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 Tuesday, October 02, 2007
You Know You're A Designer When . . .
"You can’t go to a restaurant without secretly critiquing the menu design." Add your own design witticisms in the HOW Forum. Update: How to tell if you or someone you love is a typoholic. Posted by Megan
Just for Fun
10/2/2007 3:59:47 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00) 
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Science Is Beautiful
Just for Fun
10/2/2007 1:54:17 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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At The Top Of His Game
Mediabistro has a fantastic interview with noted magazine design and Pentagram partner Luke Hayman. "Good design doesn't cost much money. It just needs someone in charge
who understands what good design is, and very often the people who are
in charge don't care, or aren't aware, or are not educated enough to
see that. If you look carefully, you can find some trade magazines that
are as beautiful as any consumer title, and it's because they have
someone who cares and is allowed to do that."
Posted by Megan
Designers
10/2/2007 12:42:11 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Three Designers
Yesterday, a press release arrived in the email box with the headline: Coudal-Fried-Segura. (Which read, oddly, like a menu item at Cracker Barrel: country-fried steak.) Anyhoo, the trio are speaking at the Seed conference in Chicago on October 29. 
Events
10/2/2007 9:30:34 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Monday, October 01, 2007
New In Type
Zebra and Kiub are two notable new releases from our favorite alpha-numeric font founderies P22 and T26. Zebra was originally designed by Karlgeorg Hoefer in 1965 and is available digitally for the first time. The font is clearly vintage in style, but it will be interesting to see how designers might put it to use in contemporary application.  Kiub was created by Italian designer Gianni Sinni. Available in squared and rounded variations, the quirky font screams indie-band poster.  Posted by Megan
Typography
10/1/2007 3:32:28 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Michael B. Unzips
... his portfolio, that is. During our Monday morning web surfing, we cruised over to DesignObserver and were once again reminded how much we admire Michael Bierut. He recently discovered, dusted off and, yes, unzipped his portfolio, circa 1978, and bared its contents. We won't spoil it by linking an image; you have to see for yourself.
Just for Fun
10/1/2007 11:50:36 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Hooray For HOW
HOW Magazine
10/1/2007 11:21:47 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Friday, September 28, 2007
The End
Design Resources
9/28/2007 4:28:49 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Rockin' Kicks
From our friend Steve Gordon comes news that his design for the Nike Dunk Low scored props from Nike's own designers. The NikeiD website, which lets users create their own custom kicks, recently ran a design contest; the site now showcases the winners. Yay, Steve! 
Industry News
9/28/2007 3:41:02 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Overheard On The Forum
Just for Fun
9/28/2007 2:11:03 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Thursday, September 27, 2007
Collage A Day
Doing something every day is an abitious creative challenge and one that more artists and designers seem to be taking on. I just came across A Collage A Day where artists Randel Plowman posts a new mini-collage every day. Best of all, each the 4-inch by 4-inch creations is available for $25.  Posted by Megan
Creativity
9/27/2007 2:59:13 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Cereal Box
I'm not sure I understand the connection between vintage cereal graphics and laptops but I dig this series of laptop sleeves from Target.  
Posted by Megan
Gifts and Goodies
9/27/2007 2:43:35 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Inside The Look Book
Illustrator Chris Sickels has just started posting about The Look Book (published by HOW Books) on his blog. The illustrations are both dark and beautiful at the same time, and Chris has posted a couple of the early sketches that inspired the project. Of course I'm biased, but I have to say that this book is even more amazing than I ever imagined it might be when Chris and I first talked about it.   Posted by Megan
HOW Books | Illustration
9/26/2007 1:43:30 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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HOW's Online Seminars Start Tomorrow
Join us on September 27 for the first of HOW's Marketing & Pricing Webinar Series. You'll learn how to develop lucrative business relationships, value and price your work so you don't lose money, and create an ongoing stream of new prospects and clients willing to pay you what you're worth. Posted by Megan
Events
9/26/2007 11:03:26 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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HP Template Controversy
There is a heated discussion in the HOW Forum about HP's new marketing campaign that features Paula Scher and offers a couple of free letterhead templates. The main argument is that offering design templates devalues the work of designers and is disloyal to the industry. But after looking at the templates, which aren't particularly interesting, there's not much there for designers to be afraid of. Any business-owner who would choose a free template to create their identity isn't someone you'd want to work with anyway. That said, it's still a bit surprising that Scher agreed to provide the templates in the first place.  Posted by Megan
Industry News
9/26/2007 10:04:43 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Paul Rand Inducted Into Creative Hall Of Fame
On October 17, legendary designer Paul Rand will be inducted into the The One Club's Creative Hall of Fame, along with ad-industry giants Tim Delancey and Phil Dusenberry. Paul Rand - (1914-96) - A pioneering figure in American graphic design and creator of some of the world's most iconic corporate logos, including IBM, UPS, ABC and Westinghouse, his career spanned almost seven decades and numerous chapters of design history. Rand worked as an art director for Esquire and Apparel Arts magazines from 1937 to 1941 where he transformed commercial art from craft to profession. Adopting what he called a 'problem-solving' approach, he drew on the ideas of European avant-garde art movements such as Cubism, Constructivism and De Stijl, and synthesized them to produce his own distinctive graphic language. As an art director, teacher, writer and design consultant, he was a major force and influence in the field of graphics and visual communication.
 Posted by Megan
Industry News
9/25/2007 4:00:28 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Tips For Freelancers
This list of super helpful tips for how freelancers can maximize their income includes this simple formula for calculating an hourly rate: Don't undersell yourself.
Set rates based on a simple formula:- Rate = $D/ B hrs.
- D is the desired salary per year that you want.
- B is the total number of billable hours that you think you can
secure in a given year. Most consultants/ freelancers estimate B on the
basis of 15 billable days per month, for an 8-hour day. So that's 15
d/mth x 8 hr/d x 12 mth/yr = 1440 hrs/yr. The rest of each month will
usually be spent doing administrative work, seeking out new clients,
improving skills, researching, or possibly vacationing. Don't forget to
factor in vacation time, any professional costs such as subscriptions,
your operating costs, etc.
Once you have that hourly rate, translate that in to flat project
rates, when necessary. You'll eventually get a sense for how long a
particular task takes, but you might take in less than you want when
you first start out.
via swissmissPosted by Megan
Design Resources
9/25/2007 3:49:40 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Monday, September 24, 2007
Pillow Pillow Pillow
More and more these days we're hearing about designers staring their own product lines as a creative outlet. Pillow Pillow Pillow from creative studio Hornet Inc. is just such a project. You can see all the pet-shaped pillows on the site and they're available to buy from select retailers including Elsewares and Rare Device (search for "pillow").   Posted by Megan
Gifts and Goodies
9/24/2007 1:46:44 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Friendly Desk Accessory
I just came across this fun tape dispenser from Fred Flare and thought it was the perfect thing to perk up a Monday.  Posted by Megan
Gifts and Goodies
9/24/2007 12:45:25 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Delightful Maira
Last week, The New York Times ended its Times Select program, which had reserved for paying customers access to opinion columns, archives and other content—including Maira Kalman's yearlong illustrated blog, "The Principles of Uncertainty." Now, the rest of us get to see it. 
Illustration
9/24/2007 11:13:20 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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