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 Thursday, February 21, 2008
Mmmm, K

I just fell in love with a K, the K from a font called Cape Rock, to be exact. It looks like the second half of an H that's transforming into a claw in order to grab something it wants.

Typography
2/21/2008 3:19:54 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)  #  Comments [0] 
Big Covers

I just came across some great book covers turned into posters at UrbanOutfitters.com. Classics like To Kill a Mockingbird and The Catcher in the Rye are captured in all their vintage glory.



Posted by Megan


Gifts and Goodies
2/21/2008 1:21:00 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)  #  Comments [2] 
Upcoming Events: Now through early March
Some of the can't-miss events that are taking place all over the country in the next couple weeks:

February 28: Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art is presenting “Slide Slam! Designing Video Games” to take viewers behind-the-scenes of video game design

February 29
: Deadline to enter any projects into Graphic Design USA’s American Inhouse Design Awards, exclusively for corporations, publishers, non-profits and other institutions

March 3: Deadline to enter Print magazine’s Regional Design Annual, which serves as a comprehensive design profile of the U.S.

March 4th and 6th: X-Rite’s “Color Control Freak” seminar will travel to Cincinnati, Portland, Denver and Charlotte

March 7: Deadline to enter any book designs into AIGA’s annual 50 Books/50 Covers Competition

March 7: Deadline to enter your favorite design work—from branding to packaging to information design—into 365: AIGA’s Annual Design Competition

March 7–11: SXSW Interactive Festival in Austin, TX, celebrating the creativity and passion behind the coolest new media technologies

March 8: Word/Image Problem, a symposium at The New School, will celebrate cartoonist Rodolphe Topffer’s work, which integrated text into modern comic strips

Posted by Carmen

Events
2/21/2008 11:54:16 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)  #  Comments [0] 
 Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Things I Have Learned

To support his recent project/book, Things I Have Learned in My Life So Far, Stefan Sagmeister created a blog where he posts cool type treatments created by other people about the things they've learned. This would make a great creative challenge for a snowy afternoon.

Posted by Megan


Creativity
2/20/2008 1:06:05 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)  #  Comments [0] 
From the Almanac

Just so you know ... there's a total lunar eclipse happening tonight, with the peak at around 10:30 eastern time.



Posted by Bryn

Just for Fun
2/20/2008 11:24:22 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)  #  Comments [0] 
News to Know About

From the slew of press announcements coming in this week:

Adobe is discontinuing its royalty-free stock photo service; customers must make their final purchases by March 31 and download an uninstaller.

• Corel is now shipping its CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X4, with tools for page layout, illustration, photo editing and tracing.

• Mohawk announced the winners of its Strathmore Letterhead Contest for Q4 of 2007: Jenni Undis of Minneapolis printer Lunalux picked up the Gold (and also the 2007 Grand Prize) for her identity for Post-Luxury Accessories. Christine Mathison of Lindsay Hill Design won a Silver for her Lineplot Productions identity; Judy Kohn of JK Design scored the Bronze for her I.D. for High Meadows Fund. Entries for the Q1 2008 contest are being accepted now through March 31.

CTI Paper has revamped its Splendorlux brand of cast-coated colored papers, with new heavier weights, new finishes and new colors. A new swatchbook is available; email samples@thepapermill.com.

CreativeHub.com is a new online marketplace that connects freelance creatives and the companies who want to hire them.

International Paper's Accent Opaque Smooth text and cover papers are now certified to run on HP Indigo and Kodak Nexpress printers.

• The Art Directors Guild and California State University, Long Beach, are teaming up on an October conference called 5D, which will explore visual storytelling and design technology across all media.

Posted by Bryn

Industry News
2/20/2008 9:53:38 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)  #  Comments [0] 
Loathed Logo

I didn't think a logo redesign could be more hated than the recent Xerox rebrand, but it looks like Animal Planet is garnering it's own share of loathing here and here.

I'm not convinced that it's a total failure. I feel like the subtle color shift and the varying width of the letters gives the logo more energy than it had before. Am I the only one who doesn't totally hate it?

Posted by Megan


Thought Provoking
2/20/2008 9:52:43 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)  #  Comments [9] 
 Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Good Penmenship
If you're inspired by historical lettering, don't miss The International Association of Master Penmen, Engrossers and Teachers of Handwriting (IAMPETH) website. It includes a selection of high-res scans from rare books on calligraphy and penmenship like this beauty:



via Poppytalk

Posted by Megan


Typography
2/19/2008 10:48:21 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)  #  Comments [0] 
 Friday, February 15, 2008
Shop In Style

If you're tired of boring canvas shopping bags, BlueQ has a line of bags that are as stylish as they are sensible, including this one illustrated by mixed-media artist Charles Wilkin.

