The end is near: Esquire's E-Ink paper

So Esquire's cover for their 75th anniversary has all sorts of flashing and moving words.

It blows my mind. How would you even lay out a page in InDesign for this?

Anyway, don't take my word for it. Check it out for yourself.

Three newspaper redesigns this week

Three major newspapers had major redesigns unveiled this week.

Read about what Poynter Online's Visual Voice columnist Sara Quinn had to say about them.

GEstALT principal

The visitnorway.com logo is using the Gastalt principal of figure/ground. According to the textbook, Graphic Design Basics, the eye and mind separate an object (figure) from its surroundings (ground). The blocks of color and be seen as three separate pictures that are grouped together, which follows the principal of proximity; the closer visual elements are the more likely we'll see them as a group. Or the logo can be seen as a person stretching. Focusing on this logo will constantly take the switching of figure and ground. I believe this logo works. It is not to busy and is pretty simple. The way it is constructed I think is pretty clever. In the logo it talks about how relaxing and beautiful Norway is. Each of the blocks of color represent a different element of Norway. EARTH- beautiful surrounding, WIND- crisp clean and refreshing, WATER- clean. I think I'm SOLD!!!

I think the common You Tube logo is also a logo that supports the Gestalt Principles. The words you and tube have close proximity. The use of the color red is very good and catches your eye. Also, there is an obvious figure in the logo, a television, that the red color creates. The letters of tube being written in white also helps the logo's readability.

Gestalt Principle

After cruising around brandsoftheworld.com, I came across this logo for the Gnome Desktop project. I think that this logo is a great example of the gestalt principle because it is simple, yet it is visually attractive seeing that the footprint, when looked at from the correct angle, also resembles the letter "G". I thought that the designer's idea for the logo was very unique and eye-catching at the same time.

Gestalt Principles

I think the logo for Major League Baseball provides great examples of the gestalt principles. Closure occurs in the negative space between the red and blue shapes. The viewer mentally completes the shape to see the baseball player in the middle of the logo. Also, the red and blue shapes placed close together form a rectangle, which models the principle of proximity.

gestalt principle

The IBM logo above displays the law of closure. Though the logo is simply consisted of lines and spaces to the viewer it appears to show the letters I, B, M. This works because it is a clever way to show the company name yet still is simple. I personally didnt even notice how it was constructed until i started doing research for this post and i found that interesting.

I found this image while browsing on brandsoftheworld.com and thought it to be a good example of a simple, visual logo that displayed gestalt principles.

First off, the colors of red and blue are both engaging, and the red in the center is a very eye catching device because your eye immediately sees "bank" before going down to the slogan.

I thought the curved lines around the words were a good touch, because it shows symmetry and closure. I like how the lines haev a varying thickness for a dimensional touch. The curved slogan at the bottom follows the lines closely, so the logo feels very "finished" to me.

I like how the words "Atlantic" and "Southern" are in two different fonts--a sans serif and a serif. Between that the color change, it is readable and clear even though the words are right next to each other. The grey seems to dominate just enough over the blue, probably because that's what fills the bottom half of the logo.

Gestalt Logo

Many of us see this logo every day, but have we really asked ourselves how we KNOW it's a peacock? This image - blown up on billboards and shrunk down on TV screens - is incredibly recognizable, and that is because this logo employs an important Gestalt principle: Our mind automatically fills in the white space and recognizes it as a peacock.  The use of white space is key in this logo - both subtle and creative. The thin lines between the colors represent the "feathers" of the peacock and emphasized the boldness of the colors against the white, which your mind instantly associates with NBC.  There's no need for text, and that's a good logo.

logo

This is the logo for AAA, obviously. I think this logo exemplifies 2 of the gestalt principles we learned about in class. It's use of color and repetition serve affectively. Granted the repetition is unavoidable because it's the company's initials but it's certainly helpful in the design aspect. Repetition helps things stick in people's minds and it also brings the design together. The use of red is very wise because red is a color that attracts the eye and causes the reader to look at it.

Gestalt principles

In Hawaii, everyone loves Quicksilver. And, after looking at it all summer, I began to see a creative and intelligent design. This logo uses the principle of continuation and does a great job. The wave connects and crests at the exact top of the snow-capped mountain. The mountain also rests on the flattest part of the wave. It is a very inclusive design that encompasses the two sides of the Quicksilver brand: surf and snow.

Chicago Tribune redesign

The Chicago Tribune is launching a new, redesigned newspaper starting Monday.

It's definitely a bit wilder than before.

Take a look at an interview with the editors:



Click on the picture to see the video.

