The case that all story is manipulation, a new source of cheap royalty-free images, the font worth $136 million dollars, and more...
 
 
If a client comes to us with a poorly designed logo, the first thing we're going to tell them is that we need to design a new one. (Or, if the concept is sound, that we need to make it over.) 
 
From the small business owner's angle (who spent hundreds or thousands of dollars getting it created), they're going to assume we're nuts. But we're not.

A logo is a foundational element. If the client insists that it appears on their website and print materials, the website and print design will have a hard time ever being any better than that logo. It can lift everything to a higher level, but it can also drag everything down to the depths.

To me, a really bad logo and insistent client is a dead end. It is a sign that they will never trust me to do what seems counterintuitive-and much of what many client's need most, appears on the surface to be just that.

Be well, Chuck

Comment > http://www.pageplane.com/design_briefing_178_sound_off.html

 
When a type foundry was a foundry

In the late 1800s, the new technology of the day, factory manufactured metal type, required hot metal, heavy machinery, and massive people power.

The Lanston Monotype Machine Company was founded in 1887 and was played a key role in the development of metal type--which, in turn, changed the very nature of the dissemination of information. The books, newspapers, and other collateral that factory-produced movable type made possible shifted the course of communication in ways so profound that we (in my never to be humble opinion) can no longer clearly gauge what the world would have looked like without them.

Here's an introduction to Monotype and an exhibit on it's history titled, Pencil to Pixel.

A 1950s aerial photo of the Monotype Works in Salfords, Surrey, England...
Here > http://recorder.bymonotype.com/img/catalog/company-life/company_life_image_3.jpg

Interview with typeface designer Robin Nicholas, a 50-year veteran of Monotype...
Here > http://recorder.bymonotype.com/interview/

The Monotype website has a labyrinth of articles and information regarding typeface history and design...
Here > http://www.monotype.com/

The London exhibition...
Here > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWDhhCGywI0

The New York exhibition...
Here > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AhoXjtmxao
 
Monotype today...
Here > http://www.monotype.com/
 
Eye Magazine dedicated its No. 84 issue to Monotypes-a photograph from that issue...
Here > http://www.flickr.com/photos/eyemagazine/8203058700/in/photostream/
 
Nice idea: They let you browse the issue before you purchase it...
Here > http://vimeo.com/54136523
 
An interesting, inside baseball discussion about the Monotype name...
Here > http://www.briarpress.org/33756
 
 
If you use InDesign (or QuarkXPress), you might find this useful

The idea is simple. Modifying a well-designed template is far easier than starting from scratch. My InDesign Ideabook includes 315 researched, designed, and meticulously formatted documents in a clean, simple style that it easy to build on.

The Ideabook lets you breeze through time-consuming document setup and get right to the important stuff. Instead of spending 15 minutes to create a simple layout, you'll spend 15 seconds. For complex projects-books, newsletters, catalogs, reports-you'll save HOURS.

"If you need to create winning design and your time is important to you, there is no better investment than Chuck Green's Idea Book. I write copy and create marketing materials for small business, and Chuck's world class layouts have me up and running in minutes instead of hours. I can't recommend this book enough!" Kory Basaraba, Copywriter and Consultant, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

For Adobe InDesign
Here > http://www.ideabook.com/the_indesign_ideabook_59.html

For QuarkXPress
Here > http://www.ideabook.com/quarkxpress_templates.html


All story is manipulation

In this wonderful short piece by Sarah Klein and Tom Mason, Ken Burns talks about the craft of storytelling.

Who is he really trying to wake up?...
Here > http://vimeo.com/channels/staffpicks/40972394

From The Atlantic: An interview with the filmmakers...
Here > http://www.theatlantic.com/video/archive/2012/05/ken-burns-on-why-his-formula-for-a-great-story-is-1-1-3/257165/

The Ken Burns America website...
Here > http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/

Another piece from Redglass Pictures discussing Burns' new iPad app: Ken Burns: Past Is Present...
Here > http://vimeo.com/86051908

The Redglass Pictures website...
Here > http://redglasspictures.com/

Comment > http://www.pageplane.com/design_briefing_178_sound_off.html


If you use a few royalty-free images each month

A new royalty-free image collection has sprouted up that is offering, what looks like, a very attractive deal-it's called the Dollar Photo Club.

Membership, they explain, is simple: "...just $10 a month gives you unlimited access to our images, all royalty-free and available for any project or document with absolutely no limits on time, region, or print runs."

The collection is from Fotolia.com and includes access to over 25 million images. So far, I'm impressed by both the selection and the quality.

Thanks to Lee Garvey for pointing us to it.

