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 Friday, March 28, 2008
You're Not My Type
Here's some Friday fun, courtesy of our friend Steve Gordon: Extensis has a little Flash-based dating game called Typecaster that lets you pair up two typefaces on a date to see if they're compatible. Warning: Mistral is a real jerk, so steer clear, ladies. 
Just for Fun | Typography
3/28/2008 1:20:29 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00) 
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Anniversary Self-Promotion
To celebrate its 8th year in business, Maryland-based design firm Octavo Designs created a self-promo mailer with fun temporary tattoos. We gets lots of promotions from designers at HOW. This one caught my attention because it was simple and showed a sense of humor.  Posted by Megan
Designers
3/28/2008 8:58:59 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Looking For A Summer Internship?
Independent branding and design consultancy CBX is inviting all design students to enter CBXtra Credit, a competition for a summer internship in its New York City office. The deadline for entries is April 24. Posted by Megan
Call for Entries
3/28/2008 8:11:42 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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2008 Y Conference Begins
I arrived in San Diego this afternoon for the annual Y Conference, which I was also able to attend last year. This year, they were able to add another day to the conference, so it kicked off tonight with an opening keynote speaker. Unfortunately that speaker, Paul Hawken, wasn't able to make it because he became very sick. Instead, Metropolis editor-in-chief Susan Szenasy took up the torch and presented a session about green design. (The entire conference is dedicated to the subject of green and sustainable design.) Susan's presentation focused on some very inspiring, cutting-edge (albeit architecturally-focused) projects that are embracing and pushing the movement forward; projects like planting crops on rooftops in China or examples of schools and colleges where every architectural detail means something. Project after project, each was an innovative take on how to better our environmental--and living--situation through architecture. Which got me thinking: How can we, as designers, do things like this? How can we apply our talents in such ways? How can we raise that sort of awareness? That kind of kick-start thinking is the stuff keynotes are made of. And something tells me that this vein will run deep throughout the conference's next two days.  The giant Y sculpture greets attendees as they make their way into the Conference.  Susan Szenasy presents the keynote session at the Y Conference. Posted by Carmen
Events
3/28/2008 7:58:57 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Thursday, March 27, 2008
Vintage Logos
Designer Eric Carl has posted 120 scanned pages from a mid-70's edition of World of Logotypes. It's a fascinating look back in time and great place to find future inspiration.  via DrawnPosted by Megan
Design Resources
3/27/2008 12:45:35 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Collage Illustration
Illustrator Julia Bereciartu, based in Spain, creates lovely collages with vintage images and ephemera.    Posted by Megan
Illustration
3/27/2008 9:27:44 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Best Opening Credits
Creativity
3/27/2008 8:58:33 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Wednesday, March 26, 2008
We Like Your Type
Typography
3/26/2008 2:09:04 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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A Bit of Friendly Competition
Over on the HOW Forum, we've started a little contest called Show Us Your Desktop, where designers can post screenshots of their Mac desktops and vote on the best ones. The designer whose desktop gets the most votes wins a free one-year HOW subscription. You can only post one image, but you can vote as much as you want; the contest ends April 18. Wanna play? Post your desktop and vote.
Just for Fun
3/26/2008 9:45:25 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Are You A Recent Grad?
If you are, you should definitely check out Chronicle Books Design Fellowship program. The program offers five *paid* six-month fellowships in Chronicle's different in-house design departments: publishing, children's, marketing and products. The deadline for applications is April 25. The Chronicle Books Design Fellowship program offers five recent
graduates a
six-month, paid, hands-on education. There is a Design
Fellow for each of our publishing groups, and they become an active
member of the in-house design team, working on a range of
projects while gaining professional skills and a portfolio of printed
work. In addition, the Fellows collectively compose the Chronicle Books
Design Lab: a think-tank charged with brainstorming the future of
Chronicle's products.
Posted by Megan
Call for Entries
3/25/2008 12:26:33 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Color Inspiration
Creativity
3/25/2008 11:42:50 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Monday, March 24, 2008
Auto Advertising Done Right
Having spent much of the weekend glued to NCAA basketball games, I spotted this way-cool ad for the Pontiac G8 several times, and my jaw hit the floor with every replay. It's a riff on the old computer game "Spy Hunter" -- and all the gamers are proclaiming how true to the original the ad is.
