SHARE:  
Thanks for subscribing. 

To my way of thinking marketing and branding materials should be submitted to clients, not presented. If you have to hear a pitch to fully understand and/or appreciate a design, then the design simply doesn't work does it?

Hope you have a productive week.
Chuck

315 template files in 19 different categories

Everything from brochures, newsletters, and direct mail to packaging, calendars, and books (one CD works with both Mac and PC). Use two or three files and you'll pay for the entire book and disc...

For Adobe InDesign
Here > http://www.ideabook.com/the_indesign_ideabook_59.html

For QuarkXPress
Here > http://www.ideabook.com/quarkxpress_templates.html

What is magic about graphic design?

Designer Milton Glaser famously said, "I move things around until they look right." Every designer knows what he means. So what is that magic? How is it one person is so adept at micro decision-making about elements like shape and color and space-and the next person isn't?

I think of it as informed awareness. The skill of being aware about what the potential changes that could be and being informed enough to know which of the changes will and won't work. As I like to think, design is opinion-but it is also about understanding current styles, trends, and fundamentals such as balance, weight, juxtaposition, and so on.

Recently, I saw a just-for-fun logo makeover designer and illustrator Von Glitschka posted for his favorite baseball team, the Baltimore Orioles.

I asked him if he would mind if I posted my thoughts about it and he was kind enough to provide some artwork. I want to share it with you because I think it is an excellent example of design nuance. The very subtle choices that can turn something good into something great.

Here's the article with the illustrations:

Here > http://www.pageplane.com/learning/orioles-logo-makeover.html

I've always sensed something a bit magical about physical lettering

The type of type with dimension and weight. Characters and words we are used to seeing in two dimensions recast in three.

This is Chromeography, the domain of Robert Strovers who captures and curates a collection of chrome typographic imagery--mostly from vehicles but also from appliances, tools, and such.

I want some of this stuff on my shelf.

Thanks to Daniel Will-Harris for pointing us to it.

Example 1...
Here > http://40.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lr15vmY2d51qzmdqso1_500.jpg

Example 2...
Here > http://40.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m98vc5VPT31qzmdqso1_1280.jpg

Example 3...
Here > http://41.media.tumblr.com/3ed3924ddce98ab58eeb6ef1729f1780/tumblr_nizihg2oU01qzmdqso1_1280.jpg

The Chromeography website...
Here > http://chromeography.com/

Here's a presentation by Stephen Coles, editor of Chromeography on its origins and purpose...
Here > https://vimeo.com/42992621

While we're on the subject, one of the contributors to Chromeography is Robert Strovers who offers this wonderful collection of vintage car and truck imagery on Flickr...
Here > https://www.flickr.com/photos/artisticpursuits/albums/72157594371259134

The last month's bestselling fonts at myfonts.com...
Here > https://www.myfonts.com/bestsellers/?refby=ib

Want to hear old people talk about the olden days of graphic design?

Haha... sounds like a real treat huh?

I don't know a lot about a lot of stuff, but I know a lot about the way design was done before desktop computers. I have opaqued negatives, cut Amberlith, I owned a Goodkin Lucigraph, could identify a Lectro-Stik by its smell alone, and have spent over twenty hours (straight) using an X-Acto Knife to adjust the spacing between body text letters on a double-truck newspaper ad. I KNOW some stuff about that.

So I've been keeping my eye on a project that originated on Kickstarter a couple of years ago titled Graphic Means, A History of Graphic Design Production. As they describe it, "It's been roughly 30 years since the desktop computer revolutionized the way the graphic design industry works. For decades before that, it was the hands of industrious workers, and various ingenious machines and tools that brought type and image together on meticulously prepared paste-up boards, before they were sent to the printer.

The documentary, Graphic Means, which is now in production, will explore graphic design production of the 1950s through the 1990s--from linecaster to photocomposition, and from paste-up to PDF."

The film is now in post production so its release is not to far off. In case you are interested in hearing old people drone on about how good you have it, here's are the links.

