PagePlane.com Blog: Innovative and interesting examples of graphic design, web design, illustration, typography, and marketing from designer Chuck Green Sign Up Ideabook.com Tutorials Links Store Chuck's Blog PagePlane.com Subscribe Suggest a link About Contact Chuck Ideas Books Color Graphics Tech Ideas 101 Illustration Learning Marketing PR Mind Vacations Packaging Photography Print Design Reference Shopping Typography Web Design  PagePlane RSSSubscribe Reader  Jan 7 Packaging Sam Potts and The Brooklyn Superhero Supply Company » If you happen to be traveling on Fifth Avenue in Brooklyn, New York, I can't help but think the storefront at 372 would catch your eye. The Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co. stocks some fairly unusual products--including gallon cans of Gravity, jars of Sasquatch Mucous, and a giant container of Helium Gumballs. What it is, in reality, is a gateway for 826NYC--a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping students, ages 6-18, develop their writing skills. Here's the story: Tell me-if you were walking down this street--the Brooklyn Superhero storefront wouldn't get your attention!Another view of the storefront...Inside the store is the entrance to 826NYC...Some of the featured products...The store was designed by Sam Potts Inc.--which features an equally interesting portfolio of work...This is the 826NYC web site...In the Ideabook Design Store: Becoming a Graphic Designer » Comments Jan 5 Learning Why are you a designer? » David C. Baker poses that (in most cases) a designer's primary motivations are control and influence. Here is a two-page snippet that could save you a lifetime of flailing around, attempting to align your purpose with your profession. How hard can this be, you ask? (1MB PDF)...In the Ideabook Design Store: Before & After: Graphics For Business... » Comments Jan 2 Marketing PR Marketing in the real world » As with all lessons, some of the most profound marketing lessons are learned outside the office. Two back-to-back segments of the December 19, 2008 episode of This American Life pose stories that got me thinking in marketing mode. The first segment, the Prologue, looks at how profoundly one point of view can effect the communication and dissemination of a message. And the second, titled "Shots in the Dark," is a stark reminder of the significance of the shift in attitudes between old attitude of "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few" and the new belief (of many) that "everyone is entitled to make the choices that they consider best for their own situation."Give them a listen, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Click "Full Episode" and listen to the first two segments...In the Ideabook Design Store: Pantone Guide to Communicating with Color... » Comments Dec 31 Illustration Do you know what to leave out of your design? » Frank Chimero does. Where I might be tempted to add another layer of imagery and/or explanation to these illustrations, he is confident enough to hold back. That "sense of subtraction" is one of the most important skills a designer can possess.  One of Chimero's posters aimed at inspiring designers...And his portfolio...In the Ideabook Design Store: Before & After: Page Design... » Comments Dec 29 Ideas 101 Logo design trends for 2008 » Time for the 2008 installment of Bill Gardner's excellent series on logo design trends for LogoLounge.com. Mark it "must read."  2008 logo design trends from LogoLounge.com...In the Ideabook Design Store: Templates for InDesign, QuarkXpress, or PageMaker... » Comments Dec 26 Web Design User interface: Is interactivity always the best approach? » I want to use this site as a catalyst for a discussion. I like the design--it's an interesting approach to teaching people how to react when an earthquake hits.But it also raises two questions about user interface. First, does inviting the reader to pick and choose what they want to read and to potentially bypass a critical aspect of the presentation the best way to cover the information? And second, is a multiple choice question that plants right answers among wrong answers the best way to help readers learn and retain answers in a potentially crisis situation?UI experts (and others), I'd love to hear your thoughts. The earthquake quiz...NEW in the Ideabook Design Store: Tintbook CMYK Process Color Selector... » 2 Comments Dec 24 Typography The top 100 typefaces of all time » It's a claim that stirs more than a little controversy, but FontShop gave it a shot. They enlisted seven people who most would acknowledge as experts and weighted the list as follows: Sales figures: 40%Historical significance: 30%Aesthetic quality: 30% It is opinion, obviously, but pretty interesting. The list...A rough translation of the explanation (German to English) via Google Translate ...A booklet with the list and illustrations (in German) (6.8MB PDF)...In the Ideabook Design Store: Templates for InDesign, QuarkXpress, or PageMaker... » Comments Dec 22 Illustration How to design around a foundational illustration » Charmingwall.com bills itself as, "A New York gallery specializing in a curated selection of open-edition fine art prints." What I want to show you is how they establish a foundational illustration and take you to the different site categories by modifying that illustration. A solid idea that could be reinterpreted in many different ways.  Charmingwall.com...In the Ideabook Design Store: Templates for InDesign, QuarkXpress, or PageMaker... » 2 Comments Dec 19 Ideas 101 How to sell a design lifestyle » If you have not been to an Anthropologie store lately, I encourage you to stop by. It is all about design--they offer an eclectic mix of woman's clothing, tableware, books, and furnishings all accentuated by truly creative, one-of-a-kind displays and fixtures. I'm guessing this is at least one direction of future retailing. This approach (versus a conventional department store) sells one point of view, a certain set of tastes, a particular mindset—something approaching a lifestyle. I really love the place. For a chain with many stores nationwide, it is amazing how unique they are able to make each. To get the idea, you'll have to take a field trip—what you do not get from the Anthropologie web site is the importance of the store displays and fixtures to the experience. They are, in some cases, the best part.  Anthropologie.com...They have some great letters... In the Ideabook Design Store: Design-It-Yourself: Graphic Workshop... » 2 Comments Dec 17 Illustration How to expand your creativity? Make two-dimensions, three. » Isn't that what faux drop shadows and reflections are all about? Russian designer Yulia Brodskaya did just that by creating a series of three-dimensional cut-paper illustrations for G2, a supplement of the British newspaper the Guardian. An example from G2...Brodskaya's illustration portfolio... NEW in the Ideabook Design Store: Tintbook CMYK Process Color Selector... » Comments Dec 15 Web Design How to attend a big time web design conference on the cheap » A solid set of notes is often the most valuable outcome of attending a conference. Good notes are certainly not a substitute for attending and making all the associated connections, but composing and referring to a thoughtful set of notes is definitely useful. To call Mike Rohde's "sketchnotes" useful would play them short. These notes are both a valuble resource and a lesson in visualizing information.  