Design Strategy:

When first considering my design for this resume i had a few things that i wanted to do. i wanted to separate the resume into four parts: the word mark, contact info, headers, and body. i wanted my word mark on the top of the page, though not necessarily in the middle, and i wanted the word mark and the headers to be blue for a few reasons. As i got deeper into the design i realized that underlining my word mark was a good effect to use along with the lines i used to separate my four categories. as far as the margins go i wanted to make it seem like the page was a bit longer than it actually is, which is why i extended the lines a little past the text on both the inside and outside.

Choice of Typeface:

The typeface i chose for my word mark and headers is janson text LT STD Italic. i was looking for a professional text that still had a flow to it. I also like the serifs on the capital letters and how the serifs on the lowercase letters and fluent in the italic form. i also really liked the lowercase X and K and how they were designed. The typeface i chose for my body was Cronos Pro. This was goo for me because i wanted to use a sans serif font to conflict with my word mark and headers. i chose this specifically because i like how the descenders look with the rest of the text. it looks professional but the way the text slants gives a little edge to it.

Color:

The color i chose was a blue with RGB parameters of 0, 145, and 255. i wanted a color that was not too flashy but still stood out. i like the way this blue turned out because it seems a little relaxed but at the same time gives a distinct contrast to the black. 

Magazine cover design

If you're interested in magazine cover design, here's a link to the finalists for a cover design contest. There's some pretty interesting designs going on here.

Marina Zarya

Project Brief

Project 1, Resume Design

09/18/08

 

Design Strategy:

I was excited about putting a creative touch to my resume, especially since we are given a free re-do. I intended my resume to be original, practical, and at the same time revealing of my creative and outgoing personality. I decided to try something bold, eye-catching, and unique, but simple at the same time. Hence, my wordmark. My wordmark is the most worked-on piece of my resume because this is the “hook” that will hopefully reel in the viewer.

 

To better serve this purpose of reeling the viewer in, I used a little bit of color in the wordmark, but not too much, because that is not practical. The color in the dot of the “I” in the workmark is followed through in the bullets of my work experience part of my resume, which adds visual focus.

 

Choice of typefaces:

                  I chose Helvetica Neue Bold as the font for part my wordmark because it is very eye- catching and easy on the eye. Also, because of the wordmark design, I needed to create the A letters, so I chose a simple font that will not look too out of place with the line-created A of my workmark. To make the workmark simpler, I used caps. Also, I palyed with the sized and tracking in the letters of my name to make the A’s coincide, so that I could use one A for both each time that an A is used in me my first and last name. I created the dot on the eye with the ellipse tool and filled it in with red.

 

                  For the headers, I used Helvetica Neue Normal to create a visual link between the wordmark and body text of my resume. I originally wanted to use this font for the actual body text, and also chose it for its flexibility with its multiple variations.

 

For the body text, I used ITC Gothic because I thought it looked modern, yet legible. It is also very contrasting with the Helvetica Neue because it is light in comparison. I used different weights of it within the body text as well to make the body text easier to read. I sought a geometric and symmetric- looking typeface to work with my geometric wordmark, and to contrast with its asymmetry.

 

Color:

                  I chose red for my resume because I felt it best stood out with white and black. 

"So close yet so far" Stephen Wilkes

The one thing that was interesting to me about Stephen Wilkes is the fact that he doesn't just take a photo. His photos speak to him and has energy. I feel that is important. Anyone can take a camera and shoot some amazing photos, but it takes a photographer to capture an image. When Wilkes spoke about his trip to China, he spoke about the intense focus that the people, from the children to adult, had on their faces. He had traveled to China 22 years ago and this would be his second trip. He expected to see the same China that he left; however, he discovered a hidden war between modernity and traditional; old China versus new China. This became the focus of his work. The contrasts between the two worlds. His worked highlight the influence the western civilaization has on this country. His favorite picture to him has the wieght of China's past in it. It's a picture of an art gallery with red walls and in between the walls is a little boy with a red shirt. His advice to the students that were packed in the room was to read and study their work. "The more you know about it the more it flows through you and shows in your finished project."

Resume

Design Strategy:
When I began this project I knew I wanted to create something that looked fun and relaxed, yet still very organized and structured. I am a very organized person and I definitely like things to be neat and in their place. However I also like to have fun and am a cheerful, friendly person, and I wanted my design to reflect those major aspects of my personality.
I think my choice of typefaces definitely contributed to this goal. Also, the lines bordering half of the resume certainly give it a very structured look and the abundance of white space in the margins and between sections of the body text give it a more relaxed feel.

