Chuck Green's Design Likes 
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Civilization began with limited systems of personal exchange and slowly evolved to mass communication. Then, in a comparative instant, the web has made it possible for each of us to experience the core intensities of the individual, the group, and the whole in a very personal context.

We're living not at a turn in the road for civilization but rather in a time when the mode of transportation is changing. It's, at once, confusing and exciting.

Thanks for your interest, Chuck  


Check out my Adobe InDesign Ideabook: 315 template files in 19 different categories Everything from brochures, newsletters, and direct mail to packaging, calendars, and books (one CD works with both Mac and PC). Use two or three files and you'll pay for the entire book and disc...



A tour of one of the world's largest image collections


If you were in search of an unusual photograph or illustration in the pre-digital years, one source you could turn to was the Bettman Archive. Typically, you'd call their New York offices and talk to a researcher. You'd explain what you were looking for and they would search Bettman's huge collection and send you a package of photocopies of what they had on the subject. If, for example, you needed a steel engraving of an old oak tree - they'd give you five or ten from which to choose.

Fast forward to 1995: The Bettmann Archive is sold to Corbis, the digital stock photography company founded by Bill Gates. Then to 2002: The entire collection is transferred to a secure, climate-controlled, underground storage facility maintained by Iron Mountain, an information management company.

This is the first time I've seen a "civilian" report on the Corbis collection. It's are real treat to see the facility and get an update.

From the CBS Early Show: A current report about the Corbis archive at an Iron Mountain facility in Pennsylvania (there is an advertisement on the front end of the video segment)...
Here > http://www.cbs.com/shows/the_early_show/video/2174650815/treasure-trove-of-iconic-photos-in-pa-mine

About Iron Mountain...
Here > http://ironmountain.edgeboss.net/mktng/mp4/640x360/vital640x.mp4


About the Bettmann Archive...
Here > http://corporate.corbis.com/citizenship/bettmann-archive/


Corbis Images...
Here > http://www.corbisimages.com/


New to me - Corbis Motion...
Here > http://www.corbismotion.com/


Please comment here > http://www.pageplane.com/photography/a_tour_of_one_of_the_worlds_la.html  

 



About Twitter: Hashtags, trends, design, and the Twitter year in review

I've been doing a some research lately into Twitter hashtags, trends, and its overall design. In case you're interested in such things, here are some links worth visiting.

The Twitter Year In Review website...
Here > http://yearinreview.twitter.com/index_en.html

The Twitter Blog...
Here > http://blog.twitter.com/

The Twitter Help Center...
Here > https://support.twitter.com/

If you're interested in trending topics...
Here > https://support.twitter.com/entries/101125-about-trending-topics

For a overview of current hashtags...
Here > http://hashtags.org/

In case you were wondering, Twitter's creative director is Douglas Bowman...
Here > http://stopdesign.com/about


 

Meet illustrator Andrew Lyons

 

I like Lyons' hard-edged, three-dimensional, textured illustrations. As always, good illustrations require both a unique style and exceptional ideas. These work on both levels.

 

 

Example 1...
Here > http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/87014/1084411/bluebird_1080_905.jpg

Lyons' website...
Here > http://www.lyonsa.com/

Interesting note... Lyons' counts among his influences, the Tintin books...
Here > http://us.tintin.com/

It just so happens that Steven Spielberg's latest film, The Adventures of Tintin in the US is scheduled for release December 22nd......
Here > http://www.us.movie.tintin.com/


 

An interesting idea for creating a web directory or list

 

Here's an interesting idea: When you click on a name in the The National Cartoonists Society Members Directory, up pops portfolio sample and mini-bio.

 

 

Click on a name and see a mini-portfolio and bio...
Here > http://www.reuben.org/?page_id=549


 

From the Ideabook.com Design Store


IDEO Method Cards
Here > http://www.ideabook.com/ideo_method_cards.html

Tintbook CMYK Process Color Selector: A palette of 25,000 CMYK process colors in print...
Here > http://www.ideabook.com/store_tintbook.html

Color Harmony Guide: From French designer Dominique Trapp...
Here > http://www.ideabook.com/store_color_harmony.html

Communicating With Color: Based on Leatrice Eiseman's seminars on the psychology of color...
Here > http://www.ideabook.com/store_pantone_guide.html

