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# Monday, February 11, 2008
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Type Talk

I Love Typography has a nice interview with Jean François Porchez who designed Parisine, one of the fonts we use in the magazine.
What advice would you give to aspiring type designers?

Practise calligraphy and read a lot on type history. Then draw and draw every day. Don’t copy others, but try to be yourself; use your own cultural resources and background to create new trends in type design. You are unique. When the above is achieved, the next steps are (and these are equally applicable to life in general):

• Respect tradition;
• Clear analysis of the problem, because as designers our work is problem solving;
• Finally, utmost respect for the user/reader.

Posted by Megan


Typography
Monday, February 11, 2008 4:08:04 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #  Comments [1] 
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Letterpress Mini Doc

If you've never seen a letterpress in action, you must watch this short documentary about Firefly Press. It really captures the feeling of the process, one that I enjoy immensely.

Posted by Megan


Typography
Monday, February 11, 2008 3:16:32 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #  Comments [3] 
# Friday, February 08, 2008
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Want to Play for a Living?
In the market for a new 9-to-5? These toy-geared job openings were recently posted on the HOWdesign.com Job Bank, and appeal to the inner kid in us all:

Posted by Carmen

Industry News
Friday, February 08, 2008 7:32:10 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #  Comments [0] 
# Thursday, February 07, 2008
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OK, Ewww ...

Or, This Is Why We've Foresworn Plastic Grocery Bags:

We heard about this on NPR the other day, and now Core77 has a post about it: Out in the Pacific, about 500 nautical miles off the California coast, exists a "plastic stew" -- a rubbish swamp larger than the continental U.S., full of plastic trash that's just swirling away in the ocean. Read the full story here. Something to consider next time a client asks you to design some kind of plastic thingy.


Thought Provoking
Thursday, February 07, 2008 5:55:35 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #  Comments [0] 
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For Your Desk

Design Within Reach is selling a set of 12 moleskine notebooks to capture your thoughts and sketches for an entire year. Each black notebook is embossed with the phrase "One Year of White Pages," along with a hole to indicate the month (one for January, two for February, etc.).

Posted by Megan


Gifts and Goodies
Thursday, February 07, 2008 4:35:41 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #  Comments [0] 
# Wednesday, February 06, 2008
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Dear Future Me On NOTCOT

I never get tired of finding mentions of HOW books in the blogosphere. Today, Dear Future Me popped up on NOTCOT.org, one of my fave design blogs. If you haven't read about the book yet, you can find an exerpt here. It's a collection of letters people have written to be sent to their future selves. The book is strange, sad, funny and enlightening all at the same time.

Posted by Megan


HOW Books
Wednesday, February 06, 2008 8:57:30 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #  Comments [0] 
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News this Week

A few news items coming in this week: envelope inspiration, carbon offsets, a nod for a design leader and a new paper.

• Need info on envelopes? Go here.

• The paper mills are WAY into FSC certification, carbon offsets and eco-friendly power these days. Here's another example: ThePaperMillStore.com now offers carbon-neutral shipping. So whatever pollution is generated by shipping that box of paper you just ordered is offset by carbon credits. (We're wondering if we can offset the calories in the three handfuls of M&Ms we just ate.)

• Mary Pisarkiewicz, founder and CCO of Pisarkiewicz Mazur & Co. in NYC, received a "True Original" Business Award from Staples. Pisarkiewicz volunteers her marketing expertise to the Greenwich Village Middle School through the nonprofit PENCIL, which supports partnerships between business leaders and school principals. In a nice gesture, she donated the $1,500 Staples gift card back to the school.

Sappi just launched Tempo, a new paper that dries in the pressroom in half the time. What seems like an obvious benefit to printers also pays off for designers needing a sheet for a quick-turnaround job.



Posted by Bryn

Industry News
Wednesday, February 06, 2008 3:48:29 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #  Comments [0] 
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Overheard On The Forum

What's your favorite font right now? One forum members offered this list:
thesis
gotham
trade gothic
filosofia
bembo
rockwell
clarendon

Posted by Megan


Typography
Wednesday, February 06, 2008 2:08:04 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #  Comments [2] 
# Tuesday, February 05, 2008
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Welcome To The New HOWdesign.com

Be sure to poke around our revamped site and let us know what you think. The goal of the project was to make content much easier to find (and to update).

Posted by Megan


HOW Magazine
Tuesday, February 05, 2008 6:53:53 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #  Comments [3] 
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CD Love

Just in time for your romantic Valentine's mix CDs, 5inch is offering the 3 CDR Love Bundle for $7.50. The catchy designs are sure to capture someone's heart.

Posted by Megan


Gifts and Goodies
Tuesday, February 05, 2008 3:44:57 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #  Comments [0]