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

The photographer Walter Schels and the journalist Beate Lakotta spent over a year making portraits of 26 people who were very close to death and again just after death. The exhibition articulates the experiences, hopes and fears of the dying, and gives them one more opportunity to be heard.



via Swissmiss

Posted by Megan

We're all paying more at the pump and at the grocery checkout these days, so our paychecks are stretched thin. If you're wondering how your income stacks up against others in the design field, then you'll be interested in HOW's 2008 Design Salary Survey, which we're conducting now through July 18.

And we need your help!

Graphic designers, please take HOW's Salary Survey so we can compile the broadest and most accurate report possible on salaries, bonuses and benefits in the industry. It'll take just a few minutes of your time, and it'll help us create a regional snapshot of what designers in your area are bringing home. Plus, by participating you'll be eligible for a drawing to win a free one-year subscription to HOW magazine!

Take the HOW Salary Survey now!

HOW's sister magazine, PRINT, celebrates its fourth win in the General Excellence category of the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) Ellie Awards, the magazine industry’s highest honor. This represents PRINT's 10th nomination for General Excellence, and its fourth win. Way to go!

Posted by Megan

I'm pretty sure this makes me a big nerd, but I adore this Charles and Ray Eames Powers of 10 joke.


(Thanks HOW Books editor Amy Schell for forwarding this site to me.)

Posted by Megan

Vancouver-based design firm smashLAB just posted a great white paper explaining the importance of social media. Print this out and send it to clients who are having trouble getting it.

Traditional marketers are accustomed to carefully honing messages. This allows for control, but the results are difficult and costly to measure. Social media turns this whole scenario around. With it, control is shared with the crowd, and real feedback becomes immediate.

Organizations now have the opportunity to collect detailed information on users and their habits, elicit real feedback and suggestions, and refine their offering and messaging to better suit user demands. Although there are trade-offs with this new way of communicating, the opportunities for companies to understand and work with their customers have never been as great.

Posted by Megan

Over at the MarketingMixBlog, pricing is always a hot topic. Last week, there was a heated discussion about whether designers should charge credit card fees back to clients when they pay with a credit card. Some say it's a cost of doing business; others don't think they should have to cover that expense. What do you think?

This is just one tiny tidbit from a treasure trove of business information in the new book by Ilise Benun and Peleg Top, co-founders of Marketing-Mentor.com, The Designer's Guide to Marketing and Pricing: How to Win Clients and What to Charge Them. They're also giving a pre-conference workshop based on the book at the HOW Conference on Sunday, May 18, bright and early at 8 AM.

That's not all! Ilise and Peleg have also recorded a series of 12 podcasts, one for each chapter, to go along with the book. Listen to Chapter 1: Who Is My Market? here and find lots more information on the new website for the book.

Posted by Megan

I can't stop looking at this panoramic illustration by Stuart Kolakovic. It started as a 9 meter long installation at a gallery and then his brother helped him turn it into an interactive web page. The meandering image tells the story of a small Eastern European village over the course of one year.





via Drawn

Posted by Megan

This series of three digital prints from Atmostheory, celebrating often used Mac commands, can be had for just $12.

via Swissmiss

Posted by Megan