Notebook Entries on {category_name}
November 21, 2008
Pentagram’s New Work: Quantum of Solace •
Pentagram’s stunning and intricately detailed cover design for Penguin Books’ Quantum of Solace: The Complete James Bond Short Stories.
November 14, 2008
Postage Stamps by Type Designers •
Frutiger, Spiekermann and other typography legends exhibit their skill on the small canvas of the postage stamp.
Virgil O. Stamps Letterpress Laboratory •
From recycled books to stick on nametags, Virgil O. Stamps is not afraid to letterpress anything, and the results are inspiring.
Pantone Rubik’s Cube •
Rubik + Pantone = Rubikone. Clever and gorgeous.
October 30, 2008
Finds from the NYPL •
Inspiring typography unearthed from the collections of the New York Public Library by Hoefler & Frere Jones.
Hand Made Font •
At once warm and whimsical, organic and off-the-wall, browse the treasure trove of hand-crafted typography by the folks at Hand Made Font.
Pentagram Designs 100% Design •
Pentagram designs the identity and brand structure for 100% Design, an international series of architecture and design showcases, featuring tightly-executed geometric sans-serif typography.
October 22, 2008
Multicolr Search Lab •
Idée’s Multicolr Search Lab (via Kottke) looks like another must-have tool for the designers arsenal. Pick up to ten colors, and you’ll get back a gallery of the most interesting Flickr photos that match.
Here’s a sample gallery that matches this site’s pallette. Addictive.
October 21, 2008
Design Classics: The London Underground Map •
Comprehensive BBC documentary of Harry Beck’s iconic London Underground Map.
Mad Men Illustrated •
Great illustrations inspired by Mad Men.
Photogravure.com •
The comprehensive resource dedicated to photogravure (via Coudal).
Garamond Powerline •
Elements of the power infrastructure converge in silhouette to form this remake of the 16th century classic typeface.
Sherwood Forest Treehouse by Make Architects •
The whimsical, winning entry for the new Sherwood Forest Visitor Complex, from Make.
Fifty Inspiring Vintage Advertisements •
A great collection of vintage ads from the Mad Men era of the 1950s and 1960s.
October 17, 2008
Way-Finding: West London Academy •
Modern, yet whimsical, way-finding signs designed for the West London Academy (via Coudal). I love the use of silhouettes and the natural way they add meaning to the signs they accompany.
October 15, 2008
Poster and Artwork Collection from the London Transport Museum •
Amazing collection of posters commissioned and collected by the London Underground (via Coudal). My favorite: The Tate Gallery by Tube.
Mac-O-Lanterns •
Halloween fun for bringing an old Mac Classic back from the dead.
October 10, 2008
National Theatre Posters •
Vast collection of posters from the National Theatre’s archives (via Coudal). The ebb and flow between illustration and photography is great as well as decoding the sometimes tangential relationship between poster and plot.
An Introduction to Information Design •
A great overview of information design with a bent toward advocacy marketing from Tactical Technology Collective.
October 8, 2008
Evolution of 50 Logos •
A visual history of 50 well-known logo designs from Adobe to Yamaha.
Mad Men, Mad Props •
I have a penchant for typography and a newly-found obsession with Mad Men. Mark Simonson’s typographic scrutiny of AMC‘s hit TV show combines both. Outta sight.
Cabel Sasser on Wedding Design •
Pixel-perfect wedding invitations self-designed by Panic’s Cabel Sasser, beautifully letter-pressed and complete with matching website for RSVP’s.
October 6, 2008
Vancouver 2010 Identity: Transmoflection •
The team behind the identity for the Vancouver 2010 winter Olympic Games reflects on the research and creative process used to create the branding. Although the use of the coined-to-be-catch-word transmoflection is over-the-top, I really like the concept of visually blending natural and man-made elements into a kind of bio-urban fusion used throughout the identity.
October 3, 2008
Vintage Logos •
Flickr set of logos from the mid-1970s.
Inspiration: Logos by Saul Bass •
Twelve of the most iconic logos designed by the legendary Saul Bass.
Thirty Fonts that All Designers Must Own •
Thirty fonts for every designer’s arsenal from Jacob Cass at Just Creative Design.
Vintage Poison Labels •
Skull and crossbones adorn this exhibition of vintage poison labels.
October 1, 2008
CNN Returns Historic Poster Maker to Spotlight •
CNN hired legendary letterpress shop Hatch Show Print to design and print promotional materials for the upcoming debate, because you can’t beat the real thing. Awesome.
September 30, 2008
Bento Gallery •
Flickr gallery of bento, the traditional Japanese box lunch.
Christopher Doyle™ •
Sydney-based designer Christopher Doyle created a set of identity guidelines — for himself — and then entered them in an Australian design competition.
If you’ve ever worked with identity guidelines, it’s a great joke at the expense of control-obsessed designers.
Do Not Touch •
5 pine planks (each 6 feet), 5 metal brackets, tools and materials from the gallery utility closet or found on the gallery grounds. Each of the five shelves that comprise this work is balanced on a single bracket. All maintain their level balance by the precise placement of the objects they bear.
Very cool installation of counterbalanced shelves. Do not touch, indeed.
September 16, 2008
The Creative Personality •
Of all human activities, creativity comes closest to providing the fulfillment we all hope to get in our lives. Call it full-blast living.
Psychology Today reviews their ten paradoxical traits of the creative personality.
