If you've got a little time to kill today, check out FontStruct from Fontshop. You can use the online tool to build your own modular fonts. Browse the gallery for lots of inspiration.


via Poppytalk

Posted by Megan

Calgary, designed by Alejandro Paul, was inspired by the brush script on a "Welcome to Calgary" sign.

Posted by Megan

Having spent a recent week poring through the entries in HOW's Promotion Design Awards, we once again observed that the sales pitches in a lot of design firms' promos sound stunningly alike. Too, Brent Hodgins, a speaker at last fall's MYOB Conference, opened his session with, as it turned out, a mock new-business pitch that had the audience squirming with uncomfortable familiarity.

And now Steven Heller has posted an article on AIGA.com lamenting the sameness of the lingo with which firms talk about themselves. Here's a snippet:

... take virtually any promotional brochure for a design firm, scratch the surface, and you will find variations of the following platitudes:

• Design is a tool for achieving specific results. Being responsive, we begin each project by learning exactly what results our client expects. This then becomes our communications goal.
• Establishing an appropriate, positive emphasis is the key. This, in conjunction with good graphic design, is our special skill.
• Our work exhibits a great diversity of styles and imagery. In an era of design specialists, we invariably believe that as varied as the messages are, so should the means of conveying them.

These statements by three very different design firms are not inherently disingenuous, but when viewed as representative of most promo copy they are formulaic. Should all selling copy sound alike? Imagine what the prospective client who gets pitched by many designers must think after reading the same phrases and sentiments over and over.

Read the rest of Steve's article, then turn a critical eye on your sales pitch.

Buncha news this week—mostly from, you guessed it, the paper market. Here goes:

• Wausau Paper reinvented its Royal line of premium writing, text and cover stocks, with new colors (including Basil and Winter Wheat). The brand includes Royal Cotton, Royal Laid and Royal SilkPlus, which has been rebranded as an environmental choice. Larsen worked with Wausau on the products and materials.

• Neenah has updated its economical SUNDANCE writing/text/cover collection with new colors and finishes (all 10 colors are available in all 3 finishes). Farmhouse Design created the Southwestern-themed new promo.

• The Strathmore Letterhead Competition is taking entries through June 30 for the second-quarter contest; the first 25 entrants will receive a $150 iTunes gift card. The top quarterly prize is $500, and an annual Grand Prize of $1,000 will be awarded in January 2009. See Strathmore.com for details.

And in other news ...

• Design Management Institute brings its annual branding/design conference to Cincinnati, June 11–13. Conference co-chairs are Jerry Kathman of Cincinnati's LPK and Amy Brusselback, global design director of P&G. Speakers include smart folks from P&G, Marriott Hotels, Method, the Wharton School of Business and the Cincinnati Art Museum.

• Printing/publishing consultant Chuck Weger discusses large-scale font-management solutions in his whitepaper titled "Maintaining Control and Compliance in a Font-Intensive Workflow: The Case for Enterprise Font Management." It's available from Extensis.

The Cooper-Hewitt just announced the winners of the National Design Awards and Pentagram's Michael Bierut won for Design Mind, which recognizes a visionary who has affected a paradigm shift in design thinking or practice through writing research, and scholarship. The July/August issue of HOW will feature Bierut in our new column "My Best Work" where he'll share his favorite project with us.

Posted by Megan

I just fell in love with a blog called Hula Seventy, written by Andrea in Portland, OR. I don't think she's a designer, but she's extremely creative and likes to create lists of creative challenges for herself. Get some great idea from 37 things to do before I turn 38.

2. make 25 small collages
5. hang the wall of inspiration
13. take a photography class
14. experiment with cross processing
24. spend an afternoon at a museum by myself
25. develop three rolls of film a month
26. sample a cereal-covered doughnut from voodoo doughnuts

Posted by Megan

this paper alphabet made by Argentine creative Lala Ladcani.

Posted by Megan

If I wasn't going to be on my to the HOW Conference on May 17th, I'd love to check out AGIA New York's SMART/MODELS event. Five design firms with very different business models will explain what works for them. Speaker include Jason Fried from 37signals, Matt Owens from Athletics, Joe Duffy and Eric Block from Duffy & Partners, Sylvia Harris from Sylvia Harris, LLC, and Douglas Riccardi from Memo Productions.

Posted by Megan

The winners of the 12th annual Webby Awards were announced today and you can check them out in a fun-to-browse interface. Some of my personal faves include: Skull-A-Day, Veer's Type City and I Can Has Cheezburger.

Posted by Megan

This inspiring typographic drawing was created by 22-year-old design student Will Bryant.


via BySoAndSo

Posted by Megan