The Graphic Means trailer...
Here > https://vimeo.com/157620840

The presskit...
Here > https://issuu.com/briarlevit/docs/graphicmeans_presskit

Images from the front...
Here > http://www.graphicmeans.com/instagram/

The Graphic Means website...
Here > http://www.graphicmeans.com/

Old world lettering for new world design

Much of Tom Lane's lettering and design has a turn-of-the-century feel to it. He does a kind of hybrid of illustration and lettering. I like the way he uses these well-worn principles in new ways.

Example 1...
Here > http://gingermonkeydesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/1_Black-Wet-paint.jpg

Example 2...
Here > http://gingermonkeydesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Nike-Three-quarter-angle-closed1.jpg

Example 3...
Here > http://gingermonkeydesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/NISSOS.png

Lane also designed the Archangels Playing Card deck for Theory 11...
Here > https://www.behance.net/gallery/7209317/Tom-Lane-Bicycle-Playing-Cards-Theory-11

You can purchase the deck here...
Here > https://store.theory11.com/products/archangel-playing-cards

The Ginger Monkey website...
Here > http://gingermonkeydesign.com/portfolio/

From Industry and Interest: An interview with Tom Lane...
Here > http://industryandinterest.com/interview/tom-lane-ginger-monkey/

Would you subscribe to a killer collection of fonts?

Subscription software has been speculated about for over a decade. Lots of us speculated about using a dumb terminal to access software in the cloud and the possible scenario of logging into your account and of finding new features that had appeared overnight.

Clearly, a version of that world is now a reality. I subscribe to Adobe Creative Cloud and, for a set fee, I have an arsenal of creative tools for not much more than I was paying for upgrades to a few six-shooters.

Want to do the same with fonts? Monotype is now offering the Monotype Library Subscription-full access to fonts over 2,200 font families from Monotype, Linotype, Ascender, ITC, and Bitstream. (Yes, all those entities are now owned by Monotype.) The fonts are "Instantly installable and ready for use at any time."

These are not cheap knockoffs, this is the high-end stuff. Original cuts by some of the great names in typeface design. The cost? $14.99 per month.

Skyfonts works with Windows or Mac. Here's an introduction followed by a FAQ.

What do you think? Would you subscribe to a font collection?

Introducing the Monotype Library Subscription...
Here > http://www.myfonts.com/info/mls/?refby=ib

Here's the End User License Agreement here....
Here > http://www.myfonts.com/viewlicense.php?lid=2009

Here is the Skyfonts website...
Here > https://skyfonts.com/

I also asked the folks at MyFonts.com a few questions of my own:

Does the subscription include the use of web fonts used on a client's website?
No not yet-it will in the future.

Does Skyfont work in tandem with other font utilities such as Suitcase and FontExplorer?
SkyFonts is standalone. It's basically a delivery mechanism.

Is there any limit on the number of fonts that can be installed?
No.

From the type designer's side, I asked if a portion of the royalties is allocated to all designers equally or is a designer's royalty based on the number of end users who activate their particular typefaces?
I was told, "We're not able to share any information about how royalties are distributed."

Do the fonts expire or are they deleted? In other words, would they remain active until you next have an internet connection?
Once you download them onto your computer you don't need an internet connection to use them. Skyfonts will automatically delete them from your device once you've canceled your subscription.

Interested in trying the service? Use the link above and I get a small commission for providing the connection. Thanks in advance.

Who is Raymond Tomlinson and why should we note his passing?

The Internet Hall of Fame tells us, "Raymond Tomlinson is widely known for inventing network electronic mail, choosing the "@" sign in emails to connect the username with the destination address. His email software (SNDMSG) was widely distributed for years, and proved to be an exceptionally innovative solution. Tomlinson was also lead in developing the required services in network electronic mail, including defining a place to put inbound email on the user's machine, developing a mail transport agent to move email between machines, creating a protocol for moving email between machines, setting a standard format for email messages, and designing a tool for creating and reading email."