Choice of Typefaces:
I chose two typefaces: Nueva Std and ITC Goudy Sans Std. I created the headers and body text using a combination of standard, bold condensed and light condensed versions of each font. I chose the Nueva Std for my name because I thought its subtle quirkiness reflected my fun side, but I also wanted to use it because of its serifs that make the design a little more formal. I like how the serifs and the high y-heights in the font contribute to framing the resume.
The ITC Goudy Sans Std in the body text and the contact information is an easier-to-read font because it’s sans serif, but it’s also a humanist font so it looks a little more friendly and approachable than a regular sans serif. My words are all lowercase except for a few proper nouns that I felt required capitalization to maintain formality in the resume.

Color:
I chose one color (C: 0 M: 98 Y: 73 K: 0) and black to implement my goals on this project. I felt that the strawberry color added just the right amount of emphasis on my name and helped with the element of repetition as it was used for all of the category headings as well.

Paper:
For now I am using standard weight paper but I will reconsider this choice for the final turn-in.

LETECHA"S RESUME!!

The theme for my design was "X-mark the spot!"

the whole idea of a hidden treasure chest. The design suggest that i am the person or hidden treasure that you've been looking for. I chose to lay it out like this because the lines create a neat and professional look. Its easy to read. Your eyes don't have to jump from one side to another. the usage of red makes it pop really well. My intended audience is public relation agencies that specializes in fashion and entertainment. I didn't want to create a resume that was to out there. i wanted something that was "fashionable forward," classic and chic. I think that overall i have some improvement to make to it. I think was an okay first step._____

The typefaces that were chosen in my resume were Bondoni and Calibri. I chose Bondoni because this is a typeface that is associated with the fashion industry and I want to work in that field. It’s also a modern serif, which I want to be associated with. That’s why I chose to use Calibri as my second typeface family. Calibri is a san serif, which is a modern race type. i think it is also a humanist type. Humanist types gives off a friendly and approachable feel. Seen i will be dealing with communications and different types of people, I want them to now that I am cool, down to earth person that easy to get along with. This family has contrasting types, normal counter and x-heights that are prefect for reading.

Marina's Resume!

file:///F:/Marina%20Zarya%20Resume.pdf

Resume

Design Strategy
When deciding how to design my resume, I honestly had no idea exactly how I wanted to convey my personality through type. I did remember that I had to keep in mind the two career paths that I intend to take—that of business and communications, so it had to be a design that was unique, yet very classy and sophisticated. Typically, in the business industry, resumes are usually bland and all look the same. With my design, I kept it some what traditional, but in the since that my resume can be presented accurate, no matter if I walk into a public relations firm or a financial analyst’s office.
While I think that my design will be accepted in either professional setting, I do believe that color might have to be omitted from the design, depending on what type of business organization I submit my resume to. I wanted my design to be simplistic, yet exude the part of my personality that is clean-cut and different.

Choices of typefaces:
I chose Georgia, a traditional serif font, for my word mark because I thought that it was an accurate display of my name. Also, I wanted a typeface with distinctive counters and a large x-height. I have one ascender and two descenders in my name as well, and I wanted those to be noticeable, the reason also why I chose to have my name in lower case letters. For the body of my resume, I chose Franklin Gothic, a sans-serif typeface; because I thought that it was very versatile, and would achieve the clean cut, modern look that I was going for.

Color:
The color used in my work mark as well as in my headings is R 233, G 4, B 134 (pink) and R 109, G 0, B189 (purple). I chose these two colors because not only are they two of my personal favorites, but I also think that the contrast well together and are neither too light nor too dark.

Paper:
For my final draft, I will use a paper that is heavier than laser paper, and a color that will accurately offset the colors I use in my design.

Resume

Design Strategy:
I designed my resume to fit my personality, as well as the internships I will be applying for. Since I want to work for a fashion magazine, I designed it to appear chic and elegant. Originally, I had a lot of information that I wanted to put on my resume and even once I condensed it, I had a significant amount of type, so I wanted to keep the design simple. I chose my fonts and colors to look both girly and graceful and at the same time funky and fashion forward. I added the colorful lines to keep the continuality of the two colors that I used in my word mark. My word mark evolved from large, bold serif into a stylish, rounded, san serif that was much smaller, emphasizing the chicness of the letters and how they are designed to fit together rather than the type itself.
I organized my experience according to what I would like my potential employer to see first. My year off in Africa is far more interesting and unique than my retail management job. Likewise, the internship I had my senior year is more pertinent to my future career than my retail management job.

Choice of Typefaces:
I wanted a versatile typeface family for the body of my resume, so that I could stay in one typeface and still be able to bold my titles and italicize the dates and locations of my jobs. I switched from a san serif in my word mark to a serif for the body of the resume because I find serifs to be easier to follow when reading a lot of type. I kept my font at size nine in order to fit everything that I wanted onto my resume. I used caps/lc because I think it looks more elegant than all caps and less brash.

