week four assignment: public service announcement

so this week you're going to make some posters. here are the details:

• pick a local event. it doesn't have to be local to new york city, just some sort of local event. you could do a poster for a (local / small) band's concert (ohmyrockness for lists), art gallery opening, performing arts theater run, a party, anything you want. flavorpill is a great resource to explore things happening - click on a date to see dozens of events going on that day. make sure you have the name of the event, the date, time, and location (bare minimum)

• you're going to make three posters for this event. three finished posters. they can be related in theme, but they should be three standalone posters.

• for EACH of those three (final) posters, we want to see variations. a lot of variations. at least fifteen variations of each idea. roll with an idea, make something, save as. develop it more, take it in two directions, save both versions. post your progress as it goes, yeah?

• you can use color.

• print out your posters (in full size) and bring them to class. if forty five different posters is a little daunting, bring in (at least) your three final ones and eight spares / backups / WIPs.

i'll post some examples of past works and some sources of inspiration. post everything! even scribbles on napkins. moleskine pages full of ideas. anything. good luck.

new free font

here's a free font from fontfabric. a nice clean round sans serif available in light and heavy weights. a couple of good usage examples right here:
http://fontfabric.com/code-free-font-3/

download typeface here and check out fontfabric's other freebies.

Typography Blogs

Here we go:

www.ilovetypography.com - articles and editorials about typography, history and trends, etc.

www.welovetypography.com - from the same guys as the above site, this is more a collection and showcase for tyopgraphy posters / projects / findings / etc.

www.typographicposters.com - similar to wlt but this is organized by typographic artist so it's a little more organized, a little less ffffound.

www.typophile.com - typography discussions and forums. ask any question you have and most likely these kids will have an answer.

www.myfonts.com - a pretty decent site to find and purchase fonts. they have a fairly wide selection (although nothing from hoefler & frere-jones) so...

www.typography.com - yeah this is how big hoefler & frere-jones is. they own typography.com. if you're looking for some of the cleanest, most well-put together typefaces, this is a good place to start - but the quality comes with a price.

Week Three Assignment

So (most of you) got feedback for your type specimen book. This week, simply enough, develop it some more. and POST! Try and post your progress throughout the weekend so we can see how it's moving along and provide our feedback before class on Wednesday.

I'll be putting up some more typography sites and inspiration etc. soon.

Freelancer Needed

Gen received an email from Francesca Messina, Art Director at McGraw Hill, who's in need of a freelancer. Details below:

Hey all-I'm in need of an ace editorial art director who comes from a
newsweekly background, can be hands-on, and won't have an attitude. Need
help while I search for the ultimate best candidate for my 130-year old
newsweekly magazine, part of the group of magazines I supervise here at
McGraw-Hill. This freelancer could be considered as a candidate for the
staff position if the fit is right.

This magazine covers news about construction globally-the latest
technologies, how stimulus funding is impacting the building industry, and
what new architectural projects are the hot topics around the world. This is
b-to-b: extremely hands on and no big budgets-but these are a really smart
and passionate group of editors that are great colleagues. Need someone who
can hit the ground running.

Hit me up if interested and I'll send you her email address.

Vector Fonts

so we have our .otfs, ttfs, poscripts, etc, and then there are also vector fonts - .ai files with each character as an individual entity. here are some pretty stylized ones - play around with them a lot, change the individual sizes, the opacity, twist them, change some endpoints, distort them, wash them out, have some fun with these.


Layer Cake
http://www.justmytype.org/fonts/layercake.zip










Soraya
http://www.justmytype.org/fonts/soraya.zip









Align
http://www.justmytype.org/fonts/egypt.zip









More at Formconspiracy: http://cargocollective.com/formconspiracy#4648

Everything you didn’t know you didn’t know, typographically speaking! -- TypeTalk: You ask, we answer -- Typography for Signage -- Typo Tips from Erik Spiekermann -- Cheese or Font? -- Bring Gourmet Typography to your company, school, or organization -- The Type Studio now on Twitter

TypeTalk: You ask, we answer ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Q. Is there an optimum column width for text settings that makes the text easier to read? Check it out... Q. How can I avoid importing the formatting in a Word document when I place the text into a design program? Check it out...

