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This is Briefing 72: Ideas, links, and articles of interest to the design mind.
 
Enjoy! Chuck Green
 
P.S. Please check out my template collections:
 
 
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Typography > Ideas for mixing and matching typefaces

It's one thing to choose from a large catalog of typefaces--it is another to envision how those same faces might be used on specific projects. Font Bureau's Image and Project Galleries reveal how designers apply particular combinations of typefaces to actual publications.

Be sure to click the "Inside Pages" tab to see the complete demonstration...
Here > http://www.fontbureau.com/gallery/magazine/travel/NationalGeographicAdventure

And the Project Gallery...
Here > http://www.fontbureau.com/projects/

The entire Image Gallery (not as complete explanations)...
Here > http://www.fontbureau.com/gallery/

Comment?
Here > http://www.pageplane.com/typography/deconstructing_the_use_of_type.html

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Communicating with Color...
Here >
http://www.ideabook.com/store_pantone_guide.html

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Mind Vacations > Bringing slides and snapshots into the digital world

In the olden days we shot film positives (slides) or film negatives and printed the images on paper--why, all of a sudden, do I feel like Mathew Brady. If you've got some LPs or cassettes around, you likely have some slides and/or some black and white or color negatives--perhaps some stuff that you haven't looked at in years. The problem is, the old pictures aren't nearly so convenient to look at or share as the stuff we currently are able to churn out on our digital cameras.

ScanCafe.com doesn't fit the normal subject matter of these posts, but I thought it was a good enough find to merit a special mention (thanks to my friend Daniel Will-Harris for pointing me to them). In short, you bundle up your negatives or picture album and send it off to a place overseas where the folks at ScanCafe scan and spend a few minutes optimizing the images (don't panic, they claim the shipping is VERY safe--mine got there without a problem). Then, you review the scans online and choose (pay for) only the one's you want. The originals are then returned to you along with a disc containing the scans.

Reasonable prices, good quality, and it's fun to see all those forgotten places and faces.

The ScanCafe...
Here > http://www.scancafe.com/

The founder's blog...
Here > http://www.scancafe.com/blog/

Comment?
Here > http://www.pageplane.com/mind_vacations/in_the_olden_days_we_shot_film.html

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Ideas 101 > Share an out-of-the-ordinary marketing and/or design idea

I was in a local convenience store a few mornings ago and the manager mentioned how significantly their business increases as the weather turns chilly--the coffee drinkers return. Sales, she explained, will remain significantly higher throughout the fall and winter. (I would have thought cold drinks in warm months would balance sales out, but evidently not.) In any case, it is another example of just how much I have yet to learn about specific marketing applications.

So my invitation is this: Share a practical marketing and/or design idea that the rest of us may not have thought of. Doesn't have to be your idea or ground breaking, just something a little off the beaten track.

I'll lead off with one of my own--a "web card:"

My web card...
Here > http://www.ideabook.com/tutorials/print_design/sell_your_site_with_a_webcard.html

Share your idea in the comment section here...
Here > http://www.pageplane.com/ideas_101/share_an_out-of-the-ordinary_m.html

Comment?
Here > http://www.pageplane.com/ideas_101/share_an_out-of-the-ordinary_m.html

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The Web Designer's Idea Book...
Here > http://www.ideabook.com/the_web_designers_idea_book_th.html

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Typography > Tempted to borrow that font or image?

Hope you'll share this with someone who has yet to grasp the idea that honest work deserves honest treatment. If they want to trade fonts and images outside of established licensing, all we ask is that they first email the designer to explain why they think the ability to create a design and the long hours necessary to produce and market it, does not merit compensation.

Here's an example of one step of the font design process. It does not even address the issue of the talent and dedication it takes to determine a need and to design something that is useful, stylish, and distinctive.

Watch John Roshell create the Moritat font...
Here > http://www.balloontales.com/articles/moritat/

The finished typeface...
Here > http://www.comicbookfonts.com/fonts/BL/catalog.html?item=fonts:bl043&sid=0001XBBkTCCDxWMr8A1g9t3

Comment?
Here > http://www.pageplane.com/typography/tempted_to_borrow_that_font_or.html

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Illustration > A visual dictionary of curiosities

Pictorial Webster's: A Visual Dictionary of Curiosities is a book compiled by John M. Carrera. It features over 1,500 engravings that originally graced the pages of Webster's dictionaries in the 19th century. Here is a fascinating look at the production of the book and the story behind it.

An overview of the project via video. Pictorial Webster's: Inspiration to Completion...
Here > http://vimeo.com/5228616

A discussion of the project at Quercus Press...
Here > http://www.quercuspress.com/websterhome.htm

Comment?
Here > http://www.pageplane.com/illustration/a_visual_dictionary_of_curiosi.html

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Design-It-Yourself: Graphic Workshop...
Here > http://www.ideabook.com/store_graphic_workshop.html

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Web Design > Sometimes design is more about what you DON'T do

I wish more of my work reflected the confidence and restraint this design does. So nice.

24hourplays.com...
Here > http://www.24hourplays.com/

Comment?
Here > http://www.pageplane.com/web_design/sometimes_design_is_more_about.html

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Illustration > Meet illustrator Yuko Shimizu

In the last five years Yuko Shimizu and her work has been written about in all the major design and illustration publications. If you are unfamiliar with her illustrations, you'll soon see what all the fuss is about. She has a distinct style and a real talent for dream-like storytelling.

Example 1...
Here > http://www.yukoart.com/images/news/mj_cover.jpg

Example 2...
Here > http://www.yukoart.com/images/news/planadvisor.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION

Example 3...
Here > http://www.yukoart.com/images/news/utne/utne_cover.jpg

This is Shimizu's site (includes R-rated material)...
Here > http://www.yukoart.com/news/covers.html

Comment?
Here > http://www.pageplane.com/illustration/meet_illustrator_yuko_shimizu.html

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Here > http://www.ideabook.com/subscribe/

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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]