Boring Commute

Weather and Slow Traffic Helps Reveal Bad Type

I know it's not a direct post on a specific brand or campaign in the sense I usually talk on. However, I couldn't help but notice a hideous typographic site on my boring ride home
from the office last night as I sat in traffic due to the snow.



While I was stuck on the freeway, I looked up to notice the ridiculous kerning between the characters of POLARIS (for the folks who are reading this outside of Columbus - Polaris is a thriving suburban area just outside the city.) It amazed me that such careless adornment was let go. Could the R, I and S be any farther apart? I can only hope that those in charge of designing this public space fought the area planners on proper placement of this signage type, but lost the battle for efficiency of character-to-section fastening (or whatever excuse allowed this to happen.)

Maybe I'm just too bored. Or, this snow is helping me to slow down and take notice of crappy type we're surrounded by everywhere.

Time 100 Covers

Celebrating The Most Influential



Time magazine recently hired some of the biggest names in graphic design to create a compelling cover for the annual highlighting the worlds 100 most influential people. Five final covers were selected and are distributed with a primary cover and the other four designs within.

From Neville Brody's powerful typographic work to Euro RSCG's photo-striped execution, the outcomes are fantastic. Check 'em out!

images via

Michael Bierut Talks Type

Talking type for TheAtlantic.com



(via typographica)

Paul Rand Video

Short Film For One of Designs Greatest



This is some excellent work by Imaginary Forces for Rand's induction into the One Club's Hall of Fame for 2007.

See it here.

Brand Union

New position and look for brand agency



Enterpise IG, now The Brand Union, has listened to it's team and recently revised their position to better reflect the heart of who they are. This great new identity has been created to better reflect the group and the unique structure they represent as a unified team of specialists. Read more here...

(via brandnew)

Nikelle Orellana

Strong layout and typographic works by Nikelle Orellana.

The work here is of extraordinary clarity. Typography is top notch and space is used beautifully as a design element. Very nice stuff. Check it out!







(via the manystuff)

The Thing

A new concept in Magazine Publishing

"THE THING is a quarterly periodical in the form of an object. Each year, four artists, writers, musicians or filmmakers are invited by the editors ( Jonn Herschend and Will Rogan ) to create an everyday object that somehow incorporates text. This object will be reproduced and hand wrapped in brown paper packaging by the editors and then mailed to the homes of the subscribers."





(via The Thing)

Type in the Toronto Subway

Renovations and lack of structure compound subway signage problems

This is an interesting study by journalist and consultant Joe Clark. The study looks back at the historical, logical and stylish presence Toronto's subways once obtained. It also goes into great detail about the many points of contact the systems current signage fails to best serve the public. Clark takes you through introduction of the subway's custom font (whose original creator and font name remain unknown) to the horrible hodge-podge 'fixes' the subway system has resorted to in several of it's stations.



* Station maintained with original style sandblasted into tiled wall.




* Hodge-podge inkjet prints attempt to properly direct




* Recent attempts for improvement only obstruct current directional signage


This study is definitely worth a look and if you have the time, read all the details. The points made are accurate in construction and certainly typographic basics. In my opinion, there are shocking similarities found in this study to a number of signage systems we all find in public everyday. I only hope that the governing bodies responsible for maintaining and growing our municipal common areas are taking notes. Clark does an excellent job of showing us how bad an intended communications system can get when it is no longer practiced and protected.







* Original sans typeface designed for the city's subway


(images via Joe Clark's page)

Antoine+Manuel

Great design work here








antoine+manuel

StatAttack

T-shirts stand for noble cause

A friend of mine recently lead me onto this fantastic find. StatAttack is a great creative new venture started by the guys/girls over at Stolen, Inc. Horrified by the statistics on various nations, Stolen decided to spread the word about these topics through T-shirt designs. The idea is to enable purchasers to become walking billboards for these stats. Once someone sees these stats, Stolen is hoping others will want to do something to positively change them. 20% of the money from the sales of the shirts will go towards creation of a brand new orphanage in Mozambique which Stolen and other volunteers of the design community will personally build.

Time Magazine's Cover: "How to Leave Iraq"

Illustration by Arthur Hochstein



I just came across this last night at the grocery. I was getting our usual items with my wife, when I noticed this recent release at the checkout line. The issue debates and examines both sides of the argument regarding U.S. military presence in the Middle East. I'm not going to comment on opinions to this situation, but what I will comment on is the striking, yet simple, cover art by Arthur Hochstein.