User Interface Engineering...The Sketches category of Rohde's blog...In the Ideabook Design Store: The Color Harmony Guide... » 2 Comments Dec 12 Web Design One of the least discussed, most important sources of user experience design » The saying is, "Do as I do, not as I say." If you want to see what the usability experts view as state of the art interface design, you would expect they are using it themselves. There is much to learn by simply looking at how the experts set up their own site navigation.A few interesting examples:  User Interface Engineering...Nielsen Norman Group...Adaptive Path...In the Ideabook Design Store: The Copywriter's Handbook... » Comments Dec 10 Color Are the days of the black and white logo numbered? » In this recent article, David Pache at Dache presented the logos of 100 leading branding firms in black and white to, in essence, level the playing field. It made me wonder if it might be time to adopt the use of color as a foundational component of logo design. Isn't the reasoning for the need of a straight black and white version antiquated?  100 Brands of Interest...In the Ideabook Design Store: Templates for InDesign, QuarkXpress, or PageMaker... » 5 Comments Dec 5 Typography Sneak peek at the myfonts.com makeover » MyFonts.com is offering a sneak peek at a beta version of a new site design. If you don't know this resource, it is wide and deep.  The new front door...What's new...And if you're looking for a bargain...Curious about the current best sellers?...This is their popular font identification feature...If you look closely, there are some free fonts available from reputable foundries (look for a $0 price when you get to the individual typeface level)...In the Ideabook Design Store: Becoming a Graphic Designer » Comments Dec 3 Photography The LIFE Magazine photograph archive is now on Google » The intro page here says 97 percent of the LIFE Magazine photography collection has never been seen by the public. Now, 10 million images from the LIFE Photo Archive are being added to Google Image Search. To tap it, add "source:life" to any Google image search or search from the archive page. Between the 1860s until the 1970s LIFE Magazine was a source of some of the very best of photography in the world. LIFE was all about telling stories with pictures...Proof-positive that Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall were actors, not interior designers...This guy (Ed Turner) was my boss on my first real job as a designer (no, not my role model on work ethic)...When I showed up for an Outward Bound course in Maine, I found out this gentleman (Col. Robert Rheault) was the instructor (a little intimidating at first, he turned out to be a powerful influence)...There is some amazing stuff here going back to the very beginnings of photography...You can also have the images printed and framed...In the Ideabook Design Store: Before & After: Graphics For Business... » Comments Dec 1 Web Design Using positive and negative space in a layout » This struck me as a particularly interesting use of positive and negative space. I like the way the designer changes the colors in the counterforms of select letters and numbers and how she uses a mixture of positive and reverse type. Lots of good design appears to be uncomplicated (which means, of course, that it is)--it is often more about confidence in your choices than it is your ability to be wildly creative.  NEA Jazz in the Schools...Agnieszka Gasparska of Kiss Me I'm Polish is credited with the design...In the Ideabook Design Store: Pantone Guide to Communicating with Color... » Comments Nov 28 Print Design Where to find great package design » What is the equation for excellence? One aspect of it, certainly, is a passion for the subject. Dieline.com is a site created by package designers for package designers—folks with a real passion for it. As they put it, Dieline.com's "purpose is to define and promote the world's best examples of packaging, and provide a place where the package design community can review, critique and stay informed of the latest industry trends and design projects being created in the field." It is all that and more.This is one of my top 25 web sites for communication designers. THE packaging design playground...In the Ideabook Design Store: Before & After: Page Design... » Comments Nov 26 Print Design Where to explore graphic design from other cultures » The AIGA is behind an exhibit of the design of everyday items from around the world. As they put it, "From the wood screenprinting blocks used to make sari patterns in India to the cartoon-like graphics on Japanese stationery, there are many beautifully designed and highly functional items that may inform and inspire other kinds of design." Everyday Design...In the Ideabook Design Store: Before & After: Page Design... » Comments Nov 24 Illustration An illustration idea: mixing fantasy with reality » I saw one of Serge Bloch's illustrations in a magazine the other day and looked him up. I really like the idea of combining objects with illustrations and I wanted to see if he had done other projects using that same technique. He has. Here are a few examples.  The basic idea is to combine an object with an illustration...Another nice example...And something a little more complex...Serge Bloch's portfolio...In the Ideabook Design Store: Design-It-Yourself: Graphic Workshop... » Comments Nov 21 Graphics Tech Where to learn about basic search engine optimization » There mountains of speculation about what makes a web site search engine friendly. On November 12th, Google published a paper that sets the standards. There is nothing new here, what is new is that Google put their name on it. To me, we now know the standard. Seems like everyone who wants to be Google-friendly should check to ensure that their sites comply.  The post on Google's Webmaster Central Blog...Google's SEO Starter Guide PDF (519KB)...In the Ideabook Design Store: Templates for InDesign, QuarkXpress, or PageMaker... » Comments Nov 19 Graphics Tech A visit to The Museum of Forgotten Art Supplies » If you are familiar with terms such as "Amberlith," "burnisher," "waxer," and "Presstype," I suspect you will experience a bit of joy from a tour of The Museum of Forgotten Art Supplies.  