Just for Fun
3/24/2008 4:28:41 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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A Little Birdy Told Us ...
... that the Early Bird registration deadline for this year's HOW Design Conference is Friday. C'mon, peeps! Sign up this week and save 80 bucks -- that ain't chicken scratch. </bad bird references>
Events | Industry News
3/24/2008 10:11:21 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Graphic Design Vs. Fine Art
Designer Stefan Bucher sent over a link to an interesting story in the Los Angeles Times about the blurring lines between art and design. The story specifically focuses on Ed Fella and Geoff McFetridge, but also mentions Gary Baseman, who is the subject of an upcoming feature in HOW. In one instance, a teetering tower of squirming hand-drawn fonts spells
out the title message. Fella employs the central units of graphic
design -- text and image -- to craft a self-contained pictogram that
advertises nothing but its own joy. Besides sharing a fondness for
hand-drawn whimsy, Fella and McFetridge match up in Worthington's view
as a telling timeline that illuminates the evolution of graphic design
as a purely creative outlet. "Geoff has essentially turned upside down
the traditional designer-client relationship with this massive
overlap," Worthington says. "He works as an illustrator and he shows at
art galleries but still essentially has design at the core of his
practice, whereas Ed always had to keep his experimental practice
totally separate from his commercial practice. By putting Geoff and Ed
together, you can see how design has shifted culturally in relationship
to art and illustration."
 Posted by Megan
Industry News
3/24/2008 9:27:11 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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A Crest for Your Car
If you're a Scion driver, that is. (My fellow blogger, Megan, should show this to her husband, who steers a Scion to his web-design job.) Advertising/marketing firm StrawberryFrog developed a website for die-hard drivers to create a coat of arms or crest for their trusty Scions. ScionSpeak.com allows users to play with graphic elements created by graffiti artist Tristan Eaton, then post their designs in an online gallery or download them to print and apply to their cars. via NYTimes.com
Creativity
3/24/2008 8:43:01 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Thirty-Thirty
Still going on through the end of this month: 30 Days–30 Pieces, an online gallery where 20 designers and artists are posting a new work each day from March 1 through March 31. Amid a nifty Flash interface, you'll find daily artworks in media ranging from photography to illustration to collage. via the HOW Forum
Industry News | Just for Fun
3/24/2008 8:33:23 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Peeps Nightmare
Love them or hate them, Peeps are a sure sign of spring and also of creativity. For the second year in a row, The Washington Post sponsored a Peeps diorama contest. One of the five semifinalists is graphic designer Peter Byer whose entry is titled " Nightmare in Pink." The bedposts are crayons, and the slippers and vases are made of
Sculpey. The dresser and wall mountings (including a portrait of a Peep
labeled "Mom") were drawn in ink on white paper, then scanned into a
computer and reversed into white lines on a black background. As
evidenced by the precision, Byer is, in fact, a graphic designer. But
he deals mostly in print and has never worked with models or dioramas.
Might we suggest a side career?
 Posted by Megan
Just for Fun
3/24/2008 8:31:15 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Friday, March 21, 2008
Tons Of Type In Motion
Popping up all over the blogosphere today is a link to a wonderful post on Always Watching about TV and movie scenes that rely entirely on type and sound. But what happens when you combine typography with motion? That''s the process of kinematic typography and the results, when paired with some excellent scenes from your favorite films and TV shows, can be moving and marvelous.  Posted by Megan
Typography
3/21/2008 11:38:24 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Thursday, March 20, 2008
No Bag
Part of It works
with artists to create products for causes they are passionate about.
Sales from products benefit charities chosen by the artists. For instance, sales of this alphabet bag by London-based designer Daniel Eatock benefit The International Dyslexia Association. Posted by Megan
Gifts and Goodies | Typography
3/20/2008 1:58:42 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Bloxes
On the first day of the SXSW Interactive Conference, I noticed one corner of the convention center being taken over by interlocking cardboard shapes. The display morphed and grew over the four days as attendees played between sessions. Turns out, these "toys" are called Bloxes and were designed to build movable walls to dampan sound in offices and just build cool things. A case of 20 Bloxes in white or brown costs $59.95 and each Blox measures 9.5 inches square when assembled.   Posted by Megan
Gifts and Goodies
3/20/2008 9:43:52 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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