Typography for Signage ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Signage must make its point as quickly as possible, whether it is promoting a product, providing directions, or previewing a brand. Typography — the right faces used appropriately — holds the key to readability and memorability. Read on...

Typo Tips from Erik Spiekermann ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ With the invention of desktop publishing, designers found themselves setting type on their computers for the first time. Until then, they had made type specifications for typesetters and left the job up to the professionals. As a result, you can still see classic inaccuracies in typesetting, even in top-quality printed matter. Here you will find some tips from Erik Spiekermann, co-author of Stop Stealing Sheep, and a FontShop founder, which will prevent some of the more obvious blunders. Read on...

Cheese or Font? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fonts and cheese — what could they possibly have in common? Perhaps more than you think. Play this fun game and find out how well you really know the difference between these two incongruous items. Check it out...

Bring Gourmet Typography to your company, school, or organization ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In today’s competitive market, you need all the edge you can get. Whether you are a student or a professional, having strong typographic skills should be at the top of your list. Bring Gourmet Typography Training right to your company, school or organization! Workshops are customized for groups of any size and designed to fit your specific needs. Sessions are scheduled for your convenience — daytime, evenings or weekends. We will design a program customized for your particular requirements. SUMMER DISCOUNT: $300 off workshops scheduled June thru August. SCHOOLS & UNIVERSITIES: Special pricing, call 203.227.5929 for details. “I want to thank you for the great workshop last Friday. You dusted off and reinforced all of those typographic rules that I have — and have not — lived by in all my years as a graphic designer. Your down-to-earth approach to type made the session breezy and fun, and I couldn’t help but visually re-spacing all the headlines I had the time to linger on during my bumper-to-bumper drive back to home. Thanks again for reigniting my spark for type!” For more info, click here or call 203.227.5929.

The Type Studio now on Twitter ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Yes, I gave in to Twitter pressure. It's no longer your teenager's social networking tool, but a valuable source of education and information for students, educators and professionals of all kinds. Follow me at Twitter for the best of typographic rants, raves, reviews, and releases.

indesign crash course

here's ellen lupton's indesign crash course, and another article entitled "crimes against typography" - a couple quick guides that'll get y'all through the weekend.

Summer Inspiration

Summertime inspiration to get everyone in the mood for summer classes.

This is one of my favorite design studios:

Always With Honor

Amazing infographics, icons and editorial work.

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY!



(thanks Chris for introducing us to this new and favorite Holiday)

Design Blogs

Here are some additional design blogs hat Elisa dug up. Check it out.


-Every day it seems like a new graphic design blog pops up, so i thought i'd share a few that really stand out:

http://www.ffffound.com - ffffound, of course. no explanation needed here. moving on.

http://www.graphic-exchange.com/home.html - ffffound let me here today, this site has some really, really incredible stuff. a lot of the pieces are a little more classy and a little less experimental but this will show some stellar examples of design and typography used cleanly and correctly.

http://www.changethethought.com/ - here's a site with a lot more fun/experimental stuff. not always graphic design. sometimes illustrations, music, photography, but mostly fun ish plastered everywhere.

http://www.bookcoverarchive.com/ - went to this site a lot for the book cover assignment. they only add a couple book covers a day but i'll be damned if this isn't a fine collection.

http://butdoesitfloat.com/ But Does It Float

anyone else have ones to share?

TYPE TALK

Fall into good typography! -- TypeTalk: You ask, we answer -- Bullets (typographically speaking) -- Typography for Lawyers -- Movie Poster Typography -- Gourmet Typography returns to SVA in NYC -- Typeface Design with James Montalbano at SVA in NYC -- Gourmet Typography STIMULUS Discount -- The Type Studio now on Twitter If this email is not displaying properly, you can view it here. Previous editions can be viewed here.