The Museum of Forgotten Art Supplies...NEW in the Ideabook Design Store: Tintbook CMYK Process Color Selector... » Comments Nov 17 Print Design How to design for letterpress printing » If you have never designed a piece printed using the letterpress process, you're in for a treat. What you see here is the result of pressing a rigid, raised plate against a soft paper surface. Ohio based CrankyPressman.com, founded in 1934, has a portfolio that will get your creative juices flowing.  The CrankyPressman.com site...Their Flickr portfolio...In the Ideabook Design Store: The Color Harmony Guide... » 2 Comments Nov 14 Web Design How to find the right system for managing web site content » For the uninitiated, it is broadly referred to as a content management system (CMS). The idea is, instead of starting from scratch, you build your web to sit on a proprietary or open source CMS platform. That way you profit from all the thinking and development already contributed by others. Here is a good place to compare systems head to head.  Compare hundreds of different content management systems at cmsmatrix.org...In the Ideabook Design Store: Moleskine Notebooks... » Comments Nov 12 Typography What every designer needs to know about font embedding » FontEmbedding.com states it clearly: "Applications, authoring tools and operating systems provide various, often very powerful, ways to manipulate, package, embed and modify fonts. But just because your software makes it easy to do does not mean you have the legal rights to do so. That is why it is very important to understand the license agreement which covers various commercial fonts."As we design web sites using methods such as sIFR (Scalable Inman Flash Replacement) and electronic documents using encoding processes such as PDF (Portable Document Format), we need to be aware of the underlying information being attached in the background. Does a special license need to be purchased? Do security special measures need to be instituted? This is an ongoing discussion between communication designers, type designers, IT managers, and so on that is resulting in a mishmash of licenses and rules. Since you and I must understand and comply with the results, we need to be aware of the issue. In case you have not yet addressed it, here's an introduction.  An overview of font embedding...An example of how one leading foundary (Hoefler & Frere-Jones) addresses the issue: "What's involved in using fonts on websites?" and "Can I use fonts to make PDFs?" ...In the Ideabook Design Store: FontHead Typefaces... » Comments Nov 10 Illustration How to recast a cold idea in warm terms » Don't get sidetracked with the joke here, this reality version of Photoshop communicates, without words, what a powerful software program Photoshop is. This idea of recasting a cold subject (software) in warm terms (boxes and cups of paint) helps the reader think about the subject in another way. Next question: How can I use the idea of substitution in my next project? Thanks to cartoonist George Coghill for pointing me to it.  Recasting Photoshop...New in the Ideabook Design Store: Creative Advertising... » 3 Comments Nov 7 Web Design How to test your web in 85 different browser versions » Put this in the category of tools you will never need—until you need them. Browsershots is an online service (created by Johann C. Rocholl) that makes screenshots of your web design in as many as 85 different browser versions with a variety of settings (with and without Flash, various depth of color, and so on). If you wonder how others are seeing your work, this is a very educational and sometimes frustrating process. Here's to all the folks who invest their time and spirit in the wonderful array of useful tools on the world wide web--if any of you are listening, thank you a thousand times.  Browsershots compatibility testing...In the Ideabook Design Store: Getting It Printed... » Comments Nov 5 Ideas 101 What professional term do you use to define what you do? » Do you call yourself a designer? Graphic designer? Communication designer? Commercial artist? Art director? Creative director? I believe this is a worthwhile discussion. As I began researching an article on the subject I found someone had already started the conversation--Errol Saldanha. Take a look here and tell me what you think.  A discussion about communication design...In the Ideabook Design Store: Becoming a Graphic Designer » 6 Comments Nov 3 Web Design How to re-purpose web content » TasteBook.com provides tools for re-purposing web content--in this case, recipes. The idea is simple: You find material you like on participating web sites and compile it into a book that is then printed and shipped to you. It's smart on three levels: One, it allows the reader to pick and choose the content of their book. Two, it offers a new revenue stream for the participants. And three, it provides the developer with a way of offering unique content without having to create it from scratch.  The cover page...In the Ideabook Design Store: Before & After: Graphics For Business... » Comments Oct 31 Web Design How to break another barrier with your web readers » Yes, I agree this is kind of gimmicky but I can see that, if the message was right and the talent, talented, it could work.  An example...The Onsite Videos page...Another variation that my friend Chris Miller pointed me to called Bubble Guru...In the Ideabook Design Store: Before & After: Graphics For Business... » 1 Comments Oct 29 Illustration Where to see a history of the comics » Barnacle Press is a rather odd source worth knowing--odd because it seems rather anonymous and covers some material that is not easily divided by two. Dig in and you'll find lots of ideas about communicating and comic illustration.  Comics 1.0 from Barnacle Press...A Rube Goldberg classic...Papercraft toys are from the LA Times...In the Ideabook Design Store: Pantone Guide to Communicating with Color... » Comments Oct 27 Print Design How to bust a marketing stereotype » One way is to make fun of yourself. And that is what got me to actually read one of the bazillion credit card offers I get every month. Somebody must have said, "These letters are a joke to consumers, let's laugh at it with them." Hats off the the copywriter or art director who though it up and to the corporate folks who let it stand. This is definitive marketing.  Blah, blah, blah...In the Ideabook Design Store: Before & After: Page Design... » Comments Oct 24 Print Design How to design a wayfinding system » There are two things I want to point you to here. First is Lance Wyman's work. He specializes in the design of wayfinding systems, as he defines it: "the branding, signs, maps and directional devices that tell us where we are, where we want to go, and how to get there." He is a master of it. The second thing I want to note is the layout of his web site. It is a lesson in usability. It shows a time line of his work, uses a rollover image system to categorize the work (across the top, "Corporate," "Events," and so on), and it allows you to dig deeper by highlighting a logo and clicking through a string of images to see how it was developed and implemented. All from the same screen. Very interesting. (Thanks to son Rob for introducing me to Wyman's work following the designer's recent visit to VCU.)  