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These days, much of the tech industry and its press talk about the world of computing by wrapping its facts in its desires.

For example, I heard someone talking about how we all want greater connectivity--better systems for linking all things together so that information can be fashioned around "our needs and desires." 

Is that really true? I don't think a lot of people are willing to trade their identities for an information bubble designed by marketers and sellers to move product. 

Marketing, to me, is about presenting ideas in a way that encourages supportive action--not about manipulating one's audience into taking action contrary to its own self-interest.

Be well. Chuck

Are you in a typeface rut?

Stuck using five or ten primary typefaces all the time? Been there.

So I invite you to join me in reading designer David Hyde's blog series titled, From Albertus to Zapf Dingbats: The 52 fonts that you could use instead of Helvetica. His idea being, to remind us of some solid alternatives to everyday typefaces and to break the habit of using just a favorite few...

From Albertus to Zapf Dingbats: The 52 fonts that you could use instead of Helvetica...
Haha... Hyde also shares such things as the state of his Pantone Color Specifier...It's been a colourful career, so far...
More on the influence of design on movies and television: The Art Director's Guild

Last week I pointed you to the Set Decorators Society of America (SDSA) in an appreciation of the vast influence design has on everyday life. This week, let's visit another center of design influence, The Art Director's Guild, a union of the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees (IATSE). It represents roughly 100,000 entertainment industry Art Directors, Graphic Artists, Illustrators, Matte Artists, Model Makers, Scenic Artists, Set Designers and Title Artists.

The Art Director's Guild...
Three random members...

Example 1: Lori West..
Example 2: Marc Vena...
Example 3: Chad S. Frey...
Fascinating: Perspective magazine, The Journal of the Art Director's Guild...
An introduction to film Art Direction and Production Design...
A list of some of the members and their websites...
Emotional advertising at its best...

IBM Thinks

I happened on this presentation of "IBM's 100 Icons of Progress" and I thought the execution of the illustrations was well worth a look. It's also a good reminder of what a significant role IBM has played in the evolution of computing.

Example 1...
Example 2...
Example 3...
Within the context of the presentation...
I assume the work was done by powerhouse brand and marketing firm VSA Partners...
As IBM's first chairman and CEO, Thomas John Watson, Sr, said....
A non-designer may not appreciate the vast influence design has on life

For example, does the normal TV viewer fully appreciate the fact that the chair a character is sitting in was chosen by a decorator whose job is to dress the set?

The Set Decorators Society of America (SDSA) defines the role of set decorators as being, "key members of the design team for film, television and commercials. Working closely with the Production Designer and the Director, the Set Decorator must research, resource, and acquire all the objects required to dress the sets. Typical examples of this set dressing may include furniture, drapery, lighting fixtures, art and other decorative objects. However, the Set Decorator is also charged with large scale items, which could include machinery or robots, sidewalk window dressing, street items (such as street lamps and mailboxes), even rubble and debris."

Design is everywhere and I find this application and this type of website highly enlightening-yet another out-of-the-ordinary way in which design is expressed.

This representative "Spotlight" profile features set decorator John Dwyer...
One of many articles on the decor for specific television programs and movies...
A fascinating collection of links of Decorator Resources...
The home page of the SDSA website...
From Myfonts.com

Special offers...
Bestsellers...
Hot new fonts...
Beautiful images...


Meet illustrator Gary Pierazzi

As Mr. Pierazzi describes it, "Over the years I have developed 3 distinctive illustration styles. One animated and fun, the second brushy and painterly, and the newest style consisting of simple clean images with a flow of graphic lines and patterns."

I really like his use of bright, flat colors and smooth, distinct shapes.

Example 1...
Example 2...
Example 3...
Gary Pierazzi's website...
A design that illustrates how even the best designers can lose their way

Michael Bierut is, by all measures, a highly successful, well respected designer. So when he was commissioned by MIT Media Lab to remake its popular identity scheme, you'd think it would be a sure bet that he would produce something interesting and innovative.
But this one leaves me cold.

While a grouping of the marks might generate some visual interest, I wonder about, for example, the Social Computing group's mark (below). When the dust settles and they are left to deal with their particular piece of the larger puzzle, I can't help but think they'll find it difficult to reconcile. Do you disagree?

Some of the parts...
From fastcodesign.com: Pentagram's Michael Bierut Rebrands The MIT Media Lab...
More discussion via Brand New at UnderConsideration...
"How beautiful black-and-white is. It's not literal. It's a metaphor automatically, already saying, this is not life, it's ABOUT life."--Mike Nichols

BTW, do you recognize Florence Owens Thompson, sitting inside the tent? She is the subject of Lange's masterpiece, "Migrant Mother." Here's that photograph...
And an interesting article about it...
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
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 [email protected] -- Chuck Green