graphic designer, illustrator, photographer or artist, what inspires you? What's the spark that gets you going? Faced with a blank canvas, paper, a new Photoshop document, or whatever your medium, what's behind that initial line, brush mark or click? And, when the spark fails to show up, what do you do?
Personally, when faced with the dreaded creative block, I seek some visual stimulus: I leaf through magazines and books (not necessarily related to the topic of what's about to be created); I browse the web, and peruse the works of those artists/designers who I admire (perhaps aspire to). ... 
How would you go about teaching typography to children? Well, the graphic designer and author Rene Siegfried has published a beautiful solution, a typographic landscape: The Serif Fairy
The Serif Fairy, ‘a clever little letter-fairy’, has lost her left ‘magical’ wing, disabling her ability to fly and to perform magic. She sets off in search of the lost wing, wandering through the Garamond Forest, the Zentenar Gate, the Futura City, and finally to Shelley Lake where, after falling into the water, she finds her lost wing and flies into the air, a revived magic fairy.
Source: Grady Harp
Every illustration in the ... 
This great little book (it only measures 6.1 x 4.7 inches), Helvetica: Homage to a Typeface arrived in the post a couple of days ago. It's divided into two sections: the first comprising examples of the typeface used in advertising by graphic designers, from newspapers, posters, stamps, magazines, books and perfume bottles to the logos of Muji, BMW, Evian, Intel, Toyota and scores more; the second, examples of it used and abused in everyday life - stencilled onto garbage trucks, used in no-swimming, no-smoking, no- (just about everything) signs. Helvetica's proliferation during the past 50 years attests to its ... 