Color:
I chose light purple (R:1 50, G: 115, B: 175) because not only is it my favorite color, but it is a color that is often equated with flowers and my first name, Lauren, means crowned with laurels.
I chose the light blue (C: 24%, M: 3.529%, Y: 0%, K:0%) because, again, not only is it my other favorite color, but I was also trying to find a “glassy”, almost opaque blue to play off of my last name, Glass.
I switched from RGB to CMYK because I could not get the perfect light blue color that I was looking for on RGB, likewise the lilac, light purple came out perfectly at these percentages in RGB.

Paper:
I have yet to decide whether I am going to use the paper that I have included in my envelope. I like the thickness of the paper, but I would prefer the white to be brighter, rather than almost vanilla. The brighter white is more feminine. I want to keep my resume simple, so I do not want any pattern or design on the paper, but I want it to stand out and thicker paper makes for a stronger and in my opinion more appealing resume.

Resume

Design Strategy:
First of all, I wanted my design to stand out and break the rigid mold that resumes are often placed in. I chose to have the wordmark bleed off the page while keeping the remainder of the text within set margins. The pop of color at the top and its continuation throughout the design make my resume distinct. The combination of all caps for my first name and all lowercase for my last name was used in order to layer them and still achieve contrast.

In my resume design, I wanted to convey my personality while maintaining a modern esthetic. When trying to convey this, I incorporated my favorite color in a bright, youthful shade, and I also wanted to keep the text clean and readable. Realistically, my resume would not be printed in color, and I designed it with this in mind. Included is the original black and white design that is still readable without the splash color.


Choice of typefaces:
The two typeface families I chose were Baskerville and Antique Olive Std. Baskerville was chosen as the body text because of its proportionate x-height and varied weights. I think it is a smart font that is easy to read. Also, when I was in high school, Baskerville was the body text for our newspaper and holds a special place in my heart.

Antique Olive was chosen to contrast the body text. The font is a sans serif with an interesting weight to each capitol letter and an interesting lowercase “i.” where the line continues upward and forms a cradle for the dot. Antique Olive also has a variety of weights and postures that allowed for the contrast in the wordmark and headers.


Color:
The green used in my resume is C- 50%, M- 0%, Y- 100% and K- 0%.


Paper:
I chose not to use a special paper due to the need to print on an 11x17 sheet and then trim to Letter size. This allows the workmark to go to the end of the page.

Resume

Design Strategy:

I decided to take a bit of a risk with my resume by picking very a feminine color. I like that my resume has a soft feeling. I decided to use two different fonts in my word mark to emphasize the first initials. I used bullets in my sections and I also created a border around my resume to frame it Finally, I tried to make the sections asymmetrical.

I am a Magazine major and I think I would probably make my resume a bit more sleek for an internship or job. I have a lot of different ideas about how I want to change my resume for the final copy and I think that the critique workshop was very helpful. My type choices were Voluta script for the "y" and "b" in my word mark. I used Nueva Std Condensed font 12 pt for the body text and 30pt for the word mark. I now think it is a bit too cramped and small. I would also like to make my word mark larger and remove the word contact.

Resume

Design Strategy:
My goal was the make my resume as clear and readable as possible. I wanted to leave a good amount of white space and highlight important titles and experiences. I left larger margins and I tried to avoid clutter.
My audience is people in the magazine field, since I am a magazine major. I want to show them that I am visually aware and can focus on important information, just as you are expected to do in the magazine industry. I am trying to look professional and organized while being creative.

Choice of Typefaces:
For my wordmark, I chose to use Centaur MT Std. It is an old style serif, meaning that the stroke weight is more even and readable. Even though the wordmark is larger, I used the font for the headings of my resume. If I had used a modern serif, it would be harder to read in the smaller font.
I chose to use all lowercase for my first and last name because all of the letters are one story except for the “t” in my last name. This helped the accent mark on the second “e” stand out as something unique.
I did not make my word mark too large because I am not an overbearing person. I am easy going and I think the wordmark conveys that. I used black and green in order to join my first and last name while still being readable. The line descending from the third “e” also helps separate my first and last name. I extended the line from the last “n” in order to create a visual separation between my name and my address.
For the body of my resume, I used Gill Sans light and regular to contrast with the wordmark and headings. Gill Sans in a humanist sans serif. It emulates handwriting and looks more friendly and approachable, which I am trying to portray to the reader.

Color:
I chose to use green and black because green is distinct but not too boisterous. I am also very environmentally conscious and green is my favorite color.

Paper:
For the first hand-in I printed on the lab’s paper. For the final hand in, I am going to use a heavier weighted white paper.