The Copywriter's Handbook: Bob Bly's classic guide to copywriting...
Here > http://www.ideabook.com/store_copywriters_handbook.html

Graphic Design, Referenced: A Visual Guide to Graphic Design: One of my favorite design books...
Here > http://www.ideabook.com/graphic_design_referenced.html

Getting it Printed: How to wrestle control of your printed work...
Here > http://www.ideabook.com/store_getting_it_printed.html


 

Poster lovers: Meet Delicious Design League

A few years back illustrators Jason Teegarden-Downs and Billy Baumann started Delicious Design League as a hobby - mainly to create posters for events in the Chicago area. Today, they not only create illustrations for a long list of top tier clients, they design and print posters for sale in their store.

I'm a big fan and have a couple of their posters hanging on the walls of my home.

Example 1...
Here > http://deliciousdesignleague.com/store/gigposters/images/Poster_118.jpg



Meet poster designers/illustrators Jason Munn, Kevin Tong, and Justin Helton

While we're on the subject of poster design (my previous post) - three more excellent designers.

Jason Munn...
Here > http://jasonmunn.com/posters.php


 

Have you collected your free week of Lynda.com?

I signed up recently as an affiliate of Lynda Weinman's wonderful training website. To me, it is THE venue for learning how to use all of the top design-oriented software programs and for discovering more about the design business and its community. One of the perks is that I get to offer you 7-day free trial of the entire collection. What's in if for me? I get a small commission if you end up signing on after the trial. 

 

 

Understanding and experiencing design on a natural level

Some folks write books because they're talented at researching and organizing ideas and communicating them in ways that make them entertaining and useful to readers. Some people write books because they are compelled to share the subjects they live and breath. Maggie Macnab's new book, Design By Nature, Using Universal Forms and Principles in Design is clearly a book that is as much about the heart as it is about the mind.

What I come away with is a new sense that nature does not merely provide ideas from which we can draw inspiration for design, but rather that it is nature that forms the context and framework from which much of design emanates. That to understand these concepts - the origins of patterns, shapes, and other elements of nature -- will help the designer find new ways of discovering intuitive, "gut-level" solutions to design problems. Solutions that our audiences will absorb on a different, deeper level because of their scientific truth.

The book is well-designed and beautifully illustrated. I particularly like the lists of "Key Concepts" at the beginning of each chapter and the "Guest Designer Studies" - explanations of how other designers use the concepts described in their own work.

I suggest buying Maggie's book as a gift to yourself for the new year. If you're like me, you'll soon be understanding and experiencing design on a whole new, natural level.

Design by Nature: Using Universal Forms and Principles in Design By Maggie Macnab
New Riders, October 2011, ISBN 978-0-321-74776-1, 312 pages

The book's website...
Here > http://www.designbynaturebook.com/

An interview with Maggie Macnab...
Here > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-CsUt5prU4



Brief posts from Chuck's Twitter and Facebook pages...

A Seinfeld Christmas...
Here > http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=302226863145092

Introducing the new Google Bar...
Here > http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=306884726012639

My favorite spots of 2011...

Chrysler - Imported From Detroit
Here > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKL254Y_jtc

Cravendale - Cats with Thumbs
Here > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6CcxJQq1x8

Volkswagen - The Force
Here > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R55e-uHQna0

Snickers - You're not you when you're hungry
Here > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3njod6lveI

Benedict Evans: "Next year Facebook will treat that user base as less of a mobile extension to the desktop experience and more as the core product..."
Here > http://www.ben-evans.com/post/14858334056/facebooks-300m-app-users

MyFonts: Creative Characters interview with Melle Diete, December 2011
Here > http://new.myfonts.com/newsletters/cc/201112.html

Opinion... What's the obsession with illustrators and skulls? Seems one-dimensional to me.

Opinion... Designers and marketers: Disparage the postal system, email marketing, Google advertising, and others at your own peril. What are we going to design for?

Follow Chuck on Twitter
Here > http://twitter.com/ideabook

"Like" Chuck's Facebook page
Here > http://www.facebook.com/ideabookfb

 


 

About this newsletter 

 

I try to remain as objective as possible about the information I share here. Unless I tell you otherwise, I receive no compensation from the organizations and people mentioned except for occasional product samples. Comments? Suggestions? Write me at chuckgreen@ideabook.com
-- Chuck