Latest Posts from GDF Bloggers
Mike Lenhart | August 2, 2010, 11:12 AMLet's Talk Generic
We all go shopping. And most of us have specific brand names of items we like. Sometimes we'll purchase that favorite brand of ketchup or potato chips where nothing else will do. Still, many of us will only purchase anything named "Apple" when buying electronics.
Brand names are well and good, but what about the generics? More importantly, what about the logos, or branding, that these "no-names" have? I thought it would be interesting to take a look at how these so-called, subservient brands rate in terms of their marks.
Art in the House
British Prime Minister, David Cameron, recently visited the White House for his first-ever visit to President Obama. Although they talked about a lot of issues, one of the most interesting things to me was the exchange of art they gave to each other.
Mr. Cameron gave the President a painting by graffiti artist, Ben Eine. The work is called Twenty First Century City. I love the use of space and typography used.
Mr. Obama returned the exchange with a work done by pop artist, Ed Ruscha, called Column with Speed Lines. I couldn't find the piece, but check out his Web site.
I am impressed not only by the choice of art as gifts, but also the infusion of culture in diplomatic relations.
You can check out the entire article on this, here.
Mike Lenhart | July 16, 2010, 12:20 PMIt's All Black and White To Me
Web site design has certainly come a long way since the '90s. Remember when it was all 
HTML? Later, we got into XHTML, Flash, CSS, and other types of scripting? Web designers have had to keep up with all the changes in coding just to keep ahead. Now, there is a type of Web design that goes back to the basics of most of them - black and white.
A Bite From The Apple
It seems that Apple is doing some censoring in a few of their various apps. I just read a report that they've asserted some control over what they deem appropriate in their app store and
iBookstore. Not only have they blacked-out gay-themed, illustrated books, such as two men kissing, they've also censored some of the great literary works of all time. Can you believe that in Moby Dick, they altered the word sperm whale into s***m whale? I guess that Apple has reversed their censorship after an outcry on the Internet. Good move. C'mon Apple, work on your products and technologies that have made such an impact. Fix the iPhone!
Chris Dickman | July 13, 2010, 9:04 AM
The Outside In Approach to Social Networking
Speculation has been heavy of late that Google is poised to introduce a new service that will attempt to stave off Facebook's otherwise inevitable quest for global domination of the social space. So if you came across someone who was the lead researcher for the social web at Google, tasked with advising design and product teams on creating successful social experiences, you'd probably figure they were close to the epicenter.
Don't Bite Your Nails!
What with the Lindsay Lohan's controversial nail polish message during her recent court appearance, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the art/design of this practice. Not that all nail polishing habits have to contain the F-word, there are a lot of ways that women, and men, choose to design their nail polishing works of art. Mike Lenhart | July 7, 2010, 1:44 PM
The Signs of Rural Life
I've always loved signage and typography, well at least for a long time now. After spending some
time in rural Ohio this summer, I've had the opportunity to see some interesting signs along the country highways and biways. It's interesting to me to see typographic styles on signs that were done before the digital age. It seems that there were a lot of talented sign painters through the years.
Here are some examples of what I'm talking about.
A Whole New Way To Stand - I Mean Fly
The design of airliners and passenger seating has taken a new turn. As we all know, 
the business of commercial air travel has gone through great lengths recently to retain their passengers without pissing them off too much. It's no wonder, with all the fees and extra charges that make most flyers cringe.
It seems now that there is talk about allowing passengers to purchase airline tickets at phenomenally low rates - only if they are willing to stand on the flight.
Chris Dickman | July 6, 2010, 5:57 AMThe Yahoo Style Guide: A Review
You probably never noticed it but one of the language options when installing major software applications is Canadian English. Huh? Sure, there's American English and British English. But Canadian? What does that consist of, beyond referring to a case of 24 beers as a "two-four"? As always, Wikipedia can tell you way more about this topic than you want to know, but the gist of it is that we Canuks employ an English that blends American and British usage, while adding some usages that are uniquely ours.
Mike Lenhart | July 5, 2010, 12:45 PMRevamped BP Logos Tell It Like It Is
With the largest, man-made environmental disaster currently going on, I not only take pause to reflect on how sad it is that this is happening, I also have to think about the corporation(s) that are responsible. 
There's plenty of blame and finger-pointing going on which won't solve the problem. With BP at the top of the blame list, it's funny to see how some folks out there have taken it upon themselves to reconfigure, and redesign, the company's logo.
Take a look at some that I consider the best.
Ben Kessler | June 25, 2010, 12:12 PMAIGA Metro-North Panel Examines Spec Work and the Future of Design
Spec work is the Comic Sans of design-project models. Much like the hated typeface, spec work appears to spell death for design as a profession, not to mention contempt for the designer's craft. So last night's AIGA Metro-North panel discussion at the Ossining Public Library, whose purpose was "to explore if, why, and how spec work has a rightful place in the way projects are structured," had an apt title: RESPECT.
(more) | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Chris Dickman | June 23, 2010, 8:18 AMAll Things Typographic: 9
Veer
Veer recently cameup with an imaginative setting for its exclusive Jukebox Collection. Jukebox is the name designer Jason Walcott has chosen for his collection of fonts that evokes "the golden age of sign painters and Madison Avenue. A treasure trove of typographic Americana." For its latest promotion, Veer created a number of faux vintage album covers to show off some of the faces, an example of which is shown above. Click on that image to view all the covers.
Universal Principles of Design
It just makes sense that when something is created, whether it be a work of art or a corkscrew, its success will depend to a great extent on the degree to which the creator kept the end user in mind. But how can you anticipate with any certainty just how people will react to your latest poster design, website or application, to bring things closer to home? An updated version of the bravely-named Universal Principles of Design proposes to help you do just that.
Chris Dickman | May 26, 2010, 8:47 AMMay Paper Roundup
Sure, everyone's keen to design for the iPad and the upcoming onslaught of tablet-based systems, not to mention smart phones and even good old websites. But for most designers, print remains their meat and potatos (admittedly a metaphor that no longer reflects our newly-healthy dietary habits). Yes, I'm talking about paper and you can bet that manufacturers of this still-ubiquitous substance are working harder than ever to keep designers attached to it. Accordingly, what follows is the first in a series of regular roundups of what's new in the world of paper, as well as more exotic substrates.
Susan Kirkland | May 21, 2010, 4:34 PMSoft Stuff Rant
Please buy our $1000 product for all the wonderful things it will do with your inspiration. It will make you feel like an artist. Yes, it will occasionally and unexpectedly quit, causing you to lose everything you created in a day, but we've remedied this with a cute saying, Save Often Stupid, which puts the blame elsewhere. The real irony is that when you want to quit, our software will sometimes crash, causing an additional waste of precious time.
We realize we are the only industry that can sell an expensive product without working out all the bugs; that's because you can't test-drive a car without tires, brush your teeth without bristles in your toothbrush, or use a nail without a point so it's understandable a sale would not result without working out those bugs. But, in fact, offering a free trial gives us the advantage; thirty days is just long enough to enjoy all the good things we've built into the stuff but not nearly long enough to locate all the bugs. The fact that we don't know where all the bugs are in our product in no way makes us liable. In fact, once you open that cellophane, you own it because there are no returns. Now, you may think this is unfair; and to this sentiment, we say with great empathy and complete and utter understanding, tough cookies.