Resume

Design Strategy:

My initial approach to the resume was to do a simple design so that it is attractive to the potential readers who may be business people. Because I'm double majoring with School of Whitman, I had to design it so that it would be acceptable to both schools. Upon long hours of thinking and looking at many of the resumes done by business students, I thought that my resume had to be different. It needed to be different not only to distinguish myself from others but because I realized that I might want to pursue my career in this field. 

I designed my resume so that it caters to everyone regardless of who is reading it. It is both friendly and sophisticated due to the types of fonts I chose. I utilized the white space so that it looks neat and clean. The first letter of my first name has been purposely enlarged to be used as the first letter of my last name. I kept this style consistent for each heading. The lines that go across the top and bottom are there to attract readers' eyes to the center. Limit to the colors was not an issue because my aim was to keep the design simple and orderly.

Choices of typeface: 

I chose Helvetica Neue and Myriad Web Pro as my typefaces because they seem to look very nice together. As mentioned above, these two fonts seem to cater to everyone. The Helvetica Neue font, in my opinion, sends a message to the readers that I'm a confident person, and Myriad Web Pro font seems to show my organized and neat side. Moreover, I wanted my resume to look modern so i chose fonts from the two sans serifs families. Helvetica Neue and Myriad Web Pro offer a geometrical look that is complementary to the overall organized look of my resume. 

resume

Here's my resume.




Design Strategy:
I first approached this assignment by looking at how I would want to represent myself to potential employers. The traits I wanted presented were: friendly, straightforward, organized and creative. I achieved portraying these traits by choosing appropriate fonts, colors and layout.
I used this layout because I wanted my name to lead the reader into the body of the text. I did this by setting up the body of the resume centered under the wordmark. Another thing I wanted to do was play up the similarities between my first and last names. I like how there is a t in the middle of both names so I elongated the crossbars so that they stretched across the names. I changed the color of the dot in the i in both names so that it connected the names better and so that I could use them as bullets in my body text. I also wanted to elongate the leg of the Ks and turn them into descenders but I didn’t know how to do it so I left it as it is.

Choice of typefaces:
The typeface has to reflect my personality. Therefore I wanted a rounder sans serif font with bigger counter. I feel that the round sans serif font comes off as friendly. I didn’t want any slant to the letters because I’m a very straightforward person and I feel that italics doesn’t properly represent that. This is why I chose ITC Stone Informal Std for my wordmark. I also wanted a font with caps/lc because that is how a newspaper is written. It is also easier to read which is why I also used a caps/lc font in the body of the text.
I chose Avenir LT Std because it was a font from suitcase that others wouldn’t have and so it sets me apart from other applicants. I chose it because I wanted a sans serif font to match my wordmark and headers and I wanted a font family that had a lot of options so that I could create diversity among the body of my text.

Color:
Since my major is newspaper journalism, I wanted to use black (100%) and grey (34.56% and 50%) as my colors. These two colors are generally associated with my desired field and so I wanted to use them to brig in my newspaper association. I also wanted to use black and grey because I wanted to have contrast among my resume and I wasn’t sure if companies would have color copiers or color faxing machines, so I didn’t want to risk using color and have part of my resume lost along the way.

Paper:
I wanted to use white because I feel that white looks clean and professional.

My Resume

Design Strategy:
My resume is intended to represent me while responding to my intended audience. My internship goals reach to teen fashion magazines, therefore, my use of color and font choices speak to that goal.
I wanted my wordmark to include color, and I wanted to fit the vertical design, to include headers on the left and content on the right. I did not want my resume to look crowded or over designed. The wordmark is clean – fashion font, stacked name. I also wanted a bit of my clever side to show, so I used color and the lowercase i’s to show creativity and consistency.

Typeface:
My wordmark and header font is Bauer Bodoni 2. I wanted to include the fashion font to speak to my audience, but I decided on the Bauer Bodoni version to make it stand out from all the other Bodoni’s. I liked its heavier weight – it seemed stronger to me in my wordmark than regular Bodoni. The serifs make beautiful, perfect lines – especially when the kerning is adjusted. This appealed to me more than any other font and made my name look simply perfect.
I picked a sans serif for my content font: Franklin Gothic Book. I used the regular posture for the names of the organizations, the bulleted items, and the contact information. I chose to use the italic posture for the position name because it brought the eye to the important information without screaming. This is also why I made it 50% gray.

Color:
I used CMYK color in my resume. The green is C=35 M=0 Y=100 K=13. The twist comes with the color in the extended “i.” I picked the bright green not only to stand out, but also because my eye is often very drawn to that color. I found it to be young and fresh, but also professional – exactly the message I need to execute.
I carried the color into the lowercase i’s in the headers, the bullets in the content and in the periods in my contact information. Using consistent color in these small, but effective ways really brings the resume together. I didn’t want it to scream “green!” I just wanted a little fun.