Lance Wyman's one page wonder...An excellent overview of Wyman's work and the development of wayfinding systems...In the Ideabook Design Store: The Desktop Publisher's Idea Book...>Comment” below or click the red box here and e-mail it to me. What is the URL ? Why did you choose it?... In the Ideabook Design Store: The Desktop Publisher's Idea Book... » 7 Comments Jun 6 Ideas 101 My favorite web site » I have seen many thousands of web sites in the initial years of the World Wide Web—to date this is my favorite. Not because of the design (its plain), not because of the navigational structure (because of the use of frames the links are difficult to share), and certainly not because of the information (I vehemently disagree with much of what is set forth). This is my favorite site because it is a crystal-clear example a foundational principle: that design is opinion. Yes or no. Left or right. Light or dark. The calling of a designer is to determine the source and meaning of truth and to use that knowledge to improve communication and perfect systems. If you're good at it some significant number of folks will agree with you. If you're not, you dig deeper.Here, unabashed and in depth, is one designer's opinion and his expression of it. Rearrangement of tables in the laundry room...Plan for USA regional designations...How to think...The whole experience...NEW in the Ideabook Design Store: Tintbook CMYK Process Color Selector... » Comments Jun 4 Shopping Communications art » HistoryShots is a unique venture. As they explain it, “We started HistoryShots in 2003 in order to create a new type of information art that merged our interest in history, information graphics, and big picture ideas. Our inspirations come from many diverse people and graphical works, but in particular the works of Charles Joseph Minard and Edward Tufte of Yale University stand out.” Have a look. Genealogy of Pop/Rock Music...HistoryShots...If you are interested, Tufte's resource page references Minard's work...NEW in the Ideabook Design Store: Tintbook CMYK Process Color Selector... » 2 Comments Jun 2 Photography Happy Pinhole Camera Day » What is your favorite holiday? Christmas? Thanksgiving? Halloween? As if we don't have enough reasons to take the day off—Corbis (the photography and footage supplier) is celebrating World Pinhole Camera Day with the release of a series of do-it-yourself camera designs. You download a PDF of the design, print the parts, cut them out, and build your own pinhole camera.  The site...One of the camera designs (1.4MB PDF)...If you're really into it, leave time at the end of the day (after the gift exchange and festive pinhole camera dinner) to check out the world's largest pinhole camera...In the Ideabook Design Store: Task Force Clip Art... » Comments May 30 Web Design Media Temple is the standard. » First, let me preface what I am about to say (gush) by telling you I don't know anyone at this company and I get no compensation for recommending them—but I am compelled to say that Media Temple is THE most intelligently designed, high-powered, and user friendly internet service provider (ISP) service I have seen or used. If you or one of your clients is in the market for a place to lay your/their head, this is it. The interface is a pleasure to use, the selection of tools is deep and wide, and the technical support (the five or ten times I have called) is smart and friendly. Even at 2AM.I urge you to take a look around the site and to study the interface design, it is the best I have seen anywhere and they are constantly honing it.  Take the tour...In the Ideabook Design Store: Art Parts Clip Art... » 1 Comments May 28 Web Design An ingenious presentation “subject gauge” » Click play on this TED presentation, hover your mouse pointer over the bottom of the screen, and a bar appears that divides the presentation into subject sections—a very nice way to make the content accessible. (This is Malcolm Gladwell's talk on the distinctions between universality and variability including the source of the quotation, “To a worm in horseradish, the world is horseradish.”) Click play and hover your mouse pointer over the bottom of the player...In the Ideabook Design Store: Moleskine Notebooks... » Comments May 26 Learning To aide in telling stories about products, services, and ideas » Grant Barrett's Double-Tongued Dictionary is a wonderfully rich source of slang, jargon, and new words. His purpose is to “log words which show at least some sort of acceptance before their status as 'new' words is recognized.” I particularly like the sense of story so many of these terms and expressions conjure.  Grant Barrett's The Double-Tongued Dictionary...Barrett also co-hosts A Way with Words with Martha Barnette...In the Ideabook Design Store: FontHead Typefaces... » 2 Comments May 23 Web Design Transparent borders » Greg Story is credited as the designer of the Today page on msnbc.com so I will attribute this technique to him. What I am pointing to is how he uses a transparent border to surround and transition between the menu and main content areas and the background. Revealing what is behind an image adds a sense of depth and an air of delicacy. Yes, I'm pointing to the obvious. I do so because I believe to truly understand a particular design structure, you need to identify and examine the details. Looking back, many of the most useful lessons I have learned were communicated by someone showing or describing something others considered too obvious to mention. Greg Story's transparent borders...In the Ideabook Design Store: Getting It Printed... » 2 Comments May 21 Marketing PR Thinking from the reader's point of view » Many of the studies conducted by the Media Management Center are designed to distinguish the aspects of the readership experience that “motivate” from those that “inhibit.” The report I have linked to refers to the online experience but there are also studies regarding newspapers, magazines, and television. The report is interesting in the sense that it characterizes the reader experience using phrases such as the subject “Entertains and absorbs me,” “Looks out for people like me,” “Regular part of my day,” and so on.  The Media Management Center's Online User Engagement Study (120KB PDF)...More studies...New in the Ideabook Design Store: Creative Advertising... » Comments May 19 Web Design Advertainment at its best » Here is an presentation that really hits its mark. It is the age-old battle between harsh and soothing. Ikea flies us through a rapid fire sequence of harsh realities and lands us in slow-motion on a cushion of jazz. Click CHANGE BEDROOM and you're on to the next sequence and room. Ikea's “You need a quiet place”...In the Ideabook Design Store: Getting It Printed... » Comments May 16 Reference A treasure of maps (and information) » In January of this year the U.S. Census Bureau announced the publication of the Census Atlas of the United States—the first comprehensive atlas of population and housing produced by the Census Bureau since the 1920s. It is 300 pages long and contains almost 800 maps. There are two reasons to take a look at this PDF version of the atlas. First, it contains an amazing amount of fascinating information. And second, it is a fine example of clear, insightful information design.  