Posted by Megan


Gifts and Goodies | Illustration
2/15/2008 8:43:37 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)  #  Comments [1] 
 Thursday, February 14, 2008
But If You're Not In The Mood . . .

you could send someone this ambivilent e-valentine created by calligrapher Maybelle Imasa-Stukulls for Kate Spade's Behind the Curtain site. (Click on "B Mine" for the entire selection of sentiments.)

Posted by Megan


Just for Fun | Typography
2/14/2008 1:24:25 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)  #  Comments [1] 
We're in the Mood for Love

via VeryShortList

Chris Vincze's short film about a couple finding each other in a bass-ackwards world is sweet, but not sugary, like a nice Valentine's Day treat.



Posted by Bryn

Just for Fun
2/14/2008 1:06:10 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)  #  Comments [0] 
 Wednesday, February 13, 2008
What Happens if You Eat All the Pieces?

via Core77

We love chocolate. We love Scrabble. We love Chocolate Scrabble, by designers Mary & Matt.



Posted by Bryn

Gifts and Goodies
2/13/2008 2:34:34 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)  #  Comments [0] 
Valentine Video

Just in time for Valentine's Day, Zune Arts has released a new video called "Tickle Party" by famed art collaborative Friends with You. A story of friendship and love, the video features a unique blend of stop motion, puppetry and assorted 3D elements. You can watch the video on the Zune Arts site by clicking on the characters, which look like this:







Posted by Megan


Designers
2/13/2008 1:35:37 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)  #  Comments [0] 
More Amusement from the Forum

On Drawger.com, The Museum of Forgotten Art Supplies. Those of us of a certain age recall doing paste-up with Best Test rubber cement, cropping photos (you know, the on-paper kind) with a Proper Cropper and getting wacky on Design marker fumes. Really, we didn't inhale.



Posted by Bryn

Just for Fun
2/13/2008 1:28:20 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)  #  Comments [0] 
Overheard On The Forum
   
What if Comic Sans was a dude, who would he date? Find out with the Extensis Typecaster. (Turns out Comic Sans and Papyrus are a match made in heaven.) You can also discover which font you should hook up with. (Mistral? I don't think so.)

Posted by Megan


Just for Fun | Typography
2/13/2008 9:50:36 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)  #  Comments [0] 
International Design

To find out what's going on in the wider world of design, check out Icograda's redesigned website.
A highlight of the new site is unifying all members in one searchable database, so that all Icograda members - design associations, promotional bodies, education institutions and individual Icograda Friends - can be located from one easy access point. "The ability to look across 67 countries and regions around the globe and find all the Icograda contacts in a single location with one simple search is a feature that responds to our users' input," says Brenda Sanderson, Icograda's Managing Director.

Posted by Megan


Industry News
2/13/2008 9:30:57 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)  #  Comments [0] 
 Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Democracy in Action

No, not inaction. For this election season (actually, it'll last for several seasons) AIGA and The New York Times have partnered on the Polling Place Project. You'll recall that William Drenttel launched this exercise in citizen journalism in 2006 to great acclaim in the design world; now it's headed for a broader audience. Ordinary folks take digital snapshots of their polling places and post them along with a survey about their voting experience. Ever wonder what a caucus looks like? Go see.




Posted by Bryn

Industry News
2/12/2008 4:49:08 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)  #  Comments [0] 
Historic Type
Duke University's Historic American Sheet Music Project provides access to digital images of 3,042 pieces, published in the United States between 1850 and 1920. This is a treasure trove of typographic inspiration.





via Ask H&FJ

Posted by Megan


Typography
2/12/2008 2:13:56 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)  #  Comments [0] 
The Best of the Net

Netdiver editor Carole Guevin emailed this morning with a plug for the magazine's Best of the Year retrospective of 2007's top online projects. It's an intriguing array of work, including Get The Glass, which landed Best of Show in HOW's brand-spankin-new Interactive Design Awards annual.



We're also intrigued by the animations featured on the website of paper artist and sculptor Jen Stark.




Posted by Bryn

Industry News
2/12/2008 1:40:38 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)  #  Comments [0] 
Win A Free HOW Subscription

Stock photography is a key component of every designer's toolbox. So we want to know how you use stock images and which stock-photo companies you like best. Then, we plan to share that information with HOW readers in our August 2008 issue. Please take our short survey and you'll be entered to win a freer subscription to HOW (if you already subscribe, we'll extend your sub for one year; open to U.S. residents only).

The 16-question survey should only take about 5 to 10 minutes to complete. Please be assured that your responses will be treated in absolute confidene and used only in combination with those of other readers. For official sweepstake rules, click here.

Posted by Megan


HOW Magazine
2/12/2008 10:24:29 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)  #  Comments [0]