As some may be aware of, Hochstein and his internal design team over at Time recently made the move to reorganizing all content and more specifically redesigning the infamous publication for modern day readership. Along with the help of Pentagram, the magazine has been orchestrated into both a beautiful and effective read inside and out.

This recent cover is no exception to the evolving magazine Hochstein and his team members are responsible for. Assertive and loud type reads "IRAQ" with it's "A" being hoisted by a military helicopter. The cover illustration quickly conveys the issues context much as the internal spreads do with other key information.



(images via Time & IraqSlogger)

Travelling Type Tour

An Exhibition of Hand-Drawn Lettering and Experimental Typography



Just came across this over at the HOW blog. This is an interesting new touring exhibition showcasing 63 alphabets by 51 designers both well-known as well as rising in stardom. Styles range from experimental, conceptual and typographic. Shapes are disected to view into the thinking process of each contributing artist and to also view letters out of the familiar context of word composition. Check out the site for more info.

TOGO'S Updates Logomark

New mark for sandwich shop

Togo's previous mark was a little too generic. To many, the past logo could denote anything which this shop stood for. I'm not talking about what it was they sold or any other obvious sales signifier. I'm referring to the "Who" in the brand, or better known as the "We're different from Subway, Jimmy John's etc. because..." statement. Many might refer to this as also the personality and soul of a brand. The past logomark really did not do much in this arena in my opinion. What was once a bland logo for a sandwich shop, this logo has been turned into a better representation for who the Togo's brand is.

Old Logo


New Logo


The feeling of fun, casual and seaside roots resonate with the new logo done for Togo's. Movement and vibrancy are illustrated with a surfer icon and his/her submarine board. Modern color choices also suggests lively and fresh ingredients by nature.

(via Brand New)

Stamps - A True Art

With such a small canvas to articulate meaning and your communication, the stamp is probably one of the most challenging and exciting mediums for graphic design. Personally, I have always been a collector of stamps and loved looking at them as I catalogued according to region and year produced.

I recently came across some fantastic photos of some of the great stamp design work over at DavidMcFarline's Flickr page. Beautiful stuff and truly admirable in design. The work done by designer Brian Sadgrove really compliments the cohesive visual identity world renowned Otl Aicher crafted for the 1972 Olympic games in Munich. The great pictograms executed in these stamps, for instance, shows profound influence brought into signage in our modern context and the ubiquitous figures found in public now.









In addition to these works, there are some brilliant random stamps collected from other designers. Take a look!

London in Type

New Expression for Metropolis Map

Complicated as a true info graphic, but all together is pretty cool. This is so detailed, as any map design should be - unbelievable. Appropriately fitting so many characters to define this massive city and it's landmarks. The title of this creation is "London's Kerning" and the design is by NB Studio.





(via MOON RIVER)

MICA Launches New Identity

The Maryland Institute College of Art recently launched this new and flawless identity for the institution. Design was done by the wonderful Abbott Miller at Pentagram.

New Mark:

Old Mark:


Goals for the new identity are to express a better and more cohesive graphic signature for the school. The identity design focuses on an acronym-based structure to steadily change the name of the institute. Not only is the acronym catchy and simple, but careful attention has been made in the typographic selections used in the design. Both slab and sans serif type recall and inspire from old and new architecture found on campus.



I'm really loving the way this new mark is executed across school materials, street banners and vehicle wraps. The design works nicely in these applications and I can see lots of opportunities for expansion into further media.







(via Pentagram)

TIME Magazine updates look

New layout to appeal to more readers and display information for easier reading



The redesign, taken on with the help of Pentagram, structures information into 4 key parts: Briefing, The Well, Ideas and Arts. New bold headlines are presented in a retro 70's era style and the redesign will feature shorter news trinkets that direct readers to Web sites for further info.

Pulp Fiction in Type

SCAD student creates typographic version of Pulp Fiction scene



Thought his was some interesting work and exploration. Jarrat Moody is a student at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) and put this together for a time-based typography study.

Moody strings the words from Jackson's explosive performance in this scene of the film. Nice use of scale and simple camera movements pull your attention through. Came across on Motionographer.

* Note - Like most of the Pulp Fiction film, lots of profanity is featured in this clip. You may want to put on your headphones or turn your speakers slightly down to not offend nearby coworkers.