Census Atlas of the United States...Another extensive government resource: The National Atlas of the United States...In the Ideabook Design Store: Becoming a Graphic Designer: A Guide to Careers in Design, 3rd Edition... » Comments May 14 Illustration Using pictures to break the language barrier » Pictures are powerful stuff. This little book looked interesting enough that I ordered a copy (even though I have no plans to visit China anytime soon). It provides images that represent various ideas you would commonly need to communicate to someone who does not speak the same language—a picture of a credit card, a toilet, food items, and so on.It is not be a new idea but a nice execution of it. More than anything it is a good reminder of how far a pertinent illustration can advance communication—even when you speak the same language.  Me No Speak...In the Ideabook Design Store: Before & After: Page Design... » Comments May 12 Web Design A web menu that comingles two variable lists » Watch how this menu matches photographers to their areas of expertise. When you rollover the names of photographers in the left-hand column, their areas of expertise are highlighted in the right-hand column. Rollover the area of expertise and photographers with that expertise are highlighted. (While your there, don't miss the portfolios, Marge Casey is a representative for many very talented photographers.) Marge Casey menus...In the Ideabook Design Store: The Desktop Publisher's Idea Book... » Comments May 9 Typography A feet feat » You need real guts to take on a job like this. Amsterdam studio Bolt Graphics designed this handsome set of posters for Adidas and translated them into 24 languages—not just translated words but word illustrations. Bolt Graphics posters...In the Ideabook Design Store: Templates for InDesign, QuarkXpress, or PageMaker... » Comments May 7 Reference Communication designers: Turn on your legal radar » Every designer should be a student of copyright and trademark laws. These laws not only protect your work and mine, they protect the work of others—everyone from artists and designers to corporations and public institutions. Part of our job is to be certain that the illustrations and photographs we incorporate into our work do not infringe on existing copyrights or trademarks. Or, if they do, that they are properly recognized and documented.It is not as simple as it looks. Here, for example, is a technical wiki for the royalty-free illustration and photography site istockphoto.com. It is designed to help the those who submit work for sale to understand what can and cannot be distributed under royalty-free guidelines. You might be surprised at the scope of the imagery that cannot be used without the permission of its owners.  The istockphoto wiki on copyright and trademark issues ...Copyright basics...Trademark basics...In the Ideabook Design Store: Design-It-Yourself: Graphic Workshopa... » 4 Comments May 5 Web Design A different take on web menus » Thanks to Chris Miller for pointing us to this interesting navigational approach by EffectiveUI. I like the idea that everything carries near-equal weight. Kind of like a book table of contents—it displays the linear layout but it also gives you a simple, in depth way to pick and choose.  The EffectiveUI interface...NEW in the Ideabook Design Store: Tintbook CMYK Process Color Selector... » 1 Comments May 2 Web Design Using a silhouette as a transition » Here is a nice example of how to use a silhouette as a transition from one section of a web page to the next.  The example is at the bottom of the page...In the Ideabook Design Store: The Copywriter's Handbook... » Comments Apr 30 Photography Chuck's big list of delusions: tilt-shift photography » Great. I have a new addition to my list of delusions—next time you see a photograph of a tiny little, toy-like model of a “real” scene, look again. It may not be a model at all, it may be the real thing edited using the “fake tilt-shift” effect in Photoshop (“real” tilt-shift is accomplished using a camera lens by the same name). This is an illustration technique you will definitely want to add to you toolbox. The effect is achieved by changing the depth of field (among other things).  A set of examples...More examples...A Photoshop tutorial...In the Ideabook Design Store: The Color Harmony Guide... » Comments Apr 28 Graphics Tech Start your next web with much of the work already done » If you design web sites and have not come across the Blueprint CSS Framework, I recommend you take a look to see if any of its parts and pieces could be of use to you. The framework includes a layout grid, basic typographic styles, and underlying code contributed by a coalition of high-powered CSS experts. I know there are folks who think that if you don't create everything from scratch that you are somehow “cheating”—I'm not one of them. To me, a well designed grid or template is like any other tool—a smart way to amplify productivity. The Google Blueprint CSS framework...An introduction by Jeff Croft, one of the original contributors...A demonstration of the web framework (all of which can be edited)...A demonstration of the typographic styles...In the Ideabook Design Store: Creative Business CD-ROM... » 2 Comments Apr 25 Shopping Buying illustration art » I have an affinity for illustration. I can't count the times a talented illustrator has made me look like I knew what I was doing. Truth be told, I am more likely to hang a poster than a painting. Here are two sites where you can buy originals and prints of published and unpublished works by both well-known and not-so-well-known illustrators. illogator.com...and Thumbtack Press...In the Ideabook Design Store: Graphic Artists Guild Handbook: Pricing & Ethical Guidelines... » Comments Apr 23 Learning Commercial graphic design is not self-expression » I have two very talented sons in design school—in the last few years their education has been the catalyst of many interesting conversations. As they unfold the intricacies of the business of communications design and ask questions, I must think through and articulate theories and practices I have long taken for granted. This month on ideabook.com I want to share one of the more controversial issues with you—regarding the concept of self-expression. Even if you don't think this is something you would normally take the time to read, please take a few minutes to read it through and to share your thoughts about it with me. Commercial graphic design is not self-expression...In the Ideabook Design Store: Brenner Pricing Tables... » 