I sparkle!

“Less, but better.” A Conversation with Dieter Rams...

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 18:07:10 +0800

“Less, but better.”

A Conversation with Dieter Rams (by Andrew Birchett)

£25 for a logo?!

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 16:09:55 +0800

Like many other products and services, it’s never going to be too hard to find a cheaper option. But, as the painfully obvious saying goes, you get what you pay for. Buy a cheap car, it’ll break down more often. Buy a cheap meal, it won’t taste very nice. Buy a cheap haircut… you get the idea.

But is there a place in the industry for logo design being sold in this way? Unfortunately, we think the answer is yes. People or companies who aren’t particularly interested in the way they present themselves can’t be blamed for spending as little money as possible on a service they don’t see value in.

Learn to draw. Saul Bass gives advice to design students.

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 16:00:54 +0800

Learn to draw.

Saul Bass gives advice to design students.

Inspiration vs. Imitation

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 10:46:00 +0800

Inspiration vs. Imitation:

Fantastic piece on unintentional copying by the super-awesome @jessicahische.

Books I’d buy because of the covers alone — especially...

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 17:17:03 +0800

Books I’d buy because of the covers alone — especially Aphorisms’.

Book covers by Peter Mendelsund (via Jason Santa Maria)

Branding for I Do Films by Two Paperdolls: love the vintage,...

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 15:46:19 +0800

Branding for I Do Films by Two Paperdolls: love the vintage, romantic styling (via design work life)

Paul Shaw on The Kerning Game

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 13:31:39 +0800

Paul Shaw on The Kerning Game:

The first time I tried KernType I didn’t realize what the “rules” were until I had failed at several of the test words. But even after that my scores were often pathetic. I think I only got four of the ten test words right. However, when I looked at the solutions that MacKay proposed I didn’t feel so bad. I disagreed, sometimes violently, with them. My failed scores began to look like a badge of honor. To see if that really was the case I played the game a second time, paying more attention and trying to achieve perfect scores for each test word. But I failed. This time I only got three right.

KernType is a wonderful idea for teaching typography students and others about good letterspacing, but in practice it needs much work. It is not just that some of its solutions are faulty or are open to debate. There are no explanations for its solutions, no discussion about the problems that each word and its letter combinations pose, and no overall notion of what constitutes good spacing. Adding these would make KernType a useful product instead of just a bar game for type geeks.

Apple's aesthetic dichotomy

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 13:12:09 +0800

Apple's aesthetic dichotomy:

When Steve Jobs first introduced the iPhone - perhaps his greatest product presentation - he joked that the iPhone was an iPod with a rotary dialing system on the front. It was deliberately absurd, and the audience duely delivered the anticipated laugh. (I’m reliably informed that an early prototype of the phone actually did feature such an interface.)

But no one laughs when Apple delivers a calendar application for the iPad that tries its hardest to look like a real-word desktop calendar pad, complete with fake leather and “torn” pages.

Still fewer have a chuckle when they see the new Address Book app on Mac OS X Lion, or the even more recent Find My Friends iPhone app.

These apps, and many more besides, all stem from a completely different, and I would say opposite aesthetic sensibility than the plain devices they run on.

"Individuals do not seek satisfaction from products, from their actual selection, purchase and use...."

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 12:21:12 +0800

“Individuals do not seek satisfaction from products, from their actual selection, purchase and use. Rather satisfaction stems from anticipation, from imaginative pleasure-seeking. People’s basic motivation for consumption is not therefore simply materialistic. It is rather that they seek to experience ‘in reality’ the pleasurable dramas they have already experienced in their imagination. However, since ‘reality’ can never provide the perfected pleasures encountered in daydreams, each purchase leads to disillusionment and to longing for ever-new products. There is a dialectic of novelty and insatiability at the heart of contemporary consumerism.”

- Campbell (via ieatshampoo)

The Tweaker — the real genius of Steve Jobs.

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 12:04:00 +0800

The Tweaker — the real genius of Steve Jobs.:

Jobs’s sensibility was editorial, not inventive. His gift lay in taking what was in front of him—the tablet with stylus—and ruthlessly refining it. After looking at the first commercials for the iPad, he tracked down the copywriter, James Vincent, and told him, “Your commercials suck.”

“Well, what do you want?” Vincent shot back. “You’ve not been able to tell me what you want.”

“I don’t know,” Jobs said. “You have to bring me something new. Nothing you’ve shown me is even close.”

Vincent argued back and suddenly Jobs went ballistic. “He just started screaming at me,” Vincent recalled. Vincent could be volatile himself, and the volleys escalated.

When Vincent shouted, “You’ve got to tell me what you want,” Jobs shot back, “You’ve got to show me some stuff, and I’ll know it when I see it.”

typetide: Caslon Clock by Copal (photograph by Barry...

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 11:23:13 +0800

typetide:

Caslon Clock by Copal (photograph by Barry Smith)
Typeface: Caslon 540

Copal is a Japanese manufacturer who made flip clocks, including the Caslon series, in the 1950s–1970s. They now specialize in small electric motors.

More Caslon clocks:

Sometimes, I get stuck at “sob” and have no idea how...

Sun, 06 Nov 2011 21:01:50 +0800

Sometimes, I get stuck at “sob” and have no idea how to continue…

/ /

the circle of woe (by gemma correll)

"Market research is what you do when your product isn’t any good."

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 00:46:51 +0800

“Market research is what you do when your product isn’t any good.”

- The Man Who Inspired Jobs

dustymoney: Dusty Signs Sweet promo clip for traditional sign...

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 20:27:19 +0800

dustymoney:

Dusty Signs

Sweet promo clip for traditional sign painter Dan Madsen by Hunter Johnson.

theoinglis: Portraits of typographers by Nous Vous. The faces...

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 13:47:14 +0800

theoinglis:

Portraits of typographers by Nous Vous.

The faces behind the faces! oh and Gill looks suitably creepy!

prettyclever: Eat Real Festival 2011 Wow, the people of The...

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 01:25:40 +0800

prettyclever:

Eat Real Festival 2011

Wow, the people of The Black Harbour make very good work! I love the illustrations by Jayde Cardinalli.

Beautiful bespoke numerals by Studio8 Design in Elephant...

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 21:10:40 +0800

Beautiful bespoke numerals by Studio8 Design in Elephant Magazine, issue 5.

typeverything: Typeverything.com - Salvation by Jonathan...

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 14:20:19 +0800

typeverything:

Typeverything.com - Salvation by Jonathan Zawada.

Can you see it? I love this! Check out the rest of his portfolio too.

gurafiku: Japanese Poster: Handwritten Calligraphic Logos....

Sat, 24 Sep 2011 17:52:12 +0800

gurafiku:

Japanese Poster: Handwritten Calligraphic Logos. 2011

Black, white and red were made to go together.

“Our Fonts, Our Friends” is the first in a series of...

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 13:36:05 +0800

“Our Fonts, Our Friends” is the first in a series of retro science films about fonts, from Veer. In this installment, the narrator discusses font styles, how to choose your font, and where to find an endless supply of affordable fonts.

Veer Presents: “Our Fonts, Our Friends” (by VeerIdeas)