TextureQualityPro - Royalty Free Textures & Backgrounds - FOUNDFONT™ and the Art of Typographic Archaeology FOUNDFONT™ tutorial Andy Hayes here from Hucklebuck Design Studio. The subject for this tutorial will revolve around a pet project of mine called FOUNDFONT™. In this tutorial we’ll talk about what makes a good FOUNDFONT™ source and the steps to creating your own usable vector characters from found samples. Type is where you find it Useful typography is not only found within the bounds of one of today’s successful foundries. Here are a few great samples that are ripe for repurposing. What makes a good FOUNDFONT™ source? There are a few questions to ask when scouting good FOUNDFONT™ resources that will help you get the best result. Are you starting with a quality image? The set of key characters for capitals is: A, B, D, E, J, M, O, S. A: From A you can create V, W, YB: From B you can create a P, RE: From E you can create F, H, I, L, T, X,ZJ: From J you can create UM: From M you can create NO: From O you can create C, G, Q D and S are unique. Cleaning up and extracting your type Step 1. 2. 3.
Totally Typography: 18 Textual Packaging Designs Totally Typography: 18 Textual Packaging Designs Article by Steph, filed under Products & Packaging in the Design category. These 18 packaging designs, found on everything from trash bags to gourmet cheese, don’t need fancy graphics or photography to stand out on the shelf. They employ the beauty of text, in flourishing or minimalist sans-serif typefaces, carefully chosen and arranged to convey the identity of the brand. Hand-Drawn Text by The Manual Co. (image via: invadespace.com) Modern and visually engaging, this hand-drawn packaging was produced for boots, bags and accessories by The Manual Co. Chocolate Cut-Outs by Niamh Richardson (image via: lovelypackage) Typography cut-outs characterize this fresh modern packaging by Niamh Richardson. One Village Coffee by Able Design (image via: designed by able) Eye-catching text covers the packaging for One Village Coffee, designed by Able of Philadelphia. So Good… Naturally by JJAAKK Design (image via: lovely package) Sivaris Rice by Pepe Gimeno
6 Things Apple Did Not Invent Apple receives — and deserves — a lot of respect. They’re absolutely incredible innovators… But were they really the first to envision, manufacture, or sell many of the tech products we take for granted today? An Apple-loathing friend told me over the weekend that my favorite tech company “ripped off” loads of other tech companies with all of their most popular products. That’s not to say that Apple doesn’t deserve its accolades. There’s a reason every tech company in the world follows Apple’s lead, rushing new products to market to compete with Apple’s latest and greatest products. Personal Computers Micral N Depending on who you talk to and who you believe, there are several claims to the throne of the “first personal computer.” Apple II Most historians seem to agree that the Apple II was the first truly personal computer to be , though some will argue that the Commodore PET, which preceded the Apple II by five months. Portable Digital Music Players Audio Highway's "Listen Up" iPod iPhone
Is My Type Stressed? A Primer on Stressed Typography As a designer, either working with a design firm or on a freelance basis, you probably know a lot about stress. From deadlines to redesigns, client relations to cash flow — it is part of everyday life for someone working as a designer in any capacity. But did you know your typography could also be stressed? Just like in your life, type has certain pressure points, and there are good and bad types of type stress. In today’s article, we’re going to delve into this concept in a little more details. What is Type Stress? Type can also be stressed by its surroundings Type stress refers to the change in direction of a stroke, vertically or horizontally. Typefaces are designed with or without stress points. Type can also be stressed by its surroundings and by effects that are added by the designer in the creative process. Stress by Design Certain type categories tend to contain stress more than others. Uneven Strokes Tilts Italics are an immediate stressor for any typeface. Arches Bowls and Counters
Your Embarrassing Web Site? For all of you who’ve been to the Creative Freelancer Business Conference and loved keynote speaker, Luke Mysse (and his annual rants), you might be sad to hear he won’t be attending this year’s upcoming conference (May 12-16 in Boston). But there’s a very good reason! Luke will be riding his bike across America to... Today’s blog post comes to us from Elke Giba, Chief Creative Officer, Giba Group, who will be on the panel “The How-Tos of Virtual Teams” at the Creative Freelancer Business Conference (and HOW Design Live) this May 12-16, 2014 in Boston. Come learn more about how to run a successful virtual team. Thinking about going solo? You probably spend a lot of time perfecting your website, creating relevant content and searching for the perfect “keywords”—but how important is this, really? The final early bird deadline for HOW Design Live is Tuesday, April 1. Like many creatives, Jen Lombardi doesn’t like sales. Tom N.
