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This is Briefing 66: An overview of stuff of interest to the design mind.

Enjoy! Chuck Green

P.S. Please check out my template collections:
 
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Is there value in sharing what you know?

I was reading one of Tim Girvin's blog posts this evening (the well-respected calligrapher, writer, and designer) in which he mentions that his mentor was Lloyd J. Reynolds. That made me curious--who was Lloyd Reynolds?

A little detective work turned up this progression: In 1896 William Richard Lethaby (1857-1931) founded the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London, England. In 1899 Lethaby encouraged a colleague, Edward Johnston (1872-1944), to start a class on illumination. One of his students was Alfred J. Fairbank (1896-1982) who later referred to himself as a "disciple" of Johnston. Fairbank was Reynolds' (1902-1978) mentor. And, as I explained, Girvin (1953- ) now names Reynolds as his mentor.

Why should you care? Because I think it is a good reminder of the importance of sharing what we know. This simple progression--Lethaby, Johnston, Fairbank, Reynolds, and Girvin--demonstrates a clear, distinct path of ideas and encouragement that was passed from teacher to student. Read their history and look at their work and you will see how profoundly one influenced the next.

 
 
 
Here > About Reynolds...
http://www.ochcom.org/reynolds/
 
 
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Graphic design and ephemera

Dick Sheaff is, among other things, is a collector of ephemera [i-fem-er-uh]--materials that were designed to be disposed of after they served their purpose: advertisements, pamphlets, posters, programs, labels, and so on. Sheaff is now sharing some of the best of his collection online. It is wonderful, inspirational stuff--a must see.

Sheaff is also a designer of postage stamps. Search Arago (a resource of the Smithsonian's National Postage Museum) and you will find Sheaff listed as the designer of over 300 stamps.

Here > Sheaff's Gaslight Style Ephemera...
http://www.sheaff-ephemera.com/list/gaslight_album/
 
Here > Sheaff's Artistic Printing Ephemera...
http://www.sheaff-ephemera.com/list/artistic_printing_album/
 
Here > Sheaff's front page...
http://www.sheaff-ephemera.com/
 
Here > Sheaff's work on Arago, a resource of the Smithsonian's National Postage Museum...
http://www.arago.si.edu/flash/?s1=5|sq=Sheaff|sf=0
 
 
indesign ideabook
 
Need some inspiration? See this profile of Design Army
Here's a ten-page feature from the most recent issue of Communication Arts Magazine showcasing the story and portfolio of Design Army.

 
Here > The Design Army site...
http://www.designarmy.com/
 
Here > If, by chance, you don't know CA Magazine...
http://www.commerce.commarts.com/
 
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Meet Lorenzo Petrantoni (and his design influences)

While we're on the subject of ephemera (my post on Monday). How would you use it? Well, one way certainly is to choose parts and pieces as influence and inspiration. Another way is to recast it in a new light. That is what Lorenzo Petrantoni does. In fact, in a profile on his philosophy in Communication Arts, he says, "I love old books. I want to bring them back to life, discover their stories and tell the present through the past."

Here > A Petrantoni illustration for The New York Times Magazine...
http://www.spd.org/images/blog/187.jpg
 
Here > The profile of Petrantoni at commarts.com...
http://www.commarts.com/fresh/lorenzo-petrantoni.html
 
Here > Lorenzo Petrantoni's web...
http://www.lorenzopetrantoni.com/
 
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Crisp, cohesive layouts from Blueprint magazine--love it http://ow.ly/ilq2
 
Useful guide for graphic designers (and others) producing music CD packaging (2.8MB PDF)http://ow.ly/iCXE
 
Like this interesting typographic illustration http://ow.ly/ilps
 
What makes a shiny surface shine? Nice little one-page Photoshop tutorial from Before & After magazine (750KB PDF) http://ow.ly/hRbA
 
A must read for graphic designers from Terri Stone at CreativePro > Safely Find and Use Images Via Google http://ow.ly/hgFj
 
Time to retire this tired cliche: "award winning." It means absolutely nothing.

Another interesting, unusual face (Narziss) by Hubert Jocham http://ow.ly/hgx6
 
 
tintbook
 
Creating National Geographic Magazine in Adobe InDesign

File this under "curiosity" (I have absolutely no connection with any of the players here). I happened on this case study and thought it was of enough interest to share (I know many pageplane.com and ideabook.com readers use InDesign--as I do). I found it interesting to learn a little about how a publication that has over 120 people working on it is put together using a version of InDesign that operates within a larger, more complex framework--in this case a publishing platform called K4.

Here > The National Geographic case study (1.5MB PDF)...
http://www.maned.com/pdf/national-geographic-casestudy.pdf
 
Here > A screen shot of the software interface within InDesign...
http://www.vjoon.com/uploads/tx_dot3linkedsources/K4-5.8-InDesign.jpg
 
 
Here > Managing Editor Inc. is the exclusive distributor of K4 in the Americas...
http://www.maned.com/
 
German-based vjoon GmbH is the developer of the K4 Publishing System...
http://www.vjoon.com/
 
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Amazing virtual city illustrations

Can't believe I missed this before now. As the developers of these unbelievable maps explain, "In the future, every city will have a corresponding 3-D virtual city (E-city), where the population, geography, and commerce will be extended from the real city." Here is what they have in mind.

Here > The illustrated city of Fuzhou...
http://fuzhou.edushi.com/
 
Here > The city of Beijing...
http://beijing.edushi.com/
 
Here > The city of Hong Kong labeled in English...
http://hongkong.edushi.com/?L=en
 
Here > The Edushi cover page with access to many city illustrations...
http://www.edushi.com/
 
 
 
color harmony guide
 
What every graphic designer needs to know about "fair use"

Everyone involved with designing web sites and creating illustrations needs to understand copyright and fair use. Even if you think you have a good grasp of the subject, you need to periodically refresh your view because it is ever-changing.

Here is a great, new-to-me source of excellent information by (what I assume are) legal experts.

I also include a link to The Center for Internet and Society (CIS)--a public interest technology law and policy program at Stanford Law School--that "brings together scholars, academics, legislators, students, programmers, security researchers, and scientists to study the interaction of new technologies and the law."

Here > Stanford Copyright & Fair Use website Overview and Resources section...
http://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_and_Fair_Use_Overview/
 
Here > An interview with Attorney Richard Stim, author of Getting Permission How to License & Clear Copyrighted Materials Online & Off...
http://www.nolopress.com/podcastpop.cfm/objectid/AE850C93-141F-4E1D-A3A9EC4EB10D4F8F
 
Here > The Center for Internet and Society (CIS)...
http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/
 
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About the briefing
I try to remain as objective as possible about the information I share here. Unless otherwise stated, I receive no compensation from the organizations and people mentioned except for occasional product samples.

Comments? Suggestions? Write me at [email protected]