Paper: I chose 32 lb 100% cotton white resume paper. The resume stands up straight when held and the weight of the paper will stand out among other resumes. The color looks great when printed on the soft paper. I feel it emulates professionalism and attention to detail.

Stephen Wilkes

I really enjoyed hearing Stephen Wilkes speak because he seemed to really love photography and have devoted himself to the field. He spoke about going to China for the first time when he was a junior at Syracuse and compared his experience then to his experience recently visiting. He mentioned that there is a drastic shift to modernize and he admired Chinese culture for this but he also pointed out that there is a dark side to rapid modernization. He took several photos of the pollution problems in China for Vanity Fair and saw how complex China is today. He also spoke about his work on Ellis Island and his photos of Hurricane Katrina victims. His work has a wide range and it was interesting to her him speak last Thursday. Above is a photo he took in a factory in China. He said that he desperately wanted someone to look at him to have a human connection in the photo.

Type lecture

In case you're looking for Tuesday's (Monday for the military class) lecture on type, I've provided it here for you to download.

Click here for the PDF presentation.

Marina's Awful No Good Very Bad Font Selection

I absolutely HATE Curlz fonts. They are ridiculous, especially for anyone over the age of seven. It is as though the toy corporation that created Barbie played a really mean prank on the font industry and introduced this font, so that anyone trying to be cutesy, playful, or girly by using this font would turn off viewers immediately. 

At least that is what this font does for me. 

It does not look much better as an italic, and when it is shrunk, it is barely legible. And when this font is used for a body copy? Forget it. It makes your eyes burn. The letters are facing in different directions and the small letters are different heights, which makes it annoying to read.

I feel as though this font has absolutely no functional value and should be taken off of the Microsoft Office programs and Adobe Suites, as soon as humanly possible.

Then again, I may be biased because I hate anything so obnoxiously girly, and have a special vendetta against this font because it is usually used in pinks, fuscias, and baby blues, by pre-teenage girls on myspace.

Wasim's Monday office hours

Because of a scheduling conflict, my office hours on Monday will be from 1 p.m. until 2 p.m.

Tuesday will be the usual 11 a.m. to noon.

And as always, if those hours don't work, you can always make an appointment.

A reminder: Résumé projects are due on Thursday.

awful type

This is the typeface that is used on the album cover for Coldplay's album "X&Y". This is supposedly the entire alphabet but i can't tell which letter is which or even where one ends and the other one starts. I think that Coldplay was going for a futuristic look but instead all that they got was gibberish. There are other futuristic looks that are readable, maybe someone should let Coldplay know.

Awful Typography

Looking through my iTunes library today, I came across this album. As much as I enjoy the "Feels Like Today" album by Rascal Flatts, I am not a huge fan of the typography on the cover. I think I can understand the type used for "Rascal Flatts," as it's sort of old-school and almost reminds me of a chrome emblem that would be a logo on a pickup truck or something, but the "Feel Like Today" font really bothers me. It's a console font, and I don't quite get the same laid back feel from it. It's too modern and doesn't fit the photograph or Rascal Flatts's country music style. I think I would like a serif, old style font a little more for this cover.

Week 3- Awful Typography

I found this poster on a typography website. Although this poster seems to be creative it is not very easy to read. The creator seemed to play on the word breaks and broke each letter. Still, I think that this would never work in paragraph form. The letters are all in caps and have to be too close together in order to make sense. The "k" s right next to the "a" so that people can read it as a k. The same is true for the "r" and "b". I think this just shows that some typography can only be used as display type and for creative purposes.

Type Challenge: Augies

Here's a shot of Augies - a restaurant on Marshall Street.


(Click on the picture to enlarge it)

Your extra challenge this week is to identify the font used in the main sign for the store.

There's a prize in it next week for the first person to get it right. Here's a hint: You will have to dive deep into the Suitcase fonts to find it.

Post your answers as a comment to this entry.

Happy hunting!

Awful type

This font, called "Rosadelia Dos" is very difficult for me to read. I found it on a typography Web site, where it described it as "Calligraphy grunge." What a pretty sounding phrase that is, but i can't imagine it being very useful. It looks like something that would be found on an album cover (as demonstrated here) but if you were going through album stacks at a record store you might not be able to see through all the scrawl! In terms of ornate, decorative fonts, I understand the need for them that musicians/designers/artists might want them for, but I think this one falls short of being impressive in that regard. All the letters seem doubled in a lighter weight, and it's kind of dizzying!

Awful Type - Week 3

I stumbled upon the logo for the London Olympics for the year... well i'll let you guess.  Can you tell what year it is? Not me.  Once I realized it was supposed to represent a number (shocking, I know) I used some simple math to determine that it depicts the year 2012.  