1 Comments Apr 21 Illustration Craft lives » It wasn't long ago that graphic design was as much craft as it is intellectual exercise. You could argue that there is craft to using computers and software, but the physicality of most designer's daily work is not what it once was. So it is refreshing (and nostalgic) to see great craft being practiced. Thank you to my friend Sheila Hanchard who points us to the work of Russian animator Alexander Petrov. Though he is best known for his artistic achievements—among others, his adaptation of The Old Man and the Sea—he is the director of several much-acclaimed, anti-conventional spots for United Airlines. One of the United Airline spots—titled The Rose...A clip from The Old Man and the Sea...The Canadian animation studio Petrov works through, click Welcome> Directors...And a fascinating documentary of Petrov's pastels on glass technique...In the Ideabook Design Store: Task Force Clip Art... » Comments Apr 18 Photography “What if the Hokey Pokey IS what it's all about?” » The photographs at Notes from the Road are stunning—they're captured using a traditional large format sheet-film camera. But the layout is why I'm pointing to the site. Though the understated, neutral palette and the type treatments are well worth noting, what caught my eye was how the bottoms of the anchor photographs are feathered into the article text—a simple but effective technique for integrating two dissimilar elements. (You'll have to dig deep to find the context of the Hokey Pokey bumper sticker.) Erik Gauger's Notes from the Road...Another nice example...About the author, designer, illustrator, photographer...In the Ideabook Design Store: Moleskine Notebooks... » Comments Apr 16 Illustration Art versus illustration » Illustrator is to artist as reporter is to poet. The reporter uses words to communicate news—the poet defines his own purpose. To my function-focused mind there is nothing quite so compelling as an illustration that communicates the idea more persuasively than words could. David Gothard is an illustrator with a wonderful talent for marrying concepts to images. Watch this...Gothard's portfolio...His blog...In the Ideabook Design Store: Art Parts Clip Art... » Comments Apr 14 Reference Alltop.com: A links list with a brain » Guy Kawasaki makes it look easy. This time he, Will Mayall, and Kathryn Henkens (all principles of Nononia, Inc.) have birthed Alltop—a table of contents to “all the top” stories on the web. What type of semantic computational algorithm could possibly make such a subjective judgment? The human brain. Yup, these industry innovators propose that what we need is not another regurgitation of every other machine-picked list, but a lineup selected by people.“The bottom line,'” as they describe it, “is that we are trying to enhance your online reading by both displaying stories from the sites that you’re already visiting and helping you discover sites that you didn’t know existed. In this way, our goal is the 'cessation of Internet stagnation.'”We are honored to be included on the Design page.  The home page with all the categories...The Alltop.com Design Category—LOOK, there's pageplane.com next to the kid with the circle on his shirt...In the Ideabook Design Store: FontHead Typefaces... » Comments Apr 11 Ideas 101 Design: Define a problem, invent a solution » This simple example, to me, represents the best of design. These folks are experts at designing wine labels—a fairly narrow niche. But they studied their subject and found room to innovate. The idea is “Wine Find”—a loose, perforated portion of the label that can be removed by the seller or customer as a reminder of the exact brand and vintage of the bottle they purchased. That's the type of jolt thinking that gets me pumped—I can immediately think of several ways to translate the same concept to other media and formats.  The Wine Find label (450KB PDF)...Stellar label designs and a better photograph of a Wine Find label (1MB PDF)...New in the Ideabook Design Store: Creative Advertising... » Comments Apr 9 Print Design Who the heck is Fabien Barral? » I'm slightly depressed. It seems as though, at every turn, I come upon a designer whose work knocks me into next week. This time it's Fabien Barral, a guy who claims to be living in the middle of the French countryside—no comment. Seriously though, his deft mix of typography and old/new design elements is very interesting. Another one for my “when I grow up I wanna design like” list. Fabien Barral...More Fabien Barral...Okay Fabien Barral, you're starting to get on my nerves...In the Ideabook Design Store: Getting It Printed... » 5 Comments Apr 7 Color I'm a sucker for the red, white, black palette » UNIQLO is a company based in Japan that is fairly new to the United States. It positions itself at a provider of “high quality, basic casual wear at the lowest prices in the market.” Their site was designed by Yugo Nakamura who employs the color palette Roger Black made famous (at least to me): red, white, and black. It relies heavily on a combination of stark contrast, powerful typography, and bold images. Love it.  The is the company's site...This is the site used to tease the arrival of the store in NYC...In case you missed it previously, Roger Black's page...In the Ideabook Design Store: Getting It Printed... » Comments Apr 4 Graphics Tech Free Photoshop? » Well, kind of. Now you can introduce your friends and family to the magic of Photoshop. The link leads to a test drive of Adobe Photoshop Express, a scaled back, happier version of the tool so many of us have grown to know and love. You simply double-click an image to access basic Photoshop tools for editing Basics, Tuning, and Effects.But the real value of this offering is the opportunity it affords us to recount the heights and valleys of our own experience with the “real” Photoshop (don't forget to warn your audience that using the real version requires decades of study and membership in stuff like professional guilds and unions—no sense stirring up a bunch of unnecessary competition). Think of the hours you'll spend explaining layers, recalling the day you applied your first drop shadow, and communicating the anguish of creating 86 layers you didn't bother to label.To friends and family—run.  Go here and select “My Photos”...More details from the blog of Photoshop's Senior Product Manager, John Nack...In the Ideabook Design Store: Before & After: Graphics For Business... » Comments Apr 2 Photography How to see the same thing everyone else sees—in a different way » There is a great lesson here. Photographer Andrew Zuckerman photographed animals commonly seen in the wild and brought them into a studio and photographed them on an infinity cyc (a seamless, white cyclorama used to focus all attention on the objects placed on it). It helped him to capture images that are very different than what you normally see. My point is this: when you take a subject and isolate it from the normal ways in which it is described and shown, you are likely to find a new way of communicating it.  