The Dangers Of Stock Photography

This post has links to several pages that show the same model in dozens of ads. I recognize the one from Liquid Library. I know she's been in some of our ads. It can be pretty comical.

Two Candies on the Web

First Daily Candy is a shopping blog that has some fantastically simple design. Very clean lots of white space and original illustrations. You don't get that everyday...

Second, CandyCulture.net. You can download their PDF online magazine. 238 pages of full color formatted for your monitor is what you get when nobody has to worry about production costs of printing. Lots of edgy design and a little fine art to boot… This is the 5th edition so when you have time you can check out the first 4 editions.

Fonts That Make You Look Lame

This website is for book design...but it has other great info that pertains to all design.

Fonts That Make You Look Lame
By Sheila Parr

Some fonts scream TACKY and others whisper amateur, but if you’re not a designer you probably have no idea if you’re committing a font felony. To protect yourself from snotty judgments about your taste and experience level, follow these two simple rules in all typed work: manuscripts, emails, proposals, and, of course, books.

RULE #1: Avoid the following five fonts at ALL costs,

1. Comic Sans. Unless you are writing a comic book or materials for a film adapted from a comic book (i.e., Sin City—great design) don’t use it.
2. Sand. Never. Ever.
3. Times. Very few books have body text set in Times. This is a dead giveaway of an amateur design.
4. Papyrus. Even for cookbooks. This font is overused to the point of exhaustion. Pay attention to restaurant menus and you’ll see what I mean.
5. Lucida Calligraphy. This common script font is very recognizable, but rarely appropriate.

RULE #2: Use the following three fonts at your own risk.

Copperplate, Eurostile, and Courier are great fonts—if you know how to use them. These typefaces are easily recognizable and have uncommon letterform shapes—a recipe for poor design if you’re not careful. Use these fonts sparingly, or leave them to a professional.

Thank you Cari for pointing this out!

A Day in the Life of a Graphic Designer

From Cari Johnson:
I found this on "The Princeton Review" website...www.princetonreview. Just found it very truthful about what to expect when becoming a graphic designer.

Career: Graphic Designer

A Day in the Life

Graphic designers create the visual presentation and design of goods, from gravestone markers to detergent boxes, from album covers to dog food cans. Work is usually done on a project basis. Designers must be able to work under extreme time pressures and very defined financial and design limits to produce quality material. A graphic designer must be able to synthesize input from a number of different sources into a distinctive image, using research prepared by a marketing department and cost specifications determined by a budgeting department, and produce a variety of sketches and models which demonstrate different approaches to the product. This takes a person who can listen to comments, has a good eye for aesthetic design and a flair for color, and a good understanding of the needs of the corporate world. “Graphic design isn’t one job. It’s twenty,” wrote one frazzled designer. “Salesman skills are very important if you want to see your designs accepted,” wrote another. Nearly all respondents listed communication skills as either second or third in importance for success in this profession. Over time, specialization is the name of the game, either in product design, packaging design, material use, or object arrangement. When projects are underway, graphic designers can expect to work long hours brainstorming and meeting with executives to discuss ideas. The job is highly visible; successes and failures alike are recognized and are put on display. Those who are insecure about their skills or their ideas have a hard time accepting the amount of risk and rejection this career entails. A successful graphic designer has an enviable life, choosing among clients and earning significant money. Be warned: An artist’s style may be very hot one season and turn into a parody the next; those who are unwilling or unable to change could find promising careers disappearing. Of the nearly 25,000 people who try to enter the field of graphic design each year, only about 15,000 last the first two years, and 8,000 last five years.

Paying Your Dues

No bachelor’s degree is required to become a graphic designer, but about two-thirds go to college, usually majoring in product design, art, or art history. Graphic designers must have talent and an understanding of the business world, including issues of finance and production, and should be familiar with computer technology such as PageMakerTM, PhotoshopTM, Adobe IllustratorTM, and other painting and graphic design tools. Graphic designers must be able to work in a variety of media and meet deadlines, sizing limits, and financial restrictions, especially those who wish to work as freelance graphic designers rather than in-house salaried designers. Basic preprofessional coursework should include design, drawing, computer artwork, and specific knowledge (for example, anatomy for medical graphics designers) relating to any area of specialization. Professionals must assemble a working portfolio to approach companies for work of any scale. For those who wish to pursue further study, over 100 schools offer accredited graphic design programs, according to the National Association of Schools of Art and Design, and each of them addresses issues of the working life of the graphic designer along with issues of design.

Associated Careers

Many artists turn to graphic design to make a living during their lean years, then return to art. A number become gallery owners and patrons and use the contacts they made as designers to help out any new talent in need of remunerative work. The large number of graphic artists who leave do so because of the scrambling lifestyle: The need to pursue work constantly and the requirement to act as a “salesman” for their own ideas. Others go in-house as design consultants and as magazine layout editors.

Customer designed

This great post on Trendwatching.com tied in nicely with something that you should be seeing in the future with our marketplace covers. In the spirit of Jones Soda labels and Flickr.com we will be using reader submitted photos as our mastheads.

Do You Consider Yourself A Type Snob?

Well, then. Here is a film called "The Creation Of Printed Type"
It's a short silent film showing a true type snob at work in his studio. You probably have heard of the guy in the film. His name is Frederic Goudy.

Brand Identity and a Letter form a Satisfied Customer

Dear Tide:
I am writing to say what an excellent product you have! I've used it all of my married life, as my Mom always told me it was the best. Now that I am in my fifties , I find it even better! In fact, about a month ago, I spilled some red wine on my new white blouse. My inconsiderate and uncaring husband started to belittle me about how clumsy I was, and generally started becoming a pain in the neck. One thing led to another and somehow I ended up with his blood on my new white blouse! I grabbed my bottle of Tide with bleach alternative, and to my surprise and satisfaction, all of the stains came out! In fact, the stains came out so well the detectives who came by yesterday told me that the DNA tests on my blouse were negative and then my attorney called and said that I was no longer considered a suspect in the disappearance of my husband. What ! a relief! Going through menopause is bad enough without being a murder suspect! I thank you, once again, for having a great product. Well, gotta go, have to write to the Hefty bag people.

New York Times and Tiffany

From Speak Up:
"So ever since seeing Child's Play, I've looked at page three of the New York Times differently: always looking for a correspondence between the narratives of news photo and Tiffany ad, a correspondence between text and image, or simply a correspondence of shapes.

It's become a daily observation exercise and a daily affirmation of the artists, critics and essayists whose work I loved as a young designer and who — whether they knew it or not — affect my daily outlook.

As a way to convey either how easy it is to make connections, or how frequently such combinations occur, here are thirty examples collected over the past year:"


Link
Check out the examples of how these newspaper ads work with the corresponding news photos.