Could have fooled me. 

First of all, the two "2's" are different.  In my opinion, the eye would look for uniform structure in the "2's" to determine the year.  They're completely different shapes! The "0" doesn't have a counter, and the "1"...well... I'm not sure what that is. 

I realize these are only numbers, but I think it's clear this type is a bit out there, and could never be used for body copy.  The bizarre and inconsistent shapes and the abundance of zigzags would look like gibberish in a big textual setting.  The letters are on the wide side, and they way they seem to fit together (not sure if kerning was adjusted for this logo) just scream "unreadable" to me.

And on the topic of the logo in general, apparently it's supposed to appeal to the "internet generation."

Right. Got it.

found it here and here.

awful type

I was looking through Microsoft word and I found a type that I was having the hardest time reading.  The font is called Edwardian Script.  (I couldn't upload an example from Microsoft Word, so I found this image from Google.  It is from http://www.fontfinder.ws./418/Edwardian-Script-ITC-Bold-Package.html)  Granted its fluidity and script style makes it beautiful, but this does not constitute a good font.  

This font is readable only at larger sizes.  If it goes below size 16 then it becomes incredibly hard to read as it has a smaller x-height to begin with.  Once the font is brought smaller than 18, the letters are no longer distinct but rather resemble a wavy line after a beautifully drawn capital letter.

Edwardian Script also does not work for long periods of times.  It serves as drop letters of old fashioned books or romantic letters very nicely, but it certainly doesn't work for essays or even for projects longer than a page.  The reader would simply get frustrated trying to decipher the letters and give up.  I would even question using this font on invitations.  Granted it is very elegant, but the reader can only understand the information if it is larger than a normal font size to read it.  For example, what would acceptable for Times New Roman to be written in (size 12 or 14), Edwardian Script has to be written in a bigger font size (size 16 or 18).

This font should not be discarded because of the problems that are associated with it, but rather it should just be used in moderation and appropriately.  You wouldn't wear a cocktail dress to a monster truck rally, so don't use this font to advertise one.

Awfully Awful type !

Now, this is an image that I found on my space. Unfortunately the page was private and I was unable to see to whom this belong to. The word "beast" is not the problem. The type that is awful is the "hope" the only way that you know the word spells hope is from the h-p and e. Otherwise, the o would have you lost for words. The o looks like it could possibly be a g if it was to stand alone. This is because of the curl on top of the o. It is the same curl that you could find on a g in other font types. I was looking through Microsoft word and this o kind of looks like the g in the typeface Gigi, which is another awful type face.

Another problem that comes to my head about this type is the reversing of the type. As mentioned in class, when the background is black and the text is white,the reader tends to read in a lot slower. So, being that the circle does not contain a regular size counter, it makes it even more difficult to read.

This image appears to be a logo. If it is then it's the wrong type for a logo. If they were to place this on a business card, it would not be legible. The counters would be even smaller to the point where the counter will no longer be there. Placing this logo on a card would result in people misinterpreting the name and calling it something else. This could lead to the business failing.

awful text

I was browsing around the internet and I came across this poster. I have absolutely no idea what is says. All I can make out is "The, The, And The" which is obviously not very effective when trying to advertise something. The only way to fix this would be to just choose a different font completely. They could have used the same font that was used for the "the, the, and the" for the other three words, whatever they may be. It was just a terrible choice.

Affliction Brand: Really Bad Typography

Ok. I don't have a personal hatred against this brand or anthing but I just want to say that the typography that Affliction brand uses here has got to be one of the worst. First off, if someone is unfamiliar with the brand I doubt that he/she would know what it is. Second, even if the person knows the brand it would be very hard to even read what it says.

If you look closely, the first image actully contains two words, Black and Affliction. This took me awhile to figure out because at first glance I thought the logo had much more to say than just Black Affliction. I expected it to have a deeper meaning than that because of its flashy and "artistic" style. But than again, this brand is mainly worn by the hardcore fans of Ultimate Fighting Championship...

This typography for me just doesn't work even if the brand wants to achieve that "dirty" and "barbaric" look. When I look at the logo of this brand, I feel like I'm taken back to the Medieval Age (it's ok if you don't have any clue to what I'm talking about; I don't really know what I'm saying either). The serifs are too elongated and sharp which give a messy look. Their choices of color and the images are kind of odd as well. Take a look at the second image. What the heck is that. I really don't see the conection between the images and the type of typography they used to create their shirt.

I hope we are on the same page. Thanks for reading this post!