Imagine that. Helping to invent an entirely new mode of human communication. One that is used, by one count, over 140 billions times a day. That's a "b" for billion. AND for repurposing an ancient symbol-the "@" sign.

(Don't miss Keith Houston's in depth piece from Shady Characters.)

Thanks to Jim Green for pointing us to it.

Tomlinson speaks at his induction int the Internet Hall of Fame...
Here > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJp0NHkBIAY&

Raymond Tomlinson's official biography at the Internet Hall of Fame...
Here > http://www.internethalloffame.org/official-biography-raymond-tomlinson

Some email stats...
Here > http://rack.3.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDEyLzExLzI3LzE1XzE2XzIwXzI0MF9maWxlCnAJdGh1bWIJMTIwMHg5NjAwPg/71ae774b

From the BBC: The mystery over the @ sign...
Here > http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35744456

From Shady Characters: The @-symbol, part 1 of 2...
Here > http://www.shadycharacters.co.uk/2011/07/the-symbol-part-1-of-2/

Part 2...
Here > http://www.shadycharacters.co.uk/2011/08/the-symbol-part-2-of-2/

Jeff Rogers is part designer and part musician

As he explains in a talk at Hyperakt, a Brooklyn design agency, Jeff Rogers was schooled as a musician (a drummer) then decided to get into graphic design. You can see that music in his design: the various rhythms, different timbres, tone colors, and so on.

He calls himself a "multidisciplinary designer and illustrator." Most designers tend to adopt a style but Rogers really does have a multifaceted palette. In edition to digital tools he uses pens, markers, pencils and paint brushes to produce a wide range of interpretations and styles.

Refreshing.

Example 1...
Here > https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CaysT08WEAAkwTk.jpg:large

Example 2...
Here > https://d13yacurqjgara.cloudfront.net/users/23271/screenshots/435934/attachments/26521/Rogers-transitionsPoster.jpg

Example 3...
Here > http://static1.squarespace.com/static/509b0291e4b058edb8f0e87e/560477dfe4b068a8e5d25c9c/5604781be4b0d4b8f08842b3/1443133467850/Playwrights-Horizons-Brochure-2729.jpg?format=1000w

Jeff Rogers' website...
Here > http://www.howdyjeff.com/

Rogers worked with DDB Chicago to create this spot for McDonalds...
Here > https://vimeo.com/55461045

An interview with Jeff Rogers by Ryan and Tina Essmaker from The Great Discontent...
Here > http://thegreatdiscontent.com/interview/jeff-rogers

Lunch Talk with Jeff Rogers...
Here > https://vimeo.com/124277556

Meet the non-nordic Magnus Voll Mathiassen

In a recent interview with knstrct.com Gregory Maher asked designer and illustrator Magnus Voll Mathiassen to describe his design aesthetic and he answered. "Probably colorful and bold, and at times minimal. Fun and serious, dark and light." And then added, "Non-nordic".

Mathiassen, who lives and works in Norway, straddles the border between art and commercial design. And, to me, that's why it works so well.

Example 1...
Here > http://assets.agentpekka.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/AP_MVM_Frame-vitra_2x.jpg

Example 2...
Here > http://themvm.com/work/fra_lippo_lippi/?image.start=5

Example 3...
Here > http://themvm.com/data/image/galleryImage/bd_mvm_2.jpg

Mathiassen's website...
Here > http://themvm.com/

An interview with the designer...
Here > http://www.knstrct.com/art-blog/2015/4/12/up-to-pace-with-mvm-an-interview-with-norwegian-designer-magnus-voll-mathiassen

Hot new fonts...


About this newsletter

I try to remain as objective as possible about the information I share here. Unless I tell you otherwise, I receive no compensation from the organizations and people mentioned except for occasional product samples. I am an affiliate of Lynda.com and MyFonts.com -- that means, if you purchase something from them, I get a small commission. Comments? Suggestions? Write me at chuckgreen@ideabook.com -- Chuck Green