Chuck Green's Design Likes
Greetings

Thanks for subscribing! This is Design Likes Issue 74: An overview of stuff of interest to the design mind. Be sure to see the post on the design of props. 

Enjoy!
Chuck Green

P.S. Please check out my template collections:
For InDesign > http://www.ideabook.com/indesign_templates.html
For PageMaker > http://www.ideabook.com/pagemaker_templates.html
For QuarkXPress > http://www.ideabook.com/quarkxpress_templates.html


Wed Design > Create your next web site with most of the work already done

I wish other things worked like the web. In many cases it provides lots of value for very little money. Wouldn't it be nice, for example, if you could buy a years worth of chocolate cake for the cost of a cupcake?

Well that's roughly the equivalent of an offer I stumbled across today. As of a couple of days ago, you can hire Khoi Vinh, Design Director for NYTimes.com, and WordPress authority Allan Cole to design the underlying structure of you web site for a grand total of $45. Not $45 per hour--$45 period.

How? By purchasing the WordPress theme/template they took a year to develop. Is it good? You tell me. Vinh says, "If I were to redesign Subtraction.com today, it would look like Basic Maths." (Subtraction.com is his much written about and admired personal web site.)

It would seem to be worth the price if only to deconstruct it to see how it works.

This is a live demo of the theme/template...
Here > http://basicmaths.subtraction.com/demo/

This is where you purchase the package...
Here > http://basicmaths.subtraction.com/

Read developer Khoi Vinh's announcement of the release...
Here > http://www.subtraction.com/2009/11/14/introducing-basic-maths

Allan Cole's WordPress blog...
Here > http://allancole.com/wordpress/



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



Illusrations > Meet illustrator Kathryn Rathke

Wow, what a gift for lyrical lines.

Example 1...
Here > http://altpick.com/storage/krathke/1227037074rawTRU.jpg

Example 2...
Here > http://altpick.com/storage/krathke/1255627744MClYdf.jpg
Example 3...
Here > http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_islDmEddAE0/R9WK2PMfeUI/AAAAAAAAAC4/HUp14AAl6z0/s1600/pup.jpg

Kathryn Rathke's site...
Here > http://www.kathrynrathke.com/



Print Design > The Tim Burton exhibit at MoMA

This week marks the opening of the Tim Burton exhibit at the The Museum of Modern Art. Best known for his film making, Tim Burton is also a designer, an artist, and is, as you might suspect, a tad bit crazy.

The website created for the Burton exhibit...
Here > http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2009/timburton/index.php

About the exhibit and the design of the accompanying web site...
Here > http://www.moma.org/explore/inside_out/2009/11/20/the-tim-burton-website-its-aliiiiiive



The Copywriter's Handbook...
Here > http://www.ideabook.com/store_copywriters_handbook.html


Wed Design > Need a simple portfolio solution?

Here's another good way to show off you work. I suppose you could use it as a primary destination, or as a way of boosting your visibility by offering an alternative source. In any case, Carbonmade offers both free and paid versions.

An example portfolio for copywriter Kathleen Honey (nice stuff)...
Here > http://kathleenhoney.carbonmade.com/

Carbonmade features...
Here > http://www.carbonmade.com/features/



Graphics Tech > Integrating the physical with the digital

Don't know if you caught this. Pranav Mistry, a PhD student in the Fluid Interfaces Group at MIT's Media Lab, invented a wearable device that demonstrates one possible direction for future user interface. I am less interested in these early prototypes than I am in his broad vision for how we might integrate the digital with the physical down the road.

Though you certainly don't need a crystal ball to predict it, it would seem that the future of graphic design, likewise, will be more about 3D than 2D.

Thanks to my friend Wayne Belvin for pointing us to this.

Pranav Mistry discusses his ideas...
Here > http://www.ted.com/talks/pranav_mistry_the_thrilling_potential_of_sixthsense_technology.html

More about Mistry and SixthSense...
Here > http://www.pranavmistry.com/projects/sixthsense/

More projects from the Fluid Interfaces Group at MIT...
Here > http://fluid.media.mit.edu/projects.php



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



Illustration > The design of props

McConnell & Borow creates props, displays, and editorial illustrations for a long list of clients including Absolut, AT&T, IBM, and so on.

Fooling the eye...
Here > http://www.propartnyc.com/#mi=2&pt=1π=10000&s=8&p=0&a=0&at=0



Typography > More typographical wonderfulness from Jessica Hische

In her own words, "The Daily Drop Cap is an ongoing project by typographer and illustrator Jessica Hische. Each day (or at least each WORK day), a new hand-crafted decorative initial cap will be posted for your enjoyment and for the beautification of blog posts everywhere."

It is a sight to behold.

An example...
Here > http://dailydropcap.com/post/225342420/orem-ipsum-dolor-sit-amet-consectetur-adipiscing

The home page...
Here > http://dailydropcap.com/

A stellar Christmas present type lovers...
Here > http://buystufffrom.jessicahische.com/product/drop-caps



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



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]

> Chuck