Creatures by Andrew Zuckerman...Zuckerman's portfolio...In the Ideabook Design Store: Design-It-Yourself: Graphic Workshop... » 4 Comments Mar 31 Mind Vacations What you want to watch, when you want to watch it » Since the inception of the box, scheduling has played a significant role in the success or failure of television programming. If you are hungry for something to watch, you click around until you find something you want to watch or settle for watching something that is “on.” Here comes the future. Fancast.com is a venture by behemoth Comcast that offers, at this writing, over 200 television series. Each episode of which can be viewed whenever you choose to view it. I guess this is good news—with no limits on when you watch, the quality of what you are willing to spend time watching should be raised. Maybe. I'm guessing there will still be people who will watch Doogie Howser, M.D. on purpose. Now, an OFFICIAL DISCLAIMER: don't blame Chuck Green if you get canned for watching reruns at your desk—I warn you, there are fifty episodes of the Twilight Zone on this thing. The current fancast.com menu...Vintage Twilight Zone...This is also happening on hulu.com...In the Ideabook Design Store: Before & After: Graphics For Business... » 1 Comments Mar 28 Learning The power of encouragement » If you are a friend of this page, you know I don't spend a lot of time waxing philosophical. But a recent experience brought this to mind and, if you will indulge me this once, I'd like to share it with you.  Victor Kryston, Dill Cole, and The Eucalyptus Tree Studio...In the Ideabook Design Store: Getting It Printed... » Comments Mar 26 Web Design Oops...found a design » Sometimes it happens this way. You get started and find a solution within a solution. I'm guessing this started out as a web layout and someone had the clarity to say, why not publish it as a sketch? To me, the finished product is even more interesting than where it was headed. 1trickpony...In the Ideabook Design Store: Before & After: Page Design... » 1 Comments Mar 24 Ideas 101 Design restraint » It would be difficult to overstate the importance of restraint in communications design. It is so easy to add elements to a layout that it is often difficult (for me) to know when to stop. I have struggled with it every day of my career—in print and online. Much of great design is brilliantly complex, much is brilliantly simple—at both extremes the key is knowing when enough is enough. Here are two sites designed by Blue River Interactive Group. To my eye, both reveal a keen understanding of this art of restraint.  The KP Public Affairs cover...Inside KP Public Affairs...The Heath Ceramics cover...Inside Heath Ceramics...In the Ideabook Design Store: The Desktop Publisher's Idea Book... » Comments Mar 21 Web Design How to point potential clients to the strength of your design » Watch how the folks at Erowe Design stage their portfolio as three dimensional objects. And how they feature a closeup of one significant element of the design. It is one way to simulate the tactile experience of holding the pieces. Click on “PORTFOLIO” then “FINANCIAL&rdquo for an example. Notice how the position and lighting reveals the gloss coating applied to the cover headline. Nice.  Click on “PORTFOLIO” then “FINANCIAL&rdquo for an example...In the Ideabook Design Store: Design-It-Yourself: Graphic Workshopa... » Comments Mar 19 Marketing PR Re-invention is in the news » If you think the disciplines of communications design are peaking, think again. The years ahead promise a perpetual need for re-invention—an insatiable appetite for re-defining and re-presenting ideas, organizations, products, services, and the people who represent them. No where is the current need more pronounced than in the world of newspapers. The New York Times' “First Look” pages offer a peek at how The Times is attempting to marry the best of static linear layout with the expectations of interactivity and multimedia.  First Look at The New York Times...NEW in the Ideabook Design Store: Tintbook CMYK Process Color Selector... » Comments Mar 17 Print Design “Paper enables a certain kind of thinking.” » In his article for The New Yorker titled “The Social Life of Paper,” “Blink” author, Malcolm Gladwell proposes that the only reason paper is viewed as an antiquated medium is because, “We have been tripped up by a historical accident of innovation, confused by the assumption that the most important invention is always the most recent.” Had the computer come first, he speculates, we would think of paper differently.I point to this because I think we can get so wrapped up in the beauty and flexibility of the online medium that we can loose track of the importance of the conventional form of communications—collateral, correspondence, direct mail, and so on. If you did not read it when it originally appeared, take a look, it is worth reading.  The Social Life of Paper, Looking for method in the mess by Malcolm Gladwell...The article in PDF form...Gladwell's page...In the Ideabook Design Store: Templates for InDesign, QuarkXpress, or PageMaker... » Comments Mar 14 Typography A design painting » To me, this is a design painting. You have to step back from it to see what all the brush strokes add up to. You can argue that the technique is an impediment to reading, but it certainly made me take notice.  The Schwarzdesign blog...An English version (via Google Translate)... Google Translate (in case you have not used it)... In the Ideabook Design Store: The Color Harmony Guide... » Comments Mar 12 Graphics Tech A design answer and a question » New York Magazine challenged five designers to come up with a cover for their “Best of New York” issue. One of the answers came in the form of a wall of words crafted by Gretel, the home of Greg Hahn—a smart concept with just the right contrast to the nameplate.The question? Is the cover real or computer generated? I must admit I could not be certain. So I asked. (To see the answer, click comments.)  The New York Magazine cover by Gretel...Other entrants...The Gretel site...In the Ideabook Design Store: The Copywriter's Handbook... » 1 Comments Mar 10 Marketing PR Learning curiosity » “It has nothing to do with income, nothing to do with education. It has to do with a desire to understand, a desire to try, a desire to push whatever envelope you're interested in.” That is how marketing guide Seth Godin describes the curious nature—a way of thinking I have learned to understand and embrace in recent years. (Ironic to hear it from Seth—years ago he called me with an idea for collaborating on a project and, if I remember correctly, I spent most of the conversation stomping on his curiosity. Unfortunately living and learning is the cost of admission.)This is one of many brilliant short films by Nic Askew. Brief, but often profound vignettes with a wonderful mix of thinkers.  