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Do Typefaces Really Matter?

Do Typefaces Really Matter
Although I don’t agree with everything in this article, If you’re at all into typography this is worth a read.

Innovative iPad UX Design

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore iPad App Trailer from Moonbot Studios on Vimeo.

Wow! This was sent to me last week - simply breathtaking. Located in Shreveport, LA Moon Bot Studios are pushing the envelope on interactive story-telling via beautiful and innovative iPad app design.

Beautiful Chalk Typography - Watch Dana Tanamachi’s Time-Lapse Creations

Nagging Doubt Viognier from Dana Tanamachi on Vimeo.

The freehand chalk illustrations that Dana Tanamachi creates are truly inspirational. If this doesn’t give you an appreciation for beautiful typography I’m not sure what could! Visit her website to see the rest of her great work.

Timeless Design & Illustration – Disney’s Magic Highway - 1958

Ya gotta hand it to Disney, this stuff is still beautiful. It’s difficult to fathom the fact that these animations/stills were designed and created by hand. Yes, I said it, by hand!

A Mix of Graphic Design, Fine Art and Graffiti = Urban Art—My Sweet Spot!

Just came across this site today. Check out the video. Oh and there’s much more to see on the site: Crane.tv. What a great source of inspiration.

Good Clients Provoke Us to Create Better Design

2010/01 Michael Bierut from CreativeMornings on Vimeo.

Sure, we fantasize about the dream-client who loves everything we do and just throws money at us but when it comes right down to it a client should be opinionated and not always love what we do. That’s what provokes us to be better designers. We are here to do a service and get the client what they want. Sure clients don’t always listen to our advice but it is our job to find out what they need and execute on it. I’ve found that when a client is more involved in a project we get better results.

If you have and hour watch/listen to this video from the “Creative Mornings” series as Michael Bierut of Pentagram talk about his philosophy on working with clients.

Whether Fine Artist, Photographer, Web Designer or Print Design, the Vignelli Cannon is a Must-Read for all Creative Types

The Vignelli Canon
Italian Designer Massimo Vignelli gives us a snap shot of his understanding of what makes good design, it’s basic principles and rules. He gives us various examples of practice in product, graphic and information design.

“We design things which we think are semantically correct and syntactically consistent but if, at the point of fruition, no one understands the result, or the meaning of all that effort, the entire work is useless.” - Massimo Vignelli

This may be old news to some of you but I thought it well worth the a post. Grab this fantastic 96 page read. The PDF version is free and it’s a quick, easy read.

Shepard Fairey—Iconic Design, Controversial Subject Matter, the Barbara Kruger of Our Generation.

Shepard Fairey - Gestalten TV Video

I don’t know about you but I remember the first time I encountered a Separd Fairey piece. It was about a decade ago and on the street (where it was meant to be seen). With graphic design being the being the main driver behind his work, for me it was a no brainer, I’ve been a fan ever since. His work had the same impact on me as the first time I saw a Barbara Kruger piece. The work is iconic, bold, at times controversial yet highly accessible.

Visit gestalten.tv and see the artist talk about his work, copyright law and the pending lawsuit via the Associated Press over the referenced photograph used to illustrate the Obama Hope poster. Fairey’s philosophy on copyright law makes total sense and in many ways has been in practice for decades. There are, of course, many grey areas.

In January a New York judge dismissed the copyright lawsuits, but left a March trial date in place for additional claims over merchandise sales using Fairey’s image. It will be interesting to see the outcome!

The Power of Visual Thinking—Amen Clive!

Wired Article Visual Thinking

Clive Thompson, a writer on science, technology, and culture created this great article for Wired back in October. It’s been open on my machine via Firefox tab since. Clive’s article creates a simple yet clear case about how, I believe, most of us think – visually. Edward Tufte’s been preaching this basic philosophy for years (with tons of data to back it ). Oh and not to mention Dan Roam, the author of The Back of the Napkin.

The article outlines how he “used ‘visual thinking’—drawing pictures to solve a problem. And if you believe the visualization experts, a new language of pictures may be precisely what we need to tackle the world’s biggest challenges.” See the full article here.

Wired’s - The Best Album Art of all Time (Reader’s Choice)

David Bowie Diamond Dogs

This is, of course, a hard argument. So many albums, so much beautiful art, design and illustration. There are a few that stick out that in my mind that shouldn’t be missed; what about Pink Floyd’s “The Wall”, or Queen’s “News of the World” ? I can think of hundreds more… Either way, this article, “Best Album Art of All Time, Readers Choice Edition” by Wired’s Scott Thill is definitely worth a look. The related article “The Best Album Art of all Time” is worth a read as well. Enjoy!

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Pixelube is a design studio based in Seattle Washington. We specialize in logo, identity, web and print design—design that sparks interest, builds equity and generates revenue.

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