Awful Font- Week 3

I found this image on blog site dedicated to British pop star Kylie Minouge and the songs that she performs on her upcoming tour. My first reaction to the image when I saw it was, "What in the world does that say?" My initial answer to that question was that the font was very 80s, and considering the fact that Kylie Minougue was a huge star during that decade, I guess she just wanted to get back to her roots. While this font may seem appealing to those who are fans of Minouge, I think that the font really doesn't work because it is really difficult to read. I found my self at many times squinting to figure out what the different song titles were, but thanks to the blogger posting the song titles below the image, I was able to figure out the name of each track. Also, the font is very slanted as well and some of the letters are protrayed as ink blots, which makes it hard to decifer what the letter is. The font in general, in my opinion, is very retro, and would have worked a little bit better if the letters were more ledgible, maybe if the font was a bit larger, but still containing the style of Kylie Minouge's music. Many of the letters also run together, which causes the reader to make out one word, when it is really another. I also noticed that the song titles were not fully spelled out with letters, but rather with symbols. Also, some of the numbers look like letters and vice versa. I think it would have been better if the song titles were consistent as well. Symbols could have something that brought all the titles together, having at least one symbol in each of the song titles. Overall, I think font like this should probably kept in the time that it was popular and thriving.

Photographer Stephen Wilkes speaking at SU

Newhouse will host acclaimed photographer Stephen Wilkes (‘80) today (Sept. 11) at 7 p.m. in 101 Newhouse 1.

Wilkes is well known for his fine art and commercial photography, and his work has appeared on the covers of major publications such as Sports Illustrated, Life, Time magazine and New York Times Magazine. He shoots advertising campaigns for many of the country’s leading agencies and corporations, including Pepsi, American Express, Nike, Sony, AT&T, Rolex, J. Walter Thompson, McCann Erickson, Ogilvy & Mather, Goodby Silverstein & Partners and Rubin Postaer, among others.

His 1999 series of photographs taken on the south side of Ellis Island eventually helped secure $6 million in funding for the restoration of the area, and was later captured in the book Ellis Island: Ghosts of Freedom (W.W. Norton, 2006).

He is the recipient of several awards, including the Alfred Eisenstaedt Award for Magazine Photography, Photographer of the Year in Adweek magazine, Fine Art Photographer of the Year at the 2004 Lucie Awards and an Epson Creativity Award.

Wilkes is a member of the Newhouse and Goldring Arts Journalism Advisory Boards.

His work can be seen at www.stephenwilkes.com.

If you have some time, check him out tonight. He'll be speaking in the same room we use for class.

Awful Type

The Grateful Dead's "American Beauty" album's cover is extremely difficult to read. Granted, the dead released this album in 1970 and were known for their psychedelic antics, their album cover is practically illegible. All of the letters are capitalized and are connected by their centers. Once you get through the A, M, E, R, it is really difficult to decipher the I and the C. The C almost connects with itself, creating the illusion of an O. The flame like appearance of the letters makes for a cool effect but hinders the viewer from separating the letters.

The word "beauty" is even more difficult to read than "American" because the colors are reversed. The letters appear to be larger on the bottom than on the top and because the letters curve around the circle, your eyes are forced to follow.

Looking at this for a long period of time gives me a headache, but I assume the dead appealed to their clientele by making such a "trippy" album cover. The designs on the sides make it even more difficult to decipher the words because other than their obvious difference in color, they resemble the designs that the words form. Whenever I look at this cover I first see a design and finally once my eyes adjust I can make out the words.

Although the dead intentionally created the words to look psychedelic, the graffiti, wave of the words makes them very difficult to read. Even though the dead marketed towards their audience and created some of the best music of their time, their album covers give me headaches from time to time.

Week 3- Awful Type

The band's name is Santogold. Could you read that?

If I wasn't familiar with the band or its music, I would never know its name nor would I spend the time to decipher it. Written in all caps, the band's name doesn't rest on a straight baseline. Rather, the crooked baseline connects the first five letters then becomes the background for the other four.

As the font shrinks — say to fit on a guitar pick, T-shirt or CD art — it would becomes muddled and illegible. Not good for a indie band who needs to self-promote to attract more fans.

To me, the font looks like someone began with a piece of white paper and started cutting, ripping and manipulating it to form the group's name. The triangle for an 'A' is missing counter which transforms it into a letter rather than just a triangle. And only having the counter in the ending 'D,' though recognizable as the intended letter, adds to the words non-reader friendly nature. Plus both 'O's are hexagonal and irregular. It's distracting.

If you can tell a lot about a person or group from its word mark, Santogold is innovative, but sloppy.

A little help for your résumé

For those of you that missed it, or just for anyone who wants some tips for the content of their résumé, here's the presentation that Kelly Brown, assistant director of the career center, showed the class on Tuesday. It's in PDF form for easy viewing.

Click on the photo to download the file: