unsolicited opinions on random things
And it’s Honeysuckle Pink. And if Pantone says it’s gonna be hot, then you can bet it’s gonna be hot. Kind of like a chicken-and-the-egg scenario, Pantone knows what’s hot, announces the colour, then it becomes more hot, etc. Take last year’s pick of Turquoise as an example. Or 2009’s Mimosa.
I’m sure I’ll have at least one client in the coming year who wants to use Honeysuckle in their design…
I will fully admit, I’m a print nerd. In a lot of ways – I love paper, I love typography, I love letterpress… I even spent a lovely evening with Kinnon watching a documentary about printing processes. And back in June, we did a letterpress workshop at a local indie print shop.
So I was easily able to waste some time exploring Graphics Atlas, a website that’s part online printing archive, part printing education lesson. Do you know the distinguishing characteristics between relief and intaglio? Or, more relevant to today’s designers – the difference between offset litho and direct thermal? If you’re a print nerd or a designer, this is pretty essential knowledge. Check out Graphics Atlas and learn something!
Swoon! It’s “font day” over at Design*Sponge. Check out these typography-inspired posts:
Interviews with type designers Jesse Ragan, Louise Fili and Jessica Hische
And my favourite, Typographic Home Decor
I heartily encourage you to slack off for a few minutes and check this stuff out.
[img: Type art in home of Fossil art director Shay Ometz. From the Fonts in Homes post]
Apparently, today is type day. Here’s a roundup of 30 new free HIGH QUALITY free fonts, over on Smashing Magazine. Normally I don’t like free fonts because they’re a pain to work with, especially kerning. But Smashing usually only includes good stuff in their free typeface roundups, so these should be good.
The first one in the list, Piron, is really cool. I also like Geomancy. And all the symbol typefaces are seriously handy.
The hand-lettering trend in typography is still going strong, and this typeface caught my eye. Called Strangelove Next, it’s inspired by Stanley Kubricks film “Dr Strangelove”, which featured hand-lettered type in the opening titles.
Strangelove Next features a narrow, wide, and mixed version. And it’s on sale – get all three fonts for $19. That’s a deal.
This is a lovely, well-put article about trusting your designer by Jon Norris of OnWired. It’s not very long, so I recommend reading the whole thing, but if you only get one bit, here’s the kicker:
I always find it interesting when a client hires a designer because of their expertise but then decides to nitpick every decision they make. I can assure you that professional designers have got your best interest in mind. They know what they’re doing and they all want to create something truly incredible for you.
Thank you Jon Norris – you hit the nail on the head with that one.
[“promise” poster by Lure Design Inc. Click here to purchase]
I know it’s not Friday (when I usually post funny things), but I had to post this anyway. This is the funniest website I’ve seen in a long time: What The Fuck Is My Social Media Strategy?
I’m strongly suspicious of people who work in marketing or PR and are trying to “harness the power of social media” or “strengthen the relationship between consumer and the brand”. And people who call themselves social media gurus? Yeah, I’m highly suspicious of them too. Especially if they can’t do anything else, like plan a traditional marketing campaign or design something. (unless you’re Scott Stratten of UnMarketing – the best social media expert/non-expert out there. Follow his tweets and read his blog. It’s good for you.)
Yep, I’m a web designer. So I’m online all day long, and I know a thing or two about the interwebs. But seriously, don’t ask me about how to use Twitter or Facebook for your business, because I honestly believe you shouldn’t.
Next time someone asks me for social media advice, I’m gonna spew out one of the answers from this website.
[comic by the Oatmeal. Idea for blog post from kottke.org]
Something to make you smile on a Monday morning – typographic mustaches. I saw these on kottke.org and thought they were fun. Buy the print here.
Regardless of how you feel about eBooks, I’m afraid/excited that they’re here to stay. A statement from Amazon on Monday confirmed that they sold more eBooks in the last 3 months than actual old-school hold-’em-in-your-hands real books.
I have two eBook readers on my iPhone, and I’ve browsed through them a few times. But I haven’t really given ePublishing a good testdrive. That’s why I was excited to read about ManyBooks – a website featuring 28,000 free eBooks. Yeah, they’re mostly old or obscure, and you’re not going to find any brand new top sellers. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t good stuff! I’ve been meaning to read Great Expectations for years, and there it is, in a variety of formats for different eReaders. Also available are PDF versions and an audiobook. Sweet.
Oh, and for you Toronto readers, you can download audio and eBooks on the Toronto Public Library’s website here.
Just read this on Toronto Life’s Hype Blog – Netflix is bringing its movie and TV-show streaming website to Canada in the fall. I’ve always been jealous of Americans with the service – pay a low monthly fee (in the States it’s $9 per month) and you can stream unlimited movies and TV shows online. Netflix isn’t bringing its DVD-in-the-mail service up here, but that’s okay – we have Zip.ca already. It’s the streaming that I’m excited about.
If Ian wasn’t addicted to sports, I would completely replace our cable TV service with Netflix streaming. We have a PS3 video game system, and in the States at least, Netflix can stream through the PS3. So we should be able to watch on our TV. And if not, I’m happy with streaming on my two computers.
Want to know more? Go to netflix.ca and sign up for updates. They’ll let us all know when the service is coming.