The Dollar Photo Club...
Here > http://www.dollarphotoclub.com/

The license details...
Here > http://www.dollarphotoclub.com/Info/RoyaltyFreeLicense

Fotolia.com...
Here > http://us.fotolia.com/

Comment > http://www.pageplane.com/design_briefing_178_sound_off.html

 
A few particularly interesting examples of parallax scrolling

There's plenty of controversy about whether parallax scrolling has replaced the drop shadow for the most overused web effect, but (to me) these examples were worth seeing.

Example 1...
Here > http://www.numero10.ch/fr/home

Example 2 (click the numbers on the left side of the screen for the full effect)...
Here > http://www.vondutch.com/com/

Example 3...
Here > http://jessandruss.us/

BTW, the piece I pointed you to last week, Ken Burns On Story, includes some of the signature parallax scrolling he has used in so many of his documentaries. So much so, in editing circles it is known as the Ken Burns Effect...

The Ken Burns effect...
Here > http://vimeo.com/channels/staffpicks/40972394

The Ken Burns effect explained...
Here > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Burns_effect

Comment > http://www.pageplane.com/design_briefing_178_sound_off.html


The weirdest stock photograph I've ever seen. 
Here > http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-35740716-money-dog-holding.php?st=e80710d


We stand on the shoulders of--among many other technologies, hot metal...
Here > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzilaRwoMus


This is still my favorite pencil (wrote a review for Cool Tools a few years ago)...
Here > http://kk.org/cooltools/archives/5366


Illustrator Raymond Biesinger launched a new portfolio today--nice...
Here > http://www.fifteen.ca/


If you really want someone to change, you'll allow them room to do it gracefully.


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Newspapers are searching for ways to reinvent journalism

Newspapers have been upping the ante the last couple of years by publishing in depth, illustrated features that include stills, video, audio, animation, maps, and so on-a form of interactive journalism. It seems to be catching on.

From The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Six:01...
Here > http://media.commercialappeal.com/mlk/index.html

From the Washington Post: The Prophets of Oak Ridge...
Here > http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/wp-style/2013/09/13/the-prophets-of-oak-ridge/
The provocative headline from the CNN story reads: "Teen to government: Change your typeface, save millions."

It points to a story, reported last week, about 14-year-old student Suvir Mirchandani who published an article that the United States Government could save over $136 million per year by changing the typefaces it uses to Garamond. What surprised me was, when I mentioned the same on Facebook last week and it reached more people than any other post I've ever written.

What the on-air story failed to mention was, while it is a good idea on the student's part and a good reminder, that it was, by no means, a revelation. Having dug a little deeper, I found a large number of initiatives in and outside of government that address this very issue.

But what really piqued my interest was, how easily restating your case in a different context can so dramatically revive interest in a topic. It got me thinking about other issues and ideas that I could help clients recast in different terms.

Here is the original story followed some examples of what anyone can do to save money on paper and ink.

Thanks to Matt Hanna for pointing us to it.

The CNN report about student Suvir Mirchandani's article...
Here > http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/27/living/student-money-saving-typeface-garamond-schools/index.html

The article: A Simple Printing Solution to Aid Deficit Reduction by Suvir Mirchandani and Peter Pinko...
Here > http://www.emerginginvestigators.org/2014/03/ink-cost-2/

This report from the EPA demonstrates how to reduce the use of ink AND paper using a combination of reduced margins and line spacing, changes in fonts used and their size, using "shrink to fit," deleting advertisements from web articles, and so on.

From the Federal Electronics Challenge (FEC) (revised in 2012): Reducing Paper and Printer Ink Usage (383KB PDF)...
Here > http://www2.epa.gov/sites/production/files/documents/paper_usage.pdf

The differences between legibility and readability by Allan Haley at Monotype Imaging...
Here > https://www.fonts.com/content/learning/fontology/level-4/fine-typography/legibility

There's even a font designed to address ink usage -:"Ecofont" (I have not tried it)...
Here > http://www.ecofont.com/en/news/infographic.html

From 2009: Measuring Type...
Here > http://www.matthewrobinson.co.uk/Measuring-Type

PrintWise is a government-wide awareness campaign designed to help federal employees print less and make cost-cutting print decisions across the U.S. government through simple behavior changes...
Here > https://strategicsourcing.gov/print-wise

The other side of the coin, from June of 2013: Consumer Reports points to the most efficient printers under the title, The high cost of wasted printer ink...
Here > http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2013/08/the-high-cost-of-wasted-printer-ink/index.htm

Comment > http://www.pageplane.com/design_briefing_178_sound_off.html 
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. I am an affiliate of Lynda.com and MyFonts.com -- that means, if you purchase something from them, I get a small commission. Comments? Suggestions? Write me at chuckgreen@ideabook.com -- Chuck Green