Seth Godin on curiosity...Lynne Franks, An eye in the storm...Nic Askew's Monday 9am TV...In the Ideabook Design Store: Graphic Artists Guild Handbook: Pricing & Ethical Guidelines... » Comments Mar 7 Illustration How to weave your marketing message into a story » Last month I mentioned David Ogilvy's penchant for writing copy in the form of a story. Here are some excellent examples of the genre illustrated by James Bingham. What better way to communicate your idea than to spin it into a memorable anecdote or story. Once you've seen this you can spend the rest of your morning (sorry) looking through Thomas Clement's American Art Archives—a treasury of illustration and advertising history.  James Bingham's storytelling illustrations...Here is the index of illustrators on the American Art Archives...In the Ideabook Design Store: Creative Business CD-ROM... » Comments Mar 5 Marketing PR A history of Apple advertising » Here's some fascinating advertising history—an archive of many/most of the ads and collateral created for Apple since the first ad was produced in 1976. It is not only a history of Apple, it offers an interesting record of design trends and styles.Seeing these ads gave me reason to call a dear friend, Charlie Clark, who was an art director on the Apple account for a year or two at Chiat/Day. He and his wife, copywriter Leslie Clark, have been back in Virginia for years now after a decade or two working for some of the world's top agencies. (If you are looking for a top advertising team, they are going strong as ever—brilliant, beautiful stuff.) A history of Apple advertising...In the Ideabook Design Store: Task Force Clip Art... » Comments Mar 3 Web Design Don't reinvent the wheel—it may be in a design pattern library. » As Christian Crumlish, curator of Yahoo's Design Pattern Library puts it, "Design patterns mean different things to different people." Suffice it to say, to a communications designer, they offer a look at (and code for) the structure and layout of the parts and pieces of web interface design. They are the best practices for creating elements such as tabs, forms, and selection devices for helping the user move around, browse content, and otherwise interact with a web page. The idea of the library is to ease the development of wheels that have already been invented and to propagate the use of proven practices. There are many such libraries. Here are a few to get you started (I'd love to hear about others you have found useful). The Yahoo Design Pattern Library...A site for a book titled, The Designing Interfaces: Patterns for Effective Interaction Design...The site of interaction designer Martijn van Welie...In the Ideabook Design Store: Moleskine Notebooks... » Comments Feb 29 Web Design How to create a compact design » I like the spare nature of Funnel Creative's site. It is small, compact, and easy to navigate. No bells, no whistles, and no man-eating animation. Bigger is not always better. Flashy is not always the best solution. Complex is not the only path.  The Funnel Creative portfolio...Funnel's front door...In the Ideabook Design Store: FontHead Typefaces... » Comments Feb 27 Illustration Bob Staake and the fountain of youth. Or how to reinvent yourself with Photoshop. » Bob Staake has found the secret of youth. Somehow, as he ages, his illustrations get fresher and more interesting. If you don't know his work you will find it on the pages of publications such as Time and The New Yorker and among projects produced for clients such as Disney and American Express. He has also authored and/or illustrated over 40 books. You may be surprised to learn that, though he had a good thing going in the early nineties, he dared to reinvent himself. He not only made the move from the drawing board to a computer, he dramatically changed his illustration style. His story is a good example of how assessing and reinventing your approach and skills can lead to even greater success.  Bob Staake's portfolio...His main site...The story of how Staake reinvented himself...In the Ideabook Design Store: Brenner Pricing Tables... » 2 Comments Feb 25 Marketing PR How to write direct response copy » If you have ever attempted to write direct response copy you know that it can be quicksand. By that I mean it looks harmless enough when you step in it but, after a good deal of flailing around, most of its victims sink out of sight. If you don't do it regularly, if you aren't willing to learn the complexities of direct response, it is dangerous territory. Richard Riccelli makes it look easy. The project I point to is a reminder of the extent you need to understand a client's product, service, or idea to market it effectively.  The art and science of direct response copywriting...In the Ideabook Design Store: Art Parts Clip Art... » Comments Feb 22 Ideas 101 How to design using multiples and miniatures » The first link is a great example of my rule of miniatures: Showing an image at half its size makes it twice as interesting. I think the actual demo of this template is beautifully designed, the point is, I like it even better shown in miniature.The second example proves my rule of multiples: The more images you show, the more interest you generate. Each image is interesting in itself, but show a grouping of images and the whole becomes more interesting than the sum of its parts. The rule of miniatures...The rule of multiples...New in the Ideabook Design Store: Creative Advertising... » Comments Feb 20 Photography How to create a visual connection between a series of diverse images » Here's another interesting illustration technique. Group94 adds a mesh or screen overlay to the background images of its portfolio. To me, it adds a sense of continuity to the diversity of images. The same type of effect could be equally valid in print. The question becomes: What type of screen or overlay can I employ in my work to create a visual connection between a series of diverse images? The screen effect...In the Ideabook Design Store: Getting It Printed... » Comments Feb 18 Web Design Choices within choices » Watch how the designer gets you to explore topics here. Just below the title "Explore/Themes" you can choose to page through a series of other choices and remain on the background page. Interesting take. By the way, this is a recently launched makeover of the British Museum site.By the way: I realize I often point to the obvious. I do so because I believe to truly understand a particular design structure, you need to identify and examine the parts of its foundation. Looking back, many of the most useful lessons I have learned were communicated by someone showing or describing something others considered too obvious to mention. I love simplicity—it is (by far) the most complex, difficult form of communication. Home - About - Sign Up - Tutorials - Links - Store - Blog - Contact © 2008 Logic Arts Corporation. All Rights Reserved. _uacct = "UA-1448663-5";urchinTracker(); |
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