February 2006 Archives
In its semi regular Uni Watch feature, ESPN.com offers some modest proposals to help revive the almost lost art of vertically arched lettering (VAL) on the backs of sports team uniforms. While VAL is aesthetically superior to the more common radial arching, it is much more difficult to execute and thus on the verge of extinction.
It may sound strange, but the best way to create typographic emphasis is to exercise restraint. These tools, applied with subtlety, will help your type stand out.
Although some images may share identical RGB values, their appearance differs because every imaging device responds to color stimuli differently. To work efficiently, you need a way to accurately preserve color information from a digital camera or scanner, through editing and correction to a finished print. Part of this requires choosing the right colorspace for your digital workflow.
STEP presents the 2005 Adobe Design Achievement Award winners.
D.I.Y Design It Yourself, edited by designer/writer Ellen Lupton, has stirred up some controversy and debate among the design ranks, not necessarily because of the content of the book, but merely because of its target audience—the public. While critics spew the same old story about how not everyone can become a designer simply by reading the contents of some book or how the book trivializes the profession by depicting design as a craft/hobby, I think the book is ingenious in its intended and/or unintended objectives.
A couple of weeks ago I discussed the starbuckification of cigarettes. This week AdAge reports on the "NASCARification" of wine or maybe it's the "wine-ification" of NASCAR? In either case, wine is becoming more and more popular among more diverse crowds. How will design respond to wine's new markets?
Rita Amladi begins her series on color management with Seven Steps for Surviving in a CMYK Workflow.
In Every Design Tells a Story, learn how one design graduate has created a brand for himself with a stunning portfolio.
Art direction is often about working within rules set down by others, wrangling less-than-perfect art assets and reconciling conflicting graphic standards. Avoid the frustration with Tips for Creative Takeover.
The decision by the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum to move parts of its archival collection in NYC to other parts of its parent, the Smithsonian Institution, has created some controversy. Ned Rifkin, the Smithsonian's undersecretary for art, who oversees the Cooper-Hewitt, says its simply a matter of making room, while some design scholars fear breaking up the archives will make them less accessible and eventually lead to their disappearance.
Steve Portigal and Niti Bhan of Core77 offer their take on "what you need to know before hiring a design firm. Read up. You might learn something about yourselves. :)
To a designer it may be sacreligeous, but the first lesson learned from Adrian Shaughnessy's new book "How to be a graphic designer without losing your soul" is to never judge a book by its cover. While the outside design reminds me of those wide-ruled little blue test-taking notebooks used by colleges and universities, the inside pages are filled with helpful tips, logical insight, and amusing stories.
Those of you who have bought digital SLR cameras like the Canon Digital Rebel or Nikon D70 have become familiar with the industry buzzword "focal length multiplier". The common perception is that when you attach lenses made for 35mm cameras onto digital SLR backs with smaller sensors the focal length (distance between the lens center and the film) actually increases or multiplies, providing the same perspective of a longer lens on a 35mm. But is this really the case?
