Artists For Obama

These are art works for Obama. See more at Font feed

An Interview with Ludwig Übele

a bit of interview typeface designer that you might understand typeface and design!!!

After studying graphic design in Germany and Finland, Ludwig Übele worked for a number of years in the industry until he decided to concentrate on type design, and set off for the Netherlands. Since graduating from KABK’s TypeMedia course in 2007, Ludwig works freelance as a professional type designer—designing type for both text and display—and works on brand development.

What did you do before The Hague? What’s your background?

Originally I studied graphic design in Germany. Already my main focus was on type related courses. I had very good teachers in typography and calligraphy, who inspired me to go further with type. After I graduated from graphic design, I worked for several years in that field. It was a good experience, but in the long run not really satisfying. Whenever I had a job which was related to type design I was much more enthusiastic. This was the time when I decided to do the Type and Media course in The Hague, to find out if I could concentrate on the design of typefaces. Read More....

Sign of the Times

Pentagram-designed New York Times sign recently installed on the paper’s new headquarters.

Last week, the Times Square district gained its latest sign as the logo of the New York Times was installed on the Eighth Avenue facade of its new Renzo Piano-designed headquarters tower.

But what looks like a simple sign—if a 110-foot-long logo set as a 10,116-point version of the newspaper’s iconic Fraktur font can be called simple—is actually an intricate assemblage of nearly a thousand separate custom-designed pieces, each a painted extruded aluminum sleeve a little more than three inches in diameter.

The story of how and why Pentagram came to design the sign after the jump.

Read More.....

Nice webdesign

Nice info. graphic applies to web design by Sakellaridou (take a look on Project)

Container Color Systems

Nice idea and visual from Antrepo Design Industry

why you need contrast in your design

Good article about CONTRAST in design
Contrast

Design is largely an exercise in creating or suggesting contrasts, which are used to define hierarchy, manipulate certain widely understood relationships, and exploit context to enhance or redefine those relationships …all in an effort to convey meaning. Contrast is important because the meaningful essence of any thing is defined by its value, properties, or quality relative to something else. That’s right: nothing has much meaning by itself, which is one reason why design is important. Read more.....

The best logo from Wolda

This is the winner showcase from Wolda. What is Wolda? Built on the success of Eulda, the European Logo Design Annual (which it replaces), Wolda is the high-profile graphic design award scheme that rewards the best logos and trademarks designed throughout the world. The winners are selected by an international three-tier jury consisting of 10 top design professionals, 10 marketing managers from major international clients and finally 10 members of the public (provided respectively by the worldwide organizations Icograda, Aquent and Consumers International).
Check out more WINNER SHOWCASE

Font references from FontFeed

If you have no idea, how to review font before you pick it to use. Here is some favorite font from FontFeed

Extra Light, Ultra Thin Fonts

extra heavy type

Fine Lines newsletter

Downloadable templates

Check out this site for down loadable templates.
http://www.designerstoolbox.com/

Build Better Grids

Original posted by Ramon
You want to build better grids for your magazines. Here's how by COMPUTER ARTS PROJECTS Magazine, this months issue.
The entire issue is about PRINT design issues.
This tutorial is about Building Better Page Grids, and covers both Indesign and Quark.

Inspiration for Packaging design

Check out some interesting works from DIELINE and DZINEBLOG

second project: Rebrand and repackage

new assignment for intermediate design:

1) choose a household item, a tool of some sort, and invent a different usage for it.

2) rebrand and repackage according to its new use.

3) include "illustrated" instructions for usage.

household "tool" could be anything from a hammer to a toothbrush, melon scoop, mousetrap, ziplock bag, dust bunnies, etc.

Building a type library

original posted by Ramon

How to build a type library
by Ilene Strizver

Designers frequently ask: What’s the best way to build a type library? With dozens of foundries and thousands of typefaces available, the task can be overwhelming. Here are some basic principles that will help you build the right library for your needs and budget.

One type at a time
A strong, versatile type library needn’t consist of hundreds of typefaces. In fact, many award-winning designers rely on a handful of font families for the majority of their work. Most independent designers and small creative departments will do best to build their type libraries one typeface at a time, on a project-by-project basis.

To select the right typeface or typeface family for a project, first do a thorough type exploration. Make a list of possibilities and put each design through its paces. If you don’t have printed specimen materials or catalogs, look for downloadable PDF showings; this is especially valuable if you’re choosing a text face. For headlines or other display usages, try viewing your candidates onscreen using font tryout utilities (these are commonly available on font foundry or reseller web sites).

Consider dozens of designs, if necessary, until you find the right one. This might take a while, but a well-selected, appropriate typeface can do more than half the work in creating a successful design. The hours spent will be well worth it!

When selecting text faces, make sure the family has all the versions you might need, including italics or obliques. Look for fonts that offer the features you use on a regular basis, such as small caps, ligatures, old style and lining figures. And you should seriously consider OpenType fonts, which have expanded character sets that often include all of the above features and more.

By developing your type library project by project, you’ll learn how each typeface looks and behaves in a variety of situations. The advantage of building your library this way is that you’ll be starting with fonts you know well and have already found pleasing and useful. They’ll be like old friends, and having a few good friends you can count on is better than having hundreds of acquaintances whom you know only superficially, right?

What To Avoid
If you want your work to be fresh and original, don't rely solely on the system and application fonts. Because of their widespread availability, these fonts have been tremendously overexposed and overused, especially by non-professionals. Even a good design can start to feel dated and stale through overuse. Many of the most-used system and application fonts have been around since the early days of desktop publishing, and are simply not good choices for serious design work.

Another warning: don’t waste your time on free fonts. Unless the fonts are offered by reputable foundries, the adage “you get what you pay for” applies. Good typeface design requires an experienced eye and a high degree of artistry and technical skill. Most free fonts are designed by type novices or hobbyists. Designers at the professional level rarely give their fonts away, and free fonts are generally not suitable for professional work.

Editor’s Note: Ilene Strizver, founder of The Type Studio, is a typographic consultant, designer and writer specializing in all aspects of typographic communication. Read more about typography in her latest literary effort, Type Rules!, published by North Light Books. This article was commissioned and approved by Monotype Imaging Inc.

from: FONTS.com (check out for more articles)

Visual Source for editorial design

If you are looking for editorial visual source, here take a look at THINKS TO LOOK AT. It's a good reference for editorial design.

How to present identity program

If you have trouble about how to design and present corporate identity program, this might help you to see how professional as 2x4 firm presents corporate identity project.

Who Shot the Serif?

A bit of Type terminology from ilovetypography.com

So without further ado, let’s take a look at type terminology. Now, before my alliteration sends you running, let me say that there is nothing to fear. But why should you be interested in the terminology of type? Does it really matter if I don’t know my ascenders and serifs from my descenders and spines?

Well, what you will discover, is that learning just a little about the terminology will help you to have a greater appreciation for type; it will also help you to identify different typefaces and fonts — and that in turn will help you make better, more informed choices about the fonts you use. Oh, and lastly, you’ll learn what fish scales and serifs have in common. Read more....

Book Design from AIGA 2008

This is a book design annual 2008 from AIGA.
See more