Recommendation site

Inspiration for Typography http://www.typographyserved.com/

Recommendation sites

Here are two interesting sites for image and typography inspiration. Go to the site, please click on the picture.

Ten Graphic Design Paradoxes

I’ve just finished writing a book about graphic design. Yep, just what the world needs — another graphic design book. In my defence, the book is about the stuff that doesn't get written about much. It deals with subjects like rejection, envy, and plagiarism. There are also entries on kerning, the wisdom of using only lowercase letters, and the merits of Univers. But mostly it’s a book about the soft stuff — the stuff that we deal with every day and tend to take for granted.

In writing this book I discovered that many aspects of graphic design are paradoxical. I’m using the word paradox here to mean an opinion or statement contrary to commonly accepted wisdom. And while there are many others, here are my top ten everyday graphic design paradoxes.
01: There’s no such thing as bad clients: only bad designers.
02: The best way to learn how to become a better graphic designer is to become a client.
03: If we want to educate our clients about design, we must first educate ourselves about our clients.
04: If we want to make money as a graphic designer, we must concentrate on the work — not the money.
05: For designers, verbal skills are as important as visual skills.
06: Ideas usually fail not because they're bad ideas, but because they're badly presented.
07: “I’m a professional: I know best.”
08: “All the good jobs go to other designers.”
09: The best way to run a studio is to be domineering and forceful.
10: If we believe in nothing, we shouldn’t wonder why no one believes in us.
From Design Observer Read more....

Microsoft Sustainability

It's not about the graphic design, but it might inspire you to do something for the graphic design in the future. Please take a look Microsoft Sustainability.

Interview with Director: Mason Nicoll

New Assignment for Apr 6

create a zine:
using the many bits and pieces of great work you have lying around—
ideas that didn’t make it into a formal piece: drawings, poetry, writing, computer
mess ups that you saved for a rainy day—
today is the day.
compile them together based on a theme, topic, subject—
something you feel passionate about.
cut and paste or tape them on four 8 ½” x 11” pieces of paper.
make great compositions and interesting subject matter.
then copy on a copy machine.
make the copy machine work for you.
use both sides of the paper.
fold in half.
rethink the layout if needed and recopy.
then saddle stitch bind with a card stock cover.
use whatever paper stocks you find interesting and relate to your piece.
I’m thinking you can do this fast (3‐5 hours) and still create a strong portfolio piece.
it’s all in the swipe, due april 6th & 8th.

Face Out Books

This is a great resource for book cover design. This venue has been created to appreciate the practice of book cover design. This is not a blog to rip apart what we dislike—everyone has a different aesthetic. This is a blog about the challenges and outcomes of a project We are here to teach and be taught by one another. More at FaceOut Books

All Things Typographic 4/09

1. What is a font manager? Do I really need to buy one, since my Mac came with Font Book? Check it out...
2. How do I stroke text (for example, give type a yellow outline and a black fill) in QuarkXPress? Check it out...
3. When starting a paragraph with a quotation, should the opening quotation marks sit outside the text so that it doesn't appear to be indented? Or can the opening quotation marks align with the line below? Check it out...
4. Why is there such a big space between the r and t in some typefaces, and what should be done about it? Check it out...