Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working

— Pablo Picasso

That one question will lead all decisions made, be they type choice, colour choice , spacing or whatever.

To demonstrate this and if i’m honest to have a bit of a play with type and colour, I put together 3 example pieces and paired them with adjectives used to describe the mood the piece is attempting to set.

Intense, Vibrant, Edgy

Sweet, Friendly, Warm

Traditional, Subdued

A Whack on the Side of the Head by Roger von Oech, is a book on creative thinking. It is a best seller on the subject and it also happens to be my latest read.

I’m trapping the passage below for reference as it really resonated with me. It’s something I’m guilty of a lot. I find I get too attached to one solution and fail to explore other ideas.

“If you want to be successful, don’t fall in love with a particular type style, because if you do, you’ll want to use it everywhere — even in places where it’s inappropriate.”

“This also applies to ideas. I’ve seen people fall in love with a certain approach, and then become unable to see the merits of alternative approaches.”

—Roger Von Oech

Lately I’ve been feeling a bit flat with regards my web design work. I look at it and think “Meh”. This was compounded when a well known Web Designer took one look and said “Sorry, not good enough”.

To say that comment has been on my mind is an understatement, it’s been like a noose around his neck. The Designer in question is well respected and knows–his–shit. So I’m setting myself a side project. I’m calling this project “Progression”. Obvious I know but that’s not the point.

The point is I have to improve my skills as a web designer. I am not progressing as I should be. My portfolio of work is not bad but it all feels very safe. That’s not good enough, not today. Just a quick look on Dribbble is all you need to know that competition is fierce, it’s eat or be eaten my friends. Besides I have no other option, I am in this profession for the long haul.

My plan with this project is to tackle design styles and problems that are outside my comfort zone. The goal: to see what new skills I can learn and to see what new styles I can produce. I’ll be using this Blog, Dribbble and Behance to log my efforts.

With that in mind all that’s left to say is, “onwards and upwards”.

A very interesting video from Gestalten.tv featuring Erik Spiekermann as he explains the new visual languages, the design process and the analogies of music and typography.

I especially like the part in which he explains how he creates something new through study of some existing typeface. In this case Sabon.

It’s better to have a bad idea of your own than to steal a good idea from someone else.

—Dirk Laucke

Electric Company

Cheap Wedding Flowers

The Dirty Jean Co. logo

Wayside Family Fiesta

Photokore Logo

Super Furry Logo

Quality Seafood Logo

The House Is Rockin Logo

The work above is the amazing typographic skills of Simon Walker. I just love his use of colour, type and texture. You can see all of these and more over at Flickr. For snippets and progress shots checkout his dribbble. The guy has skills.

Why I gravitate towards classical typefaces I have no idea, but Plantin has grabbed my attention recently.

Plantin is not that well known and deserves to be used more. It is a true hidden gem that I’ve only just discovered following the redesign of Weightshift. I loved this design, Naz Hamid has serious design skills. I took a look under the hood and discovered Plantin.

When you begin to use a new typeface it’s good advice to try and understand what it’s unique characteristics are. What follows is my attempt to get a handle on the nuances of Plantin and try to understand why this typeface has grabbed me. But first a little history.

A little bit of history

Plantin was designed for the Monotype Corporation in the early 1900s, It is named after the sixteenth-century Antwerp printer Christophe Plantin (that’s him above).

Although not based directly on his work, the model for Plantin was taken from the huge collection of type Plantin had procured.

With its serious tone, narrow width, and large x-height, Plantin has definite merit as an alternative to Times New Roman. In fact Plantin was used as a reference during the cutting of that very Typeface.

That lovely italic

Plantin is an old-style beautifully designed Typeface. It has more character than most serifs and this is why I like it. It has a certain charm and the italics are really beautiful.

Another plus: Plantin is exceptionally legible and elicits a classic, elegant tone. The Monocole magazine & website uses Plantin to great effect and it forms an important part of their brand.

To wrap up

In my opinion Plantin is a confident, beautiful Font and like Helvetica & Futura before I am all over this Typeface. If you are looking to add a confident, permanent look to your design Plantin is a great choice for your project.

I’ve just picked up Design as Art by Bruno Munari. I’m only 50 pages in but it’s turning out to be quite a read. Here’s my favourite piece so far:

A designer with a personal style, arrived at a priori, is a contradiction in terms. There is no such thing as a personal style in a designer’s work.

While a job is in hand, be it a lamp, a radio set, an electrical gadget or an experimental object, his sole concern is to arrive at the solution suggested by the thing itself and its destined use.

Therefore different things will have different forms, and these will be determined by their different uses and the different material and techniques employed.

—Bruno Munari