Flicking the Switch •
Des Traynor at Contrast:
It’s the second you stop thinking about what the problem you’re attempting to solve, and start mindlessly doing what the client wants…I call it flicking the switch.
Don’t do it.
September 11, 2008
What Your Global Neighbors are Buying •
Geo-tree map illustrating worldwide consumer spending habits, from the New York Times interactive team.
Umbrella Today? •
Billed as “the simplest weather report ever,” this site is made for today’s deluge.
September 10, 2008
On the Importance of Noticing •
AIGA’s dialogue between Steve Portigal and Dan Soltzberg on the importance of noticing and the proclivity of designers to ‘super-notice’ their surroundings.
September 9, 2008
Bass on Film Titles •
Saul Bass takes an in-depth look at some of his most memorable film title sequences.
iPhone Interface Elements •
Free GUI elements for creating iPhone design prototypes in Photoshop.
August 25, 2008
Porsche Design Kitchen •
Poggenpohl and Porsche team up for a sleek, minimalist redesign of the kitchen. The attention to detail is even more amazing than you expect.
How Design Can Save Democracy •
Unfortunately, because of technical limitations in voting equipment, misguided local laws, short time frames and tight budgets, many ballots will repeat design mistakes made in past elections. But with access to new ballot design guidelines, officials can now make significant improvements in election accuracy and voter confidence.
AIGA redesigns the traditionally dense American ballot and demonstrates the potential impact of design on democratic society.
Inside JetBlue’s Food Court at JFK •
As if you needed another reason to travel to NYC, here’s a sneak-peek at JetBlue’s redesigned food court at JFK’s Terminal 5, opening October 1.
August 21, 2008
Design and Branding Trends from the Olympic Games •
Colour Lovers explores the design of the Olympic Games and the colors used to brand them with a collection of posters from 1896 and accompanying color palettes derived from the images.
The Vexed Question of Punctuation •
Artemy Lebedev speaks to some common typographical issues surrounding punctuation. Required reading for typophiles, designers, writers and even desktop publishers.
August 18, 2008
Black and White Ball Identity •
Black, white and beautiful. Masterfully monochrome identity designed by Pentagram for the San Francisco Symphony’s 2008 Black and White Ball.
Olympic Medal Gallery •
Photos of every Olympic medal made — summer and winter.
August 12, 2008
Why Apple Doesn’t Release Concepts •
Kontra explains why don’t we see concept products from Apple?
Because, to paraphrase Jobs, real artists ship.
(via Gruber)
August 8, 2008
Smart Car, Smart Design •
Simple site design, engaging interactive features and a solid case for Smart Car ownership. I watched all the way through; too bad they’re sold only in the UK.
Pictograms from the Beijing Olympics •
Soon-to-become iconic pictograms from the Beijing Olympics. I love the elegance of the joint-less, abstract figures.
August 4, 2008
The Economist Style Guide •
The replete style book given to all writers at The Economist — in online form.
NYT: A Collection of Olympic Torches •
Another well-designed interactive feature from the New York Times covering the history of the Olympic torch.
August 1, 2008
Boulton on Signage •
Mark Boulton turns his 20/20 typographic vision to the art of sign design. His advice: don’t screw with conventions.
July 28, 2008
Metro Logos Around the World •
More than 150 metro logos from around the world.
July 16, 2008
Western Spaghetti •
Really cool stop-motion animation by PES (via 37signals). Incredible.
July 8, 2008
Ira Glass on Storytelling •
Ira Glass:
Most everybody I know, who does interesting creative work, went through a phase of years where they had really good taste and they could tell that what they were making wasn’t as good as they wanted it to be…It’s totally normal.
An honest and reassuring look at the creative process from NPR’s Ira Glass.
On Content and Design •
Zeldman nails the relationship between content and design, in 14 words.
June 30, 2008
BBC Web Identity Guidelines •
Interesting collection of corporate Web identity guidelines to correspond with the redesign of the BBC Web site.
May 29, 2008
Free Vector World maps •
Assorted world maps from Web Resources Depot.
April 4, 2008
NYT: Mad Fold-Ins Past and Present •
Addictively intuitive Mad magazine fold-ins from 1960 to the present.
Another great online interactive feature from the New York Times.
March 14, 2008
Awareness Test •
The fast-becoming-classic illustration of change blindness — the phenomena that we only see what we’re looking for, regardless of what else may be going on around us.
January 11, 2008
24 Ways: Boulton on Typsetting Tables •
24 ways continues their web design-themed advent celebration with Mark Boulton’s introduction to the proper use of typography for tabular information.
How to Disarm 10 Difficult Client Observations/Requests •
Clever and legitimate responses to classic, project-derailing client questions.
April 13, 2007
Universal Leonardo •
Rich interactive site featuring the life and work of da Vinci
December 30, 2006
How to: Photorealistic Font Perspective •
FontShop demonstrates how to create a photorealistic type illustration with this Adobe Illustrator tutorial.
July 21, 2006
Steve Jobs and the Segway •
An excerpt from Steve Kempers’ forthcoming “Code Name Ginger” — which details the birth of Dean Kamen’s Segway — reveals the story of the heralded device’s combustive meeting with the kingpins of Apple and Amazon.
April 6, 2006
How to: Realistic Photo Illustrations •
Want to make images in your illustrations look photo-realistic? Brown Battery Studios steps through their process in Adobe Fireworks.
March 29, 2006
Fresh Foliage Brushes •
Another amazing collection of botanical Photoshop brushes from Jason Gaylor — be sure to check out his other well-worn master collections.