Free Resources to Help You Build Your Next WordPress Site WordPress is a popular website publishing platform. What once was primarily a blogging system has now evolved into a flexible and robust CMS used by both small businesses and large corporations alike. When working with clients, front-end developers are often expected to produce creative, cutting edge content in a very short period of time. And beyond staying innovative, there can often be a lot of redundant coding and debugging which requires a careful, meticulous eye. Fortunately, there is an immense amount of resources to help aid with WordPress development. In this article, I’ve seeded through tons of stuff to bring you a list of my favorite free WordPress resources for designers and developers. WordPress Theme Design Inspiration One of the toughest parts of web design can often be just getting started. The following sites are a great place to engage with new and fresh designs to keep you pumping out those jaw-dropping projects. Theme Design Gallery WordPress Tag on CSS Awards WPExplorer
Design Fails: Embarrassing Logos Logos are such a critical part of branding and design. You would assume that companies and brands do everything in their power to make sure their logos are perfect. And yet, we keep coming across logos that look like a sad joke. It’s not a question of personal taste. Some logos should have never been approved as drafts, because they are not communicative; have no regard of basic aesthetics; look totally outdated or even ridiculous. In short, they’re giving the brand they represent a bad name – which is the exact opposite of what they should do. The list of examples is endless but we picked some really horrid ones for you. 2012 London Olympics: A stupefying amount of money was spent on designing the 2012 London Olympics logo, which turned to be as uniformly disappointing as was its opening ceremony. T-Mobile: T-Mobile’s parent company, Deutsche Telekom, apparently think their logo is so spectacular that they decided to trademark its color. Drake University: D+, huh? Activa: Here’s a tip.
Great Color Resources | JM Designs - Graphic Designer: Logo, Brand Identity, Web, & Print Color is incredibly important in any design. If you have studied or know a little about color theory, you know the great psychological and emotional effects color has on viewers. It is an incredibly powerful tool, that when used wisely will wow views and help create an emotional bond with any product, service, or company. This is why I have put together some of the sites/tools I use and recommend when dealing with color. Colour Lovers is esteemed by many as the ultimate color resource. Kuler has been a useful tool that I have used in a number of projects. ColorZilla is a great plug-in for Firefox and Chrome. Colorotate is a web application and iPad app as well. The Color Wizard let users submit a color which is then used to create various color schemes. Colrd is an art and design inspiration source with many color options. This resource has two products, ColorSchemer Studio 2 and ColorSchemer Touch (an App for iOS). The Sphere is a great resource when deciding on colors. Bonus
Why a commercial printer wants a PostScript or PDF file - Publisher By John Giles, owner of The Giles Group Submitting a digital file to a commercial printer can be confusing, so printers are using a new technique to standardize the process. To help you save money, find out now what commercial printers may start expecting from you. Commercial printers are changing how they accept digital documents and publications created by customers. Customers use hundreds of different software programs to create publications and documents. When a commercial printer supports a file in its native form, several problems can develop due to customer design errors or printing production issues. PDF is the new commercial printing standard Commercial printers are using the advantages of the PDF format to save customers money and time. Documents and publications converted to PDF files can easily be seen on screen and printed by users on a variety of computers and operating systems, no matter what program was used to create the file. 3 ways to submit a PDF file About the Author
How to Creatively Market Yourself as a Designer Sometimes it seems like every time you jump online, you read about a talented new designer who’s making it big with their latest project. There are a lot of wonderful designers out there, and the constant showcasing of others’ skills makes it feel all the more like you’re lost in the crowd. It’s not enough anymore to have a solid portfolio and work experience; if you really want to stand out in today’s market, going the extra mile in marketing yourself can make all the difference in landing the perfect job, or getting some great freelance projects going. When you’re considering all the ways that you could market yourself, the most important thing to take into account is how much of a time commitment you can realistically make. Don’t overstretch yourself with a daily blog entry or illustration unless you think you’ll be able to do a great job on it. There are many different levels of requirement for projects that can make a difference in your career; choose what works for you.
riddles If you’re into riddles and also like LEGO, we have something very cool for you! To commemorate the 55th anniversary of the LEGO brick, the company has issued 55 graphic riddles where LEGO bricks represent various characters from movies, songs, cultural or political highlights that occurred over the last 55 years. Some of them are a bit more obvious than the others, but constructing the right answer from the hints feels almost like a mental LEGO game. The plastic brick, that’s recognized all over the world today, was patented in its current shape on January 28th, 1958. Try and see how many of the riddles you can get, and let us know in the comments! Website: lego.com Can You Solve These 55 Lego Riddles? See the rest of Can You Solve These 55 Lego Riddles? Tags: Advertising, boredpanda, full-page, graphic design, Latest Posts, lego, lego 55th anniversary, LEGo bricks, lego riddle posters, lego riddles, minimalism, minimalist posters, posters, riddles
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