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 Friday, July 17, 2009
Lots of Design News
Wow, with the HOW conference recently, magazine deadlines and strategic planning sessions, we've let the news items pile up in the ol' inbox. Here's what you need to know:
• You may have seen these guys at the Conference (and you'll no doubt be hearing more from them): Ansca Inc., a new startup led by 2 former Adobe veterans, announced Corona, a software solution for creating mobile applications for the iPhone. Corona got quite a bit of buzz in Austin -- it removes many technical barriers and allows designers themselves to build apps. Ansca has an Early-Adopter program that offers access to demos, screenshots and other helps.
• Sappi has extended the entry deadline for its Ideas That Matter grant program to July 31. Find out more about this program, which supports design projects for social causes. Sappi recently partnered with Project M (designer John Bielenberg's intensive summer design program) at the HOW Conference in Austin. Conference attendees could submit an idea for a socially minded design project; Houston designer Jenny Leonard proposed the winning concept of "Living Life to its Fullest." Project M will implement Leonard's concept in the coming months.
• Monotype Imaging added to its ITC Legacy series, with seven fonts in the Square Serif family and seven fonts in the Serif Condensed family; the entire Legacy series (based on a Nicolas Jenson design from the 1470s) now includes 35 designs. Type designer Ronald Arnholm created the new fonts; they're available from Fonts.com and other sources.
• Masterfile.com is offering 10% off purchases of stock photos through August 15.
• Version 6 of FontCreator
debuted in June; new features in the Professional Edition for graphic
designers include batch transformation that automatically creates
bold/italic/etc. versions of a font, plus a real-time validation
function that double-checks your design for common mistakes.
• Extensis released Portfolio Server 9,
with additional features including a web client that allows large
organizations to deliver assets and manage media via the web. The tool
plays well with Adobe products; the new Java-based server architecture
is more stable.
Industry News
Friday, July 17, 2009 3:07:23 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00) 
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Fuzzy Felt Font
Based on a vintage British children's toy, the Fuzzy Felt font is available as a free Photoshop font from Font Soup.
A child hood memory, Fuzzy Felt was created in 1950 by Lois Allan.
Using machines which originally created felt gaskets for tanks, she has
created one of Britain’s all time favourite toys.To keep the character and detail of the felt I decided to keep the
font as individual PSD files, converting the glyphs to vector
completely stripped them of any felt resemblance. Using the files may
take a little bit longer than using a font file but the outcome will
definitely be worth it.
via Made in England
Posted by Megan
Typography
Friday, July 17, 2009 2:31:20 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Job Of The Day
Visual Designer
IndustryNext LLC, New York City
IndustryNext is a technology and design firm delivering innovative
products and services to clients and consumers using the latest
emerging technologies. The interactive consumer experiences we have
created are being utilized by millions of people. These experiences
leverage the latest devices, technologies, frameworks, designs
patterns, interface and platforms.
IndustryNext is looking for a
Visual Designer who is passionate about designing attractive and
effective user experiences for web and custom software applications
across different devices and platforms. The Visual Designer will be
part of the creative team, report to the Creative Lead and work across
multiple disciplines to design award-winning user experiences.
Responsibilities include :
• Contribute to brainstorming during conceptual phase of a project
• Execute design solutions that are “on brand” and meet client business objectives
• Produce mood boards, design sketches, digital page layouts, interactive prototypes, and other interactive design deliverables
• Closely collaborate with other team members including project managers, programmers, writers and clients
• Work on multiple projects at once for different clients and mediums (i.e. web, touch screens, interactive TV etc.)
• Present ideas, concepts, and final deliverables to internal teams
• Document design solutions and design patterns using industry standard methods & design softwarePosted by Megan
Industry News
Friday, July 17, 2009 1:12:09 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Thursday, July 16, 2009
Typographic Signs
Architect and Etsy seller William Dohman offers charming custom typographic signs made from recycled wood.
