How Helvetica Conquered The World With Its Cool, Comforting Logic | Co.Design
This is the second excerpt from Just My Type. To read the first, "The 8 Worst Fonts in the World," go here. What is it about the Swiss? Or, to be precise: what is it about the Swiss and their sans serif typefaces? Helvetica and Univers both emerged from Switzerland in the same year--1957--and went out to shape the modern world. They would sort out not just transport systems but whole cities, and no typefaces ever looked more sure of themselves or their purpose. Helvetica is a font of such practicality--and, its adherents would suggest, such beauty--that it is both ubiquitous and something of a cult. A few years ago, a New Yorker called Cyrus Highsmith put his life on the line by trying to spend a day without Helvetica. His troubles began as soon as he climbed out of bed. At lunch he thought he’d try Chinatown but had to switch restaurants as the first had a familiar-looking menu. After he undertook his non-Helvetica day, Highsmith posed himself a philosophical question.
9 Inspiring Graphic Designers and their Distinct Design Styles
Creative graphic designers never fail to incorporate new styles and techniques in their works through the inspirations they get from virtually a lot of sources. There are several exercises and sources which you, as a designer, can consider to better improve your skills and creativity and be in demand with such competitive field. You can scan the web, utilize the power of social networking sites, get inspiration from your experiences, family or the nature itself, and most significantly browsing the creativity of several established and famous graphic designers and distinguishing their styles that made them standout. Below is a list of a few graphic designers that gained prominence in their creative design styles which you too can discover and adapt. 1.) Wolfgang Weingart is an internationally acclaimed Swiss graphic designer and typographer best known to be the father of Swiss Punk typography. Wolfgang Weingart’s Works: 2.) Erik Nitsche’s Works 3.) Paul Rand’s works: 4.) 5.) 6.) 7.) 8.) 9.)
Arial versus Helvetica. How to tell them apart. Is Arial just a poor copy?
Seconds Out, Round One Every typeface, like every one of us, has its distinguishing features. You might be forgiven for thinking that some fonts are clones, or identical twins. Today we’re going to de-robe two popular typefaces, namely Arial and Helvetica — faces that are often confused, and often the subjects of mistaken identity. HelveticaDesigned in 1957 by Max Miedinger, Helvetica’s design is based on that of Akzidenz Grotesk (1896), and classified as a Grotesque or Transitional san serif face. ArialDesigned in 1982 by Robin Nicholas and Patricia Saunders for Monotype (not Microsoft), it’s classified as Neo Grotesque, was originally called Sonoran San Serif, and was designed for IBM’s bitmap font laser printers. I’ve read in several places that Arial is closer in appearance to Univers than Helvetica. A number of the glyphs are almost identical, and even an expert would have difficulty telling them apart. What it’s wrong to do is criticize Arial as a clone or rip-off of Helvetica.
Teach Yourself Graphic Design: A Self-Study Course Outline
Fortunately, it isn’t required to go to design school in order to be a graphic designer. A good foundation in graphic design history, theory, and practical application will help you hit the ground running. There are plenty of resources available in which you can learn graphic design on your own. Don’t set your expectations to high at first, as it will take enthusiastic study for years to become great. You can do it though! If you would like to learn graphic design from the ground up, through self directed study, then this article lists some great resources that will get you started with your design education. 1. There are a few graphic design principles that effect every project you’ll create. Shape, Spacing, and Rhythm I remember first learning these basic design principles , and they seamed so foreign at first. The Principles of Design by Joshua David McClurg-Genevese What is Graphic Design? Color, Texture, and Imagery Principles of Color Design by Wucius Wong Texture in Graphic Design 2.
Monologue: I’m Comic Sans, Asshole.
[Originally published June 15, 2010.] Listen up. I know the shit you’ve been saying behind my back. You don’t like that your coworker used me on that note about stealing her yogurt from the break room fridge? People love me. When people need to kick back, have fun, and party, I will be there, unlike your pathetic fonts. It doesn’t even matter what you think. Enough of this bullshit. Available in our store:The “I’m Comic Sans, Asshole” Mug
The Principles of Graphic Design
The principles of design suggest how a designer can best arrange the various elements of a page layout in connection to the overall design and to each other. Generally, all the principles of design apply to any piece you may create. How you apply those principles determines how effective your design is in conveying the desired message and how attractive it appears. There is seldom only one correct way to apply each principle but check your documents to see how well you have applied each of these six principles of design. Balance Visual balance comes from arranging elements on the page so that no one section is heavier than the other. Proximity / Unity Do your designs have unity? In design, proximity or closeness creates a bond between people and between elements on a page. Alignment Alignment brings order to chaos. Repetition / Consistency Contrast Do you have good contrast among elements of your design? White Space
The 8 Worst Fonts In The World | Co.Design
We’d need another book, of course, to do this justice. And where would one start? Fonts are like cars on the street--we notice only the most beautiful or ugly, the funniest or the flashiest. The vast majority roll on regardless. There may be many reasons why we dislike or distrust certain fonts, and overuse and misuse are only starting points. Fonts may trigger memory as pungently as perfume: Gill Sans can summon up exam papers. Most of the time we only notice typeface mistakes, or things before or behind their times. The Top Tens were: Used Regularly: Frutiger (23 respondents) Helvetica/Helvetica Neue (21) Futura (15) Gill Sans (13) Univers (11) Garamond (10) Bembo Franklin Gothic (8) 9. Highly Visible: Helvetica/Helvetica Neue (29) Meta (13) Gill Sans (9) Rotis (8) Arial (7) ITC Officina Sans (4) Futura (3) Bold Italic Techno; FF Info; Mrs Eaves; Swiss; TheSans; Times New Roman (2) Least Favorite: The Least Favorite survey contained brief explanations. #8: Ecofont One ought to approve.
White Space as Used in Page Layout
Negative space is a positive design element. It's white space (shown in black in this image) | Design & Layout | Alpha Index of Full Glossary: A small image and minimal text within generous margins gives the impression of something special, elegant, or high class. Definition: One of the principles of design, white space is the absence of text and graphics. Designing With White Space "Achieve a balance of ink and white space using a mix of techniques... as appropriate to your design." — How to Add White Space to a Layout "The most prominent white space in a design is the margins all around the page." — Using Margins in Desktop Publishing "Is there such a thing as too much white space? "Avoiding pages of gray text usually involves injecting more white space and contrast into the text." — Gray Text Also Known As: air | breathing room | empty space