TypeTalk: You ask, we answer ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Q. Is there a way to control line spacing in a Microsoft Word document besides the limited single, 1.5, and double options? Check it out... Q. Great! Now how can I change the default line spacing for all new Word documents? Check it out... Q. Why is the sentence "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" seen so often in type samples? Check it out... Q. There are so many places to buy type. What are the advantages and disadvantages of both large and small font foundries? Check it out...

Bullets (typographically speaking) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What kind of a bullet doesn't travel at high speeds and is completely non-violent? A typographer's bullet, of course! This very useful typographic element can add emphasis, clarity and visual interest to all kinds of copy. Read on...

Typography for Lawyers ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A primer on typography for lawyers by Matthew Butterick, who studied typography and design at Harvard before becoming an attorney. Some very useful information for anyone using typography, not just lawyers! Take a look...

Movie Poster Typography ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Check out The FontFeed's monthly review of typography in movie posters - what's hot, and what's not! Reviews include Public Enemies, Brüno, I Love You Beth Cooper, Blood, Soul Power, In The Loop, and more. Check it out...

Gourmet Typography returns to SVA in NYC ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Once again, Ilene teaches her ever-popular Gourmet Typography class at School of Visual Arts in NYC. Take control of your type instead of letting it control you. Learn the typographic skills and secrets of type experts, including selecting the right typeface, mixing type, techniques for emphasis, fine-tuning your type, kerning and spacing, as well as typographic do's and don'ts. This course will raise the level of your design and production skills and instill an excitement and passion for typography. More info here...

Typeface Design with James Montalbano at SVA in NYC ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Don't miss this opportunity to learn typeface design from the talented James Montalbano, principal of Terminal Design, Inc. This course will immerse the student in the process of original typeface design and font making. You will start by sketching original ideas, then you will have the option of developing the complete typeface as drawings, or as digital font data. More info here...

Gourmet Typography STIMULUS Discount ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In today's competitive market, you need all the edge you can get. Whether you are a student or a professional, having strong typographic skills should be at the top of your list. Bring Gourmet Typography Training right to your company, school or organization! Workshops are customized for groups of any size and designed to fit your specific needs. Sessions are scheduled for your convenience - daytime, evenings or weekends. We will design a program customized for your particular requirements. ONSITE TRAINING: $300 off workshops booked through December. SCHOOLS & UNIVERSITIES: Special pricing, call 203.227.5929 for details. "I found your class to be the missing link in the field of graphic design. I have had type classes before and the content is mostly about the structure of fonts, word usage style and then how to see type as a design element. Very important classes, but not all inclusive. Having been in the field for over 16 years, I was surprised how much I learned and some of the practical information about what to do with fonts. Thanks again!" For more info, click here or call 203.227.5929.

The Type Studio now on Twitter ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Yes, I gave in to Twitter pressure. It's no longer your teenager's social networking tool, but a valuable source of education and information for students, educators and professionals of all kinds. Follow me at Twitter for the best of typographic rants, raves, reviews, and releases.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ info@thetypestudio.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Final Class

Don't forget, process book is due for final class.

AND! Let's make the final class extra enjoyable. So bring something to make it a party...

For exmaple

1-cupcakes
2-drinks
3-pizza
4-confetti


you get the idea.

A Look Inside the Starbucks Re-Re-design

Evidently Starbucks is going for an overhaul... hm I wonder why? They are trying to re-explore the idea of grass roots coffee shops that imbibe the spirit of the neighborhoods that they exist in.

That kind of sounds like the job of an actual neighborhood coffee shop. But despite my cynicism I enjoy some of the new design approaches, oraganic, raw and some what elemental. Though not the most original idea for a coffee shop I'm interested to see how this develops.

Here is an interview with Liz Muller, lead designer for Starbucks, courtesy of Design Observer.

What do you guys think?

Mucca Design

Genevieve showed us this design firms' work in the class room.

thought I would post it again because it is definitely worth two mentions.

Mucca Designs