I shot this other day in San Francisco riding my bike from my house to Ocean Beach through Golden Gate Park with my Canon 5D Mark II mounted in my front basket. Music by Patrick Brooks.



www.mikematas.com

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Below you will find the full list of the best 100 fonts along with the designer & the year in which they were designed.

1. Helvetica [1957 - Max Miedinger]

2. Garamond [1530 - Claude Garamond]

3. Frutiger [1977 - Adrian Frutiger]

4. Bodoni [1790 - Giambattista Bodoni]

5. Futura [1927 - Paul Renner]

6. Times [1931 - Stanley Morison]

7. Akzidenz Grotesk [1966 - G nter Gerhard Lange]

8. Officina [1990 - Erik Spiekermann]

9. Gill Sans [1930 - Eric Gill]

10. Univers [1954 - Adrian Frutiger]

11. Optima [1954 - Hermann Zapf]

12. Franklin Gothic [1903 - Morris Fuller Benton]

13. Bembo [1496 - Francesco Griffo]

14. Interstate [1993 - Tobias Frere-Jones]

15. Thesis [1994 - Lucas de Groot]

16. Rockwell [1934 - Frank H. Pierpont]

17. Walbaum [1800 - Justus Walbaum]

18. Meta [1991 - Erik Spiekermann]

19. Trinit [1982 - Bram De Does]

20. Din [1926 - Ludwig Goller]

21. Matrix [1986 - Zuzana Licko]

22. OCR [1965 - American Type Founders]

23. Avant Garde [1968 - Herb Lubalin]

24. Lucida [1985 - Chris Holmes / Charles Bigelow]

25. Sabon [1964 - Jan Tschichold]

26. Zapfino [1998 - Hermann Zapf]

27. Letter Gothic [1956 - Roger Roberson]

28. Stone [1987 - Summer Stone]

29. Arnhem [1998 - Fred Smeijers]

30. Minion [1990 - Robert Slimbach]

31. Myriad [1992 - Twombly & Slimbach]

32. Rotis [1988 - Olt Aicher]

33. Eurostile [1962 - Aldo Novarese]

34. Scala [1991 - Martin Majoor]

35. Syntax [1968 - Hans Eduard Meier]

36. Joanna [1930 - Eric Gill]

37. Fleishmann [1997 - Erhard Kaiser]

38. Palatino [1950 - Hermann Zapf]

39. Baskerville [1754 - John Baskerville]

40. Fedra [2002 - Peter Bil'ak]

41. Gotham [2000 - Tobias Frere-Jones]

42. Lexicon [1992 - Bram De Does]

43. Hands [1991 - Letterror]

44. Metro [1929 - W. A. Dwiggins]

45. Didot [1799 - Firmin Didot]

46. Formata [1984 - Bernd M llenst dt]

47. Caslon [1725 - William Caslon]

48. Cooper Black [1920 - Oswald B. Cooper]

49. Peignot [1937 - A. M. Cassandre]

50. Bell Gothic [1938 - Chauncey H. Griffith]

51. Antique Olive [1962 - Roger Excoffon]

52. Wilhelm Klngspor Gotisch [1926 - Rudolf Koch]

53. Info [1996 - Erik Spiekermann]

54. Dax [1995 - Hans Reichel]

55. Proforma [1988 - Petr van Blokland]

56. Today Sans [1988 - Volker K ster]

57. Prokyon [2002 - Erhard Kaiser]

58. Trade Gothic [1948 - Jackson Burke]

59. Swift [1987 - Gerald Unger]

60. Copperplate Gothic [1901 - Frederic W. Goudy]

61. Blur [1992 - Neville Brody]

62. Base [1995 - Zuzana Licko]

63. Bell Centennial [1978 - Matthew Carter]

64. News Gothic [1908 - Morris Fuller Benton]

65. Avenir [1988 - Adrian Frutiger]

66. Bernhard Modern [1937 - Lucian Bernhard]

67. Amplitude [2003 - Christian Schwartz]

68. Trixie [1991 - Erik van Blokland]

69. Quadraat [1992 - Fred Smeijers]

70. Neutraface [2002 - Christian Schwartz]

71. Nobel [1929 - Sjoerd de Roos]

72. Industria [1990 - Neville Brody]

73. Bickham Script [1997 - Richard Lipton]

74. Bank Gothic [1930 - Morris Fuller Benton]

75. Corporate ASE [1989 - Kurt Weidemann]

76. Fago [2000 - Ole Schafer]

77. Trajan [1989 - Carol Twombly]

78. Kabel [1927 - Rudolf Koch]

79. House Gothic 23 [1995 - Tal Leming]

80. Kosmik [1993 - Letterror]

81. Caecilia [1990 - Peter Matthias Noordzij]

82. Mrs Eaves [1996 - Zuzana Licko]

83. Corpid [1997 - Lucas de Groot]

84. Miller [1997 - Matthew Carter]

85. Souvenir [1914 - Morris Fuller Benton]

86. Instant Types [1992 - Just van Rossum]

87. Clarendon [1845 - Benjamin Fox]

88. Triplex [1989 - Zuzana Licko]

89. Benguiat [1989 - Ed Benguiat]

90. Zapf Renaissance [1984 - Hermann Zapf]

91. Filosofia [1996 - Zuzana Licko]

92. Chalet [1996 - House Industries]

93. Quay Sans [1990 - David Quay]

94. C zanne [1995 - Michael Want, James Grieshaber]

95. Reporter [1938 - Carlos Winkow]

96. Legacy [1992 - Ronald Arnholm]

97. Agenda [1993 - Greg Thompson]

98. Bello [2004 - Underware]

99. Dalliance [2000 - Frank Heine]

100. Mistral [1953 - Roger Excoffon]

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Pop+Shorty's CSS to HTML tee's and buttons have been an enormous hit, so they put it on greeting cards now this past Valentine's day. I thought they are the perfect Type-jockey's sweet valentine...lol

http://popandshorty.blogspot.com/2010/02/geek-love-continues-new-pop-shorty.html

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As a Self Promotional series, Art director puts out this TV Poster Series, and I'm totally smitten... You probably are too. His concept is just Gangsta!

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

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 Here's to one of my favorite author's. You will be missed.

    ≈Catch ya on the otha side JD....

Salinger, who then turned his back on success and praise, became like the Gretta Garbo of letters, famous for not wanting to be famous, died on Wednesday at his home in N.H., where he had lived in seclusion for more than 50 years. He was 91. 

•“You take somebody that cries their goddam eyes out over phoney stuff in the movies, and nine times out of ten they're mean bastards at heart.”

•“There is a marvelous peace in not publishing. It’s peaceful. Still. Publishing is a terrible invasion of my privacy. I love to write. But I write just for myself and my own pleasure.”

•“It was a very stupid thing to do, I'll admit, but I hardly didn't even know I was doing it.”

•“That's the whole trouble. You can't ever find a place that's nice and peaceful, because there isn't any. You may think there is, but once you get there, when you're not looking, somebody'll sneak up and write "Fuck you" right under your nose.”

•“Its really hard to be roommates with people if your suitcases are much better than theirs.”

•“How do you know your going to really do something, until you do it?”

•“I hope to hell that when I do die somebody has the sense to just dump me in the river or something. Anything except sticking me in a goddam cemetary. People coming and putting a bunch of flowers on your stomach on Sunday, and all that crap. Who wants flowers when you're dead? Nobody.”

•“The worst thing that being an artist could do to you would be that it would make you slightly unhappy constantly.”

•“An artist's only concern is to shoot for some kind of perfection, and on his own terms, not anyone else's".

•“I suspect that money is a far greater distraction for the artist than hunger.”

•“I am a kind of paranoiac in reverse. I suspect people of plotting to make me happy.”

•“I'm sick of just liking people. I wish to God I could meet somebody I could respect.”

•“I'm the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life.”

•“All morons hate it when you call them a moron.”

•“If a girl looks swell when she meets you, who gives a damn if she's late? Nobody.”

•“Game, my ass. Some game. If you get on the side where all the hot-shots are, then it's a game, all right - I'll admit that. But if you get on the other side, where there aren't any hot-shots, then what's a game about it? Nothing. No game."

•“I'm just going through a phase right now. Everybody goes through phases and all, don't they?”

•“Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around - nobody big, I mean - except me.

And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff -

I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I'd do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all.”



•“Among other things, you'll find that you're not the first person who was ever confused and frightened and even sickened by human behavior. You're by no means alone on that score, you'll be excited and stimulated to know. Many, many men have been just as troubled morally and spiritually as you are right now. Happily, some of them kept records of their troubles. You'll learn from them—if you want to. Just as some day, if you have something to offer, someone will learn something from you. It's a beautiful reciprocal arrangement. And it isn't education. It's history. It's poetry.”

 “I don't exactly know what I mean by that, but I mean it.”

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Shepard Fairey’s Jasper Johns Prints

2 get one go 2:

http://obeygiant.com/store/home.php?cat=1

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Are You a Designer?

Interviews by Design is a collection of interviews conducted with designers from around the world. Each designer is asked the same 5 questions. They are posted on there website.

The Questions:

The 5 questions asked by means of the submission form are as follows:

1. Besides the usual online blogs and galleries, from what or where do you draw  inspiration?

2. Design-related or not, can you list up to 3 books that you've found beneficial to your growth as a designer?

3. If you could name one tool/application/software/hardware that you can't live without (from a design perspective), what would it be, and why?

4. What would be your design "dream job"?

5. What changes would you like to see in the design community in the next 5 years?

Interviews accepted to be published will be those submitted by quality designers. By submitting answers to the 5 questions, you agree to allow Interviews by Design to publish your answers on this website for public viewing, and you acknowledge that your words, as published by Interviews by Design, may be quoted or referred to in other external resources. The site guidelines also require that you use your real name and tell us your location. We won't be publishing anonymous interviews.

If you're any kind of designer...Submit your interview

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One of my favorites....

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An homage 2 the Neutra typeface inspired by the song Poker Face by LadyGaGa.

So I LOVE this typeface, and with a sarcastic sense of humor, who doesn't like parody's? I don't necessarily love Lady Gaga, but that's why this is so great!  The lyrics and link to download are included. Epic!

'NEUTRA' is actually pronounced 'NOY-trah', but that escaped our knowledge in the fits of fun we were having doing this project. Word.
download song here:
http://jarkandmason.blogspot.com/2009...
lyrics (vocals may differ slightly): 

I lay it out like they do in magazines
check out this typeface it's like smoking nicotine (I love it)
using Adobe's not the same without a Mac
if it was lead it would be lined up on a track

oh,oh,oh,oh, ohhhh, ohh-oh-e-ohh-oh-oh
I'll mock it up, show you what I got
oh,oh,oh,oh, ohhhh, ohh-oh-e-ohh-oh-oh
I'll mock it up, show you what I got

You'll read my, You'll read my,
You can read my Neutra Face
(Even if it's bold italic)
You'll read my, You'll read my,
You can read my Neutra Face
(Even if it's bold italic)

N-n-n-neutra face, n-n-n-neutra face
nah nah nah nah
N-n-n-neutra face, n-n-n-neutra face
nah nah nah nah

Thought about Futura but the em space was to wide
not even when condensed, believe me I've already tried
Gill sans the G is wack when it's in lowercase
Avante Garde you make me hard but like Helvetica you've been played

oh,oh,oh,oh, ohhhh, ohh-oh-e-ohh-oh-oh
I'll mock it up, show you what I got
oh,oh,oh,oh, ohhhh, ohh-oh-e-ohh-oh-oh
I'll mock it up, show you what I got

You'll read my, You'll read my,
You can read my Neutra Face
(Even if it's bold italic)
You'll read my, You'll read my,
You can read my Neutra Face
(Even if it's bold italic)

N-n-n-neutra face, n-n-n-neutra face
nah nah nah nah
N-n-n-neutra face, n-n-n-neutra face
nah nah nah nah

I won't tell you that you're modern
post- or nouveau
cause I'm hype'n with my type'n
I'm not freehandin', letterpressin', texting or skywriting
like a finger on a keyboard
break a nail before I cross you
see my references, reference this
check this font cause it's sans serif

You'll read my, You'll read my,
You can read my Neutra Face
(Even if it's bold italic)
You'll read my, You'll read my,
You can read my Neutra Face
(Even if it's bold italic) 

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Of course with Last week's launch of the IPad....this might all seem silly. I personally have the Wacom BAMBOO tablet. Which I must admit, I have not been on enough. But need to now that all of this has surpassed me specially when illustration is my bag baby. Regardless, the rest of the world is on to other things.....

 I saw this in the recent December issue of "How" magazine. Please excuse my laziness, but I just quickly scanned it and am just putting it up here. Thought it's neat, wonder how good it is? It's no Ipad, but it does seem different=interesting.

 

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 How to design headlines... or Fred Showker's tried and proven tips for designing good visual headlines... 

(originally posted on the DTG site)

Graphic designs with dynamic images and effective typography, married harmoniously with compelling, well written body text can be the advertising or editorial department's dream come true. The three go together to help each other grab the reader's attention, pull them into the message, and then compel them to act. If any one of these three ingredients is somehow lacking, you're still running a pretty good chance your client will enjoy some measurable degree of success. So, most designers feel pretty comfortable with themselves, relying on chance to make them a success. The difference between the amateurs and the real pros however, is making all three elements so good that any one could stand on its own.

I'm not going to spoon-feed you to the realities of designing good visual communications. I know that at least some of you can already design good visuals, and that many others are doing perfectly okay designing mediocre visuals. But if mediocre or good is really not good enough for you, keep reading.

When there is type present in the "window of approach¹" of any graphic design, then the display type becomes the most important part of the communication. There are studies galore, but most authorities will agree that as many as 75% to 80% of all who read your visual will read only the headline. That's rather disturbing news to most designers. You work your butt off to get a good photo or illustration but a poorly crafted headline kills it. Leaf through any popular magazine and 25% of the ads will have poor headlines, and you'll skip them. Newspapers are worse yet -- in fact, they're professionals at mediocre headlines. No matter what the vehicle is, be it brochure, billboard, poster, magazine ad, book cover or what ever, the display type, title or headline is of paramount importance.

Focusing audience attention

Three things come into play in crafting effective display type: 

1. What it says: This is what the actual words are, how they speak the message, and how rapidly they are read and easily interpreted into understanding by the reader. This includes selection of words, punctuation (or implied punctuation) line breaks and voice. Another 33% bonus or penalty.

2. Relative Position: This is where it appears in the window of approach, and how it affects the other elements. This also relates to where it begins, and where it ends, as well as its posture. You can have a simply dynamite headline, with absolutely killer type, but if you put it in the wrong place -- another 33% penalty.

3. Relative Size: This is how big the type is in relation to the other elements on the page. Don't believe for a moment that mere size makes a difference -- it doesn't. It has to do with how big the type is and how the sizing affects the window of approach. You can have a simply dynamite headline, with absolutely killer type, but if it is too big or too small, deduct 30% of its effectiveness.

I could fill a page on each of the above, telling you what to do and what not to do. You would retain it for about ten minutes. To see these three elements working harmoniously together, lets take a look at some display type in advertisements that have proven highly effective. And, perhaps some that have not.

Thinking Small

It is a matter of fact that visual images -- graphics -- communicate ideas and concepts far more quickly and far more effectively than words. However it is their relationship to the message that drives home the point and makes memorable, communications. Remember the famous Volkswagen ad "Think Small". It took a very small image of the VW Beetle, and floated it in a sea of white space in magazine ads. The wizard of Madison Avenue, Bill Bernbach² and his highly skilled team of designers broke new ground in the ad business and set benchmarks that graphic designers live by to this very day -- whether they know it or not. This ad was brilliant because it didn't have to shout. The undeniable point was made instantly through the crafty use of the headline, its position, and its relationship to the other three elements of the ad.

The huge expanse of white space effectively forced the readers to immediately be drawn to the headline like a moth to a flame. It was Mark Twain who once said: "If you want people to listen, speak softly." So it's true in this ad. Setting the image apart from anything else drew monumental attention to the photo of the VW, and the sea of white made the headline as important as if it were 72 point. By centering it, Bill knew his readers would associate the idea of thinking small with the VW logo -- even for those who don't read the body copy. (Remember that 70%!)

Now draw a line and connect the three visual elements in the ad... the car, the headline and the logo -- and you'll understand why he put the logo LEFT in the column of text rather than right. Where will your eye go immediately upon hitting the period in the headline? He inherently knew that "skimmers", or those who don't read body copy would jump --- bam, bam, bam -- through the ad, arriving at the logo. He also knew through studies that this would happen in the first moment or two upon arrival at the window of approach.

Within months of that famous ad campaign hundreds of thousands of VW Beetles began appearing on streets all over the world. Soon after it became one of the most popular automobiles of all times.

In her important book "Information Graphics and Visual Clues," Ronnie Lipton quotes the slogan of Tim Kenney Marketing Partners* in metro Washington DC:

"Be seen, be heard, be noticed, be remembered," calling it
"...the goal of every graphic designer approaching every project:
      not just to send a message, but to have it received, absorbed, recalled."

The "Think Small" ad raised the bar in the advertising business at that time. All the other design firms and ad agencies began to zero-in on giving the relationships between layout elements real purpose. If they put it there -- it had to be for a darn good reason, beyond looking good or the designer's self-indulgence.