While googling for something completely unrelated, I found a real gem. It seems that German designers have a newish tool to help them with picking out typefaces that I hope jumps the pond and heads here to the States for all of us Yankee designers to use when hunting for the perfect fonts. It's called "TypeSelect" and it is basically a Pantone formula guide flip book, except with typefaces -- from a number of foundries -- arranged in color coded sections by styles instead of PMS color families. Be sure to check out Novum's short review. If you don't need to know anymore and are ready to shell out some Euros to make one yours, click over to Amazon's German site to place your order.
Auf wiedersehen graphikdesigner!
Emotions -- especially love -- are like Miracle-Gro for creativity. I don't care what all the nay-sayers think about Valentine's Day being another "Hallmark Holiday." Even if it's become a bit of that, the world needs more love and if folks have to be prodded and guilted into showing a little more compassion every February 14, I say hurrah! I suppose my only negative feelings about the day relate to the blandness of valentine postcards and greeting cards that are created these days. What happened to the delicate illustrations and tenderly diecut lace borders on cards? The delightful rhymes and fun-filled verses? Fortunately I can sate this longing with a few clicks and if you're feeling the same you should hop on over to these sites too:
- West Virginia University's Valentines Collection
- The Stock Solution's Vintage Valentines Art Collection
- About.com's Valentine Cards Collection
- HGTV's Antique Valentines
- St. Louis University's Samuel Cupples House Vintage Valentine Collection
- Tokens of Love: Lace Valentines Collection
- Indiana University's A Flowering of Affection: Victorian Valentine Cards at the Lilly Library
- A Victorian Treasury
And for good measure, brush up on your cupid day trivia over at The History Channel's History of Valentine's Day
I have a secret to admit. It's probably not something a magazine art director should share with the world (or in my case, the three people who read my blog), but here goes: I dread -- and love -- doing our covers. Next time you see a magazine cover, know that the art director probably spent many sleepless, jaw-clenching nights getting it to that place -- success or failure.
There's nothing like the excitement I feel when I finally nail the perfect way to grab your audience's attention and convey the right meaning with a great image and nicely typeset hed our clever editors write-up. It's on that note that I'd like to present a sneak preview of our latest cover. We were fortunate enough to work with friendly and obscenely talented illustrator John Hendrix, a generous soul who really went above and beyond for us. Enjoy!
Now here's a group project that I can get behind -- a shared, virtual scratch pad! Lunchtimers.com has three different "Big Pads" you can view and draw on at their Web site. But don't wait too long to leave your mark because you only have a couple minutes to contribute before the page refreshes and you have a new sheet to "decorate." It's a timewaster to be sure, but an interesting one at that!
I love paper. I love all of their different textures, colors, and finishes. I love specialty papers with chips of sparkling mica embedded in the pulp and even your neon-flavored run-of-the-mill astrobrite copy papers most frequently used for homemade bakesale flyers and the like.
Whenever possible, though, I like to find and spec environmentally friendly papers. The amount of recycled content can vary from line to line. Some mills are more upfront about just how much of the pulp is from recycled (post and pre consumer) sources and others are a little more "creative" with their marketing of their recycled papers. This short primer at paperspecs.com provides a nice list of tips and this transcript from an AIGA presentation, reprinted in Metropolis, is also worth a look for my socially conscious friends and readers.
As graphic designers, we have the power to make small changes everyday. Spec recycled when you can. Could their be an easier way to save a few trees? Or an easier way to put your soul at ease when you have to spec unrecycled for special jobs?