I will custom make any word up to 7 letters. I can do more letters, but
please contact me with your specific request. Perfect for a child's
name or any word you may have a connection to. Each
wooden sign is cut out of recycled plywood. The white paint is applied
using a dry-brush method and then the entire sign is sanded to achieve
an aged look. Measurements are typically 7" tall and the length will depend on the word chosen.
 Posted by Megan
Gifts and Goodies | Typography
Thursday, July 16, 2009 6:55:48 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Designer Digs
Legendary publication designer Roger Black offers a peek inside his vacation home, a series of shipping containers arranged in a stark landscape in West Texas.
“I don’t like the Hamptons because you hear the same gossip and have
the same conversations as in New York,” said Roger Black, 60, squinting
into the midday sun at Cinco Camp, his West Texas vacation home made of
recycled shipping containers. “The whole reason of a weekend place is
to get away.”
More images here.
via NYTimes.com
Posted by Bryn
Designers
Thursday, July 16, 2009 6:19:53 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Logo Evolution
Designer Ty Mattson just launched a new website and blog for Mattson Creative. On the blog, there's a great post about how he developed the logo for Pocono Modern, a home builder.
Like every project, I begin by sketching concepts. This process is very
freeform. The drawings are quick and loose, and all over the page. I
try to generate a lot of ideas quickly, exploring as many different
visual concepts as I can. I will play with shapes and forms in multiple
configurations until something interesting takes place, or another idea
emerges. It’s a difficult process to describe, but I think this may be
my favorite part of logo development. 
 Posted by Megan
Designers
Thursday, July 16, 2009 1:06:46 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Job Of The Day
Senior Interactive Designer
Odopod, San Francisco
The Senior Designer's main job is to create viable design schemes for presentation to the client.
• Inspire and collaborate your co-workers to produce inventive, thoughtful, relevant work for clients
• Work closely with your team to execute on the creative strategy for projects by creating viable design schemes
• Participate in all aspects of design and production for your team’s projects, focusing on innovation and quality
•
Understand and work within project parameters: client goals and
requirements, internal goals, usability, technical constraints, as well
as budget and schedule
• Experiment with new tools and techniques to improve our work
• Cultivate an understanding of industry trends and share your insights with the studio
You
• 3+ years of experience designing rich interactive experiences for the web
• Present a portfolio that represents a range of design styles as well as a clear personal aesthetic
• Experience working on small to medium-sized teams
• Strong point of view on creative ideas and ability to contribute conceptual thinking and fresh design ideas
• An ability to be patient and focuses under tight deadlines
• Proficiency with Photoshop, Illustrator and Flash
• Proficiency with After Effects is a bonus
• Have strong personal organization skills and attention to detailPosted by Megan
Industry News
Thursday, July 16, 2009 12:54:28 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Four Design Challenges
David Sherwin is working on a book for HOW and is looking for a few more contributors to feature:
I'm almost done with the first draft of the 80 Works book—which includes design solutions for almost 80 challenges. I say almost
because there are four challenges that have been attacked by a number
of designers... but it has fought the majority of them to a dead
standstill.Can you help me solve these challenges? It would be a great help, as
I'd really like to promote more of the amazing talents that are out
there in the design community. And thank you, in advance, if you'd like to participate. Contact me at dksherwin at msn dot com
if you want to take one of the following design problems on and
potentially get your solution into my upcoming book from HOW Design.
The deadline for completing the challenge is July 26, so don't wait!Posted by Megan
Call for Entries | HOW Books
Tuesday, July 14, 2009 8:51:37 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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In Progress
Designer Jarred Elrod just posted a logo in progress on his blog (which usually concentrates on great poster design). He's creating the logo for two friends who are starting a photography partnership. I'm drawn to the second iteration, which positions the two D heads forehead to forehead in a way that says, "two heads are better than one."
 Posted by Megan
Designers
Tuesday, July 14, 2009 6:32:27 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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