Straw Dog Design is a hub for designer and blue sky day-dreamer Josiah DePaoli. It contains a blog, and a link to a portfolio and resume (you can find those above under "My Stuff"). It will change your life.
Unofficially the most expensive magazine in the world, Visionaire is an incredibly unique tri-yearly (?) publication. Each “issue” is comprised of a different theme and format/medium; the video at the top shows issue #50 which included 10 sets of nesting toys created by various artists. Issues apparently retail starting at $120, but the value of many of the issues have sky-rocketed as they are sought after by collectors. Hit the jump for a better explanation of the publication along with some links to examples. Read the rest of this entry »
Free fonts? Visual inspiration? Not this week. This week you’ll be getting some mental stimulation for Type Tuesday.
Typeface? Font? Do you know the difference. Well, you should. Shelby White has written up some food for thought over at Wanken after reading a post on ISO50. As we should all know, it all boils down to this:
A typeface is not a font, nor is a font a typeface. A typeface is a type family’s consistent visual appearance or design if you will. Much like we all have family names, type families have names. Take Helvetica Neue as an example. It’s type family name is “Helvetica Neue” and includes–as stated in the previous paragraph–light, thing, regular, medium, bold, heavy, extended and condensed fonts.
But don’t let that spoil the entire article. Pop over and read the rest for some more insights and delicious, Mrs. Eaves-set quotes that are good for tweeting or the occasional cryptic away message.
Andrew van der Merwe doodles on the beach using forms vaguely reminicint of ancient writing systems. Then he takes awesome pictures of his work. I really like the aesthetic he creates, and the resulting pictures are also really great.Check out his showcase on Behance where he displays several other images and talks a bit about his process.
The design community is slightly abuzz over the recent announcement by @RickWarren that he will be holding a “design contest” for his next book cover. Suggested to him by his creative staff (quite a shock in it’s own right) the winner gets $3000. Due to the negative buzz the ante was soon upped to $5000 (not only was the ante upped, but the point was almost missed entirely).
Type…Thursday? Yep. I didn’t find anything of worth on Tuesday, so this week’s type post got moved to today. Fear not, the wait was well worth it. Today we have a post from Brian Hoff (who I featured back in April with his look at 10 Type Shirts) dealing with 10 Common Typography Mistakes. It quickly and succinctly lays out mistakes that “can make a large impact in the effectiveness and appearance of your designs, in addition to saving you time and money when dealing with printers.” It’s a great quick refresher that every single person in the world should read (just imagine…). And, as always, extra points for mention of a grid system (#…11?).
Seeing this video for Meeting of Important People’s Brittney Lane Don’t Care reminded me of an important design lesson I’ve learned: it’s often a good idea to “forget” the computer. Sometimes the best design incorporates real, tangible work and textures that either are or become utilized in the final product. Sure, you could attempt to mimic a cardboard city with some CG…but sometimes it’s best to simply steal some refrigerator boxes and assemble one in real-life.
Author Cameron Chapman has written a good post for Noupe detailing 12 Tips for Creating a Good Portfolio Site. Aside from dishing out some good advice she also takes the time to show some various portfolio sites and point out the good and the bad elements of each one using the tips from the article. You may not agree with every point, but the article is worth a read. I will definitely keep these in mind as I endeavor to turn my portfolio into something more than a PDF ;)
What’s green and cool? Sustainability-promoting German installations of course. CoolHunter points us towards this awesome permanent installation at Car City in Germany. Pretty cool, but I can think of an even better use for it.
Straw Dog Design is a hub for designer and blue sky day-dreamer Josiah DePaoli. It contains a blog, and a link to a portfolio and resume (you can find those above under "My Stuff"). It will change your life. For more info about this site, check out my About page.
