I happened on a film the other day, the cinematography of which knocked my socks off...
It is the 1961 film, The Children's Hour. On further reading about it, I find that the Cinematographer was Franz Planer and the Director was William Wyler. This shot, in particular, caught my eye.
At first, the door is closed (not shown) so all of the focus is on screen-right. Then the door opens and all the focus changes to screen-left. At which point the scene morphs into a full composition--so cool (Franz Planer trained as a portrait painter).
The low angle and the dramatic foreground to background perspective makes it so interesting. This, to me, is visual storytelling at its best.
Enjoy!
Chuck
Another huge, visual resource for design inspiration
Gallica is the digital library of the Bibliothèque nationale de France. It contains imagery in the form of books, periodicals, maps, and other materials containing countless type treatments, illustrations, and photographs.
Gallica is the digital library of the Bibliothèque nationale de France (the National Library of France)
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Gallica is the digital library of the Bibliothèque nationale de France...
The nuance of the magazine cover
I love to read someone who knows what they're talking about, talking about what they know. And you have only to read the first line of Robert Newman's credits to know you're going to learn something every time you read one of his reviews of contemporary magazine covers. He is currently a creative director and media consultant and formally, the design director of Real Simple, Fortune, Vibe, New York, Details, Reader's Digest, and Entertainment Weekly. (So what does he do in his spare time.)
These pieces are well worth your time.
An example of one of his cover reviews for Folio.com the magazine about magazines (print and digital)...
More, deeper, better, from Newman's own website...
In case you don't know Folio, here's the home page...
Meet illustrator Peter Donnelly
I saw this wonderfully different cover by Peter Donnelly for Organic Gardening magazine and I tracked him down. Here is the cover and some other examples of his work.
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Peter Donnelly's Website...
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
For QuarkXPress
Mucca Design: A food-oriented design house
Food isn't all they do, but Mucca Design does some lovely, food-oriented work-menus, signage, websites, packaging, table elements, and so on.
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The Mucca Design Website...
Best Dish app: Something to eat versus somewhere to eat
My son Rob Green, Johnny Hugel, and their firm Mobelux have launched an interesting new app that helps you find something to eat versus somewhere to eat.
Best Dish is a perpetual, user-judged competition that allows folks to vote for the best dishes in a particular community/city. So, for example, everyone votes for the best pizza in Richmond, Virginia and those who check-in can look up "Pizza" in "Richmond, Virginia" and easily see the dishes that currently hold the top spots.
I like it. Best Dish is fun to use and has none of the complexity of an UrbanSpoon or Yelp (though I like and use those too). I can see how Best Dish could become a go-to forum for those who are more interested in finding a new favorite dish than searching out the best-rated places to eat (clearly a more time consuming task).
Here's the online version of BestDish.co. They're just getting started, but you can see how it works and admire Rob's illustrations (you don't have to be his Dad to love those)...
They've got some buzz going: A story from the Richmond Times Dispatch...
Is "native advertising" a marketing strategy or a grand deception?
I'd begin the discussion with a definition of "native advertising" but it seems its definition is one thing everyone is having a difficult time agreeing on.
Suffice it to say, the concept has to do with the practice of mixing paid-for content with informational and editorial content. And, to my way of thinking, it's a pivotal issue graphic designers need to know about and understand.
Jeff Jarvis of BuzzMachine.com said, "Today, under many ruses and many names -- sponsored content, native advertising, brand voice, thought leadership, content marketing, even brand journalism -- advertisers are conspiring with desperate publishers to erase the black lines identifying ads."
In case you're new to the controversy, here's an orientation.
Thanks to Jim Green for pointing us to it.
From BuzzMachine.com: In the End Was the Word and the Word Was the Sponsor's...
From the Interactive Advertising Bureau: IAB Native Advertising Playbook (1.2MB PDF)...
From Guardian News: Changing Media Summit 2014 panel: Native Advertising...
From the Federal Trade Commission: Blurred Lines: Advertising or Content? - An FTC Workshop on Native Advertising...
Thoughts on design and other stuff...
I want to visit here... Michael Maslan Vintage Posters and Photographs, 109 University St Seattle, WA 98101
"...No man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it." C.S. Lewis
Is it just me is the term "thought leader" a turnoff? I don't know why PR firms insist on using it. I can't imagine anyone describing themselves as such.
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