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Since we've been talking typography and since we're curious about the interesting, the new, the unexpected in type design, I searched a bit tonight and found these. Always giving attribution when found.
Also: some twitter connections got me here: very cool links from @usetypography and @typedirectors.
From Typecon 05 New York Crystian Cruz flickr account:
or this from Deviant Art's site (culled from somewhere else I believe...honor to the creator) ::
Very cool idea and site -- The Best Mashups on the Web Mashup Awards -- that lets you see the power of connecting conceptually. Some favorites from the archives here:
1 -- Helveti-Tweet :: a stylish stream of Twitter updates mentioning Helvetica
2 -- Pixelpipe :: liberate your content is the line they use. Basically you can push all content you produce into one pipeline and deliver to multiple platforms...video, audio, text. wow. from their site:
3 -- Twitter Venn :: oh. my. word. This is fantastic. "Enter two or three search terms separated by commas and press the 'Search' button or type Enter/Return.
After the data is retrieved a Venn Diagram is shown
which illustrates the rate of tweets containing the search terms in the various combinations. See
the Neoformix post on Twitter Venn for more details."
This was created by Jeff Clark. Dear Jeff Clark: yes. Here's a screen grab from the site...homage to the authors.
4 -- TubeGraph :: Talk about your interesting feedback models. Lets you review certain pieces of a youtube video for rating.
5 -- Joblighted :: Certainly apropos for today. Mashing twitter, aggregate jobs postings via keywords, and mapping to let you see how and where jobs are popping up and where to contact. You know...there is some energy out there.
Hilary Jones reminds me that Wieden's radio grooviness lets us in on all things creative and compelling. Staffed by W+K media/creative/support types on a daily basis, the shows range from feature pieces, new genres, cool bands of the hour.
It also reminds me that the best advertising agencies are thought leaders, able to come up with new ways to morph media, new ways to get everyone engaged. Who else might use this model? Are newspapers out there racing to reconfigure an old medium to a new and interesting use? Could in-house radio be the perfect magnet for getting a community of employees working and playing together? How many other agencies are building cultural connections like this?
This is the front piece to the W+K Radio site. It'll lead you to good stuff.
Good Magazine -- always a favorite and worth a lengthy discussion due to smart design and inspiring content -- posts an illustration (here) and an accompanying Flash piece to show us what the war really costs. The design and info are by Matt Owens, principal at volumeone and a partner in the design collective Athletics, and Jason Bishop, a designer at the School of Visual Arts (always an inspiration).
See the video here.
I have friends who are type fanatics, who lovingly talk about the beauty of a bowl on a B or the arc of the descender in a lowercase g. Beautiful stuff.
In looking through material that can help us think about the good things happening in typography right now, I collected these. Lots more...let me know if you have recommendations.
1 -- Steven Heller is the dean of designers, a real treasure. His quicktakes on type and design are full of insight and new ways to see. He's also the author of some gorgeous books on design.
2 -- Wow. Esquire has reinvented the magazine cover. The punch and power of a front cover with information reinvented as design is amazing stuff. Look at these:
3 -- Though I don't think it a great idea to buy a Ford F150 right now unless they up the gas mileage and lower the emissions, I do admire the voice (Denis Leary) and tone, and the energy of these smart spots from Team Detroit. Good stuff, guys.
4 -- Go look at this. Henderson Bromstead Art is typgography as art...posters, logos, brand stories, social issues. even a beautiful process poster. Very nice.
5 -- HandJob is priceless. Wonderful fun hand-drawn type and ideas. Better that you don't google this one...believe me, you'll get more than you bargained for.
The Forum went off beautifully. Seven expert panelists from around the country, a terrific blogging and tweeting production team, strong opinion and good conversation from a 50+ audience. The great takeaway of the day :: brands need to tell the truth, stay honest and authentic, and strive to bring a sense of integrity and best practices to their messages, especially green ones. Enviromedia brought it. All we need to do now is find a strategy to help professionals and consumers make this happen. Max Radi designed our projectable banner (not printed!) and the stamped folders.
For the classes, for the masses.
1 :: Write one page of truth without lifting your pencil from the page.
2 :: Collect 5 images that show honesty. 5 images that show courage. 5 images that show green culture (no leaves or trees allowed).
3 :: Write 5 versions of the same event.
4 :: Archive one thing -- at least 20 images -- on one page. Kim Karalekas looks for stop signs with extra messages, collects them, looks for patterns, insight, humor. What's your collection?
5 :: Chose one word and show it in 10 typefaces. Write a line for each on personality.
6 :: Craft a tutorial showing how to do something. Put it in photos for an ideabook, on your blog if it's video. Start a campaign of these pieces.
7 :: Select 5 photos. Match each with an illustration of the same thing.
8 :: Put your 5-year plan in cartoon style. This is a sunday strip...use color.
9 :: Write on paragraph on the following and find a photo to illustrate:
On bullshit. On tomorrow. On renewal.
10: Show the story of your life is 10 photos.
Here's a timeline I did to show 54 (gawd) years. Each year is a decade. And, yes, I've forgotten the 70s.
Relevance happens when we emphasize critical thinking, innovation, insight, responsibility.
Brett Robbs: Idea Industry: How to Crack the Advertising Career Code
Teresa Amabile: Harvard Business Review on Breakthrough Thinking
