March 7, 2016

180,000 public domain images, free to download and reuse

The New York Public Library has made it possible to download out-of-copyright photos, posters, book covers, and more, in the highest resolution available.

Writing brushes illustrationIllustration of writing brushes, 1908.

“That means everyone has the freedom to enjoy and reuse these materials in almost limitless ways. The Library now makes it possible to download such items in the highest resolution available directly from the Digital Collections website.”

Aids typographyFrom the Gran Fury collection.

No permission required. No restrictions on use. The website offers “tools, projects, and explorations designed to inspire your own creations — go forth and reuse!”

Esso service stationGas station, Tenth Avenue and 29th Street, Manhattan, 1935.

A brilliant resource, with categories that include poster collections, maps and atlases, book art and illustrations, and loads more.

Flowers of a hundred generations calligraphyFlowers of a hundred generations, introductory calligraphy, 1909.

More info on the NYPL website. Via The Atlantic.

May 28, 2015

Fontstand launches

Fontstand is a Mac OS X app that allows you to try fonts for free or rent them by the month for desktop use.

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May 17, 2015

Printing Flaunt

Armin and Bryony of UnderConsideration have just released the second edition of Flaunt: Designing effective, compelling and memorable portfolios of creative work. It's available in print and as a single licence PDF, and Armin took time to answer a few questions about the book's printing and packaging.

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February 24, 2014

Brand naming resources

It’s easy to think anyone can come up with a good name, but it’s more complicated than that.

“An idea can come from anywhere, but getting buy in and seeing it through is tough. In fact, naming can be one of the hardest parts of a branding project.”

From a naming handbook by Wolff Olins. Via @gradiate.

A naming handbook

These naming specialists are listed at the end.

With a few relevant books.

Another that seems worth picking up.

Some online pieces.

And when you have your shortlist, check availability.

August 9, 2012

“Nobody bought the cheapest option.”

People were offered 2 kinds of beer: premium beer for $2.50 and bargain beer for $1.80. Around 80% chose the more expensive beer.

Now a third beer was introduced, a super bargain beer for $1.60 in addition to the previous two. Now 80% bought the $1.80 beer and the rest $2.50 beer. Nobody bought the cheapest option.

Three beer bottlesBeer bottle photo by jovike

Third time around, they removed the $1.60 beer and replaced with a super premium $3.40 beer. Most people chose the $2.50 beer, a small number $1.80 beer and around 10% opted for the most expensive $3.40 beer. Some people will always buy the most expensive option, no matter the price.

You can influence people’s choice by offering different options. Old school sales people also say that offering different price point options will make people choose between your plans, instead of choosing whether to buy your product or not.

How to test it: Try offering 3 packages, and if there is something you really want to sell, make it the middle option.

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Excerpted from pricing experiments you might not know, but can learn from.

The story is referenced in William Poundstone's 2011 book Priceless: the myth of fair value (and how to take advantage of it). Via the 11 ways that consumers are hopeless at math, on The Atlantic.

April 11, 2012

Creative Penguin book covers

These cover designs for Penguin Education are great.

Penguin Education book cover designJuniors, cover design by: Omnific/Philip Thompson.

Penguin Education book cover designPersonality, design by: Omnific/George Mayhew.

Penguin Education book cover designHalf Way There, design by: Omnific/Martin Causer.

Penguin Education book cover designAgeing, design by: Omnific/Derek Birdsall.

Penguin Education book cover designMales & Females, design by: Omnific/Derek Birdsall.

Courtesy of avid Penguin collector Richard Weston.

Penguin cover designs

You can view Richard's complete series of covers in the Penguin Books Flickr collection.

Related: Designing book covers.

February 20, 2012

When designing a book cover…

...even if it’s likely to be a one-off, it can a good idea (and potentially easier to sell to a client or publisher) to treat the cover design like the first in a series, because you never know where it might lead.

A few cover collections I like (some more obviously pre-planned than others).

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire spine designBy Clarence P. Hornung for The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, volumes I to VII.

Penguin book cover designs by YESBy YES Studio, London, for Penguin.

Oliver Sacks book cover designBy New-York based Cardon Webb for Oliver Sacks.

Angus Hyland book cover designBy Angus Hyland of Pentagram.

And The Book Cover Archive is a great resource "for the appreciation and categorization of excellence in book cover design," edited and maintained by Ben Pieratt of General Projects and Eric Jacobsen of Whisky Van Gogh Go. More than 1,300 covers, searchable by designer, title, author, publisher, publication date, art director, photographer, illustrator, typeface, and genre.

The Book Cover Archive

January 5, 2012

Be Bold 101

Be Bold 101

A snippet from Be Bold 101, by Nicholas Bate. Some stellar advice.

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December 15, 2011

Thoughts on the designer / client relationship

"If I go to see the doctor, I accept that the doctor has trained, has skill, has experience, is concentrating on one aspect of me. I've asked them to do that. What I don't do is what bad graphic design clients do. I don't lean over the doctor's shoulder and say, 'Could we make that pill a bit larger?'"
— Quentin Newark, Atelier Works

"A good client has the responsibility to carefully choose the designer that they're going to work on the project with, and when they get that job right it makes your job a lot easier."
— Luke Pearson, PearsonLloyd

"I'm not sure there is such a thing as a perfect client because people are messy, just like I don't think there's such a thing as a perfect agency or a perfect consultancy or a perfect advisor."
— Rita Clifton, Interbrand

"You make your client a good client or a bad client. After you've worked with clients over the years you know how to handle them, from a selfish point-of-view to get the best out of them, but also, to give them the best."
— Edward Barber, BarberOsgerby

"Most clients come to us with no real idea of what identity they're trying to achieve. They'll often come to us thinking that what they need is a new logo, that going forwards all their problems will be solved by this new logo, and our response to them would normally be, 'Who do you think you are? How does your audience see you? How would you like your audience to be seeing you?'"
— Neville Brody

Full transcript.

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Related, from the archives: Handling the client approach.

November 2, 2011

Why do so few designers join professional design organisations?

"You get out of it what you put in, so if you don’t go to meetings, or become involved with other members, paying the fee is pretty much useless."

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July 16, 2010

Ten principles for good design

Dieter Rams Vitsoe shelves606 universal shelving system, 1960, manufactured by Vitsœ, designed by Dieter Rams

  1. Good design is innovative.
  2. Good design makes a product useful.
  3. Good design is aesthetic.
  4. Good design makes a product understandable.
  5. Good design is unobtrusive.
  6. Good design is honest.
  7. Good design is long-lasting.
  8. Good design is thorough down to the last detail.
  9. Good design is environmentally friendly.
  10. Good design is as little design as possible.

Courtesy of Dieter Rams.

December 18, 2009

The Known Universe

Developed by the American Museum of Natural History, this six minute video zooms out from the Himalayas of Tibet, pulling farther and farther from earth to the limit of the observable universe — the afterglow of the Big Bang.

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David Airey
Brand identity design

Independent since 2005
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