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 Friday, June 19, 2009
Designing the News
Slate has an interesting article about why reading printed newspapers is still better than reading a digital version on a Kindle. It all comes down to design.
But both versions of the Kindle are missing what makes print newspapers
such a perfect delivery vehicle for news: graphic design. The Kindle
presents news as a list—you're given a list of sections (international,
national, etc.) and, in each section, a list of headlines and a
one-sentence capsule of each story. It's your job to guess, from the
list, which pieces to read. This turns out to be a terrible way to
navigate the news.
Posted by Megan
Industry News | Thought Provoking
Friday, June 19, 2009 5:48:29 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00) 
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Heading to the HOW Conference?
We're just two working days away from heading to Austin for this year's big HOW Design Conference, so I wanted to share some last-minute info and advice for anyone who's planning to join us (and I hope YOU are!):
• Beat the crowd at the registration desk and pick up your conference badge and materials starting at 1 p.m. Tuesday, June 23, on the first floor of the Austin Convention Center. Registration is open throughout the event.
• Expect it to be blazin' hot outside and pretty cool inside the meeting space. Dress code ranges from business casual to T-shirts and jeans.
• We'll be tweeting and blogging live during the conference, so stay tuned here for scoop, and follow us on Twitter: @HOWmag. Join the HOW Conference Twibe, and tag your tweets #HOWConf.
• Looking for places to eat and things to do in Austin? There's no shortage of either, so start here.
What's more, there are lots of extra activities on the agenda (official and otherwise) next week, including:
• A lunch group for designers who work for churches and other religious organizations on Thursday
• A lunch group for designers who work in-house on Friday
• A gay bar crawl following the Friday night reception
• A bar crawl on Sixth Street on Tuesday night
• Fun stuff for folks who aren't into bar crawls
• The Designers Marketplace on Thursday evening
• Design History and Practice: Mano a Mano, a bracket-style tournament hosted by Armin Vit and Bryony Gomez-Palacio on Thursday night
See y'all in Austin. I'll have my boots on!
Events | HOW Magazine
Friday, June 19, 2009 4:00:28 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Job Of The Day
Interactive Art Director
Eveo Inc., San Francisco, CA
Eveo is a leading provider of rich media communication solutions
focused on the Pharmaceutical, Biotech, and Medical Equipment
industries. Much of our work is a combination of video, motion
graphics, and 3D animation resulting in elegant, high-end programs that
deliver on our clients’ key messages to both physicians and patients.
We are looking for an exceptionally talented Interactive Art Director with extensive interactive and GUI design experience.
All potential candidates must:
• Be available to work in-house in the San Francisco Bay area, no relocation
• Provide a working link to their portfolio
The
Interactive Art Director’s role is to collaborate with the Creative
Director and Brand team to conceptualize engaging interactive programs.
The Art Director will then work with the production and development
staff to execute those ideas as the program moves through the
development pipeline. The Art Director will also be responsible for
keeping a close eye on visual consistency and brand adherence thought
the programs life span. Posted by Megan
Industry News
Friday, June 19, 2009 1:30:53 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Thursday, June 18, 2009
Designerd
Brazilian designer and illustrator Pablo Lobo freely admits he's a designerd. How about you?
via Grain EditPosted by Megan
Designers | Illustration
Thursday, June 18, 2009 3:58:19 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Adios
Say "goodbye" to boring type with the last font offering from Alejandro Paul and Veer.
Adios showcases Alejandro Paul’s most enduring preoccupations. It’s a
calligraphic script that merges the best ideas of the past with current
design practices. It’s also a technically intricate font bursting with
OpenType features.Inspired by designs in “how-to”
commercial lettering guides of the 1940s, Adios echoes the work of
lettering artist H. Wotzkow, not to mention contemporary tattoo art. A
profusion of ornamental ascenders and descenders allow extraordinary
variety. The lowercase “h” alone offers 43 variants. 
Posted by Megan
Typography
Thursday, June 18, 2009 3:06:22 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Money Talk for Freelancers
On the Creative Freelancer Blog, I posted this week a brief Q&A with freelancer Steve Gordon, author of the newly published "100 Habits of Highly Successful Freelance Designers." Our topic? A tough one: money.
Steve noted that creative freelancers have so much trouble dealing with the financial end of their business because their personal and professional fortunes are so intertwined.
If you, too, have trouble talking about money with your clients, check out tonight's Creative Freelancer Webinar (7 p.m. ET), where Ilise Benun, one of our partners on the Creative Freelancer Conference, will help clear away the butterflies in your stomach that arise any time you talk about your fees. Register now--it'll be worth your investment, trust me.
Design Resources | Events
Wednesday, June 17, 2009 6:53:47 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Good Business
We've had a number of e-mails recently about how creatives are making wise use of project resources and otherwise strategically staying ahead in this rough-but-improving economy. Here's some smart business thinking:
Mary-Lynn Bellamy-Willms, CEO of Suburbia Advertising and FunctionFox in Vancouver, BC, shared a few insights on how creative firms can improve their bottom lines right now, including:
1) Fire the bad clients--the ones that cost you money. Just do it.
2) Don’t sell yourself cheap--By low-balling a budget just to win a new client, your company will forever be branded as a cheap supplier. Even now, the more you cost, the more clients will value you.
3) Never work for free, even for a good cause--Bellamy-Willms suggests that you ask to get paid your full rate and donate back the profit--15-20%--at the end of the year. Get more business resources from the company here.
Larry Melnick of Hunter Business Development (who's speaking at this year's Mind Your Own Business Conference) tells us that B2B marketers expect their budget crunches to end later this year and into 2010. Which means work will start flowing again. What can design firms do to position themselves for this uptick in business? Larry advises:
* Reach out consistently to engage the right new prospects in a quality way
* Articulate your value through powerful case histories
* Regularly share your knowledge so you become a trusted advisor
* Cultivate relationships by staying in front of prospects
Finally, a recent survey of 300 creative professionals by Shutterstock found that, not surprisingly, designers are dealing with tighter project budgets right now. According to the report:
* 40% of art directors polled cite budget decreases vs. a year ago
* 22% are doing more work for less profit vs. a year ago
* two-thirds are doing more in-house production as a cost-saving measure
* 51% are using online royalty-free stock and 21% are using stock-image subscription services--all with the aim of saving money
Industry News
Wednesday, June 17, 2009 2:42:33 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Call For Entries: Good Design
Designer and writer Christopher Simmons is working on a new book for HOW and he's looking for projects to feature:
We’re looking for the best examples of design work that engages and
addresses critical causes. This can include paid or pro bono work for
non-profits, political causes, social justice, the arts, education as
well as self-initiated projects that support the greater good. Work can be in any medium — posters, logos, brochures, campaigns, naming/branding, etc. For more information on the range of work we’re looking for, download the Questionnaire/Permission Form above, or check out the Book section. There’s no cost to submit work, and you can submit as many pieces as you want. Just fill out this simple form and send them in. Deadline for consideration is August 1, 2009.
Posted by Megan
Call for Entries | HOW Books
Wednesday, June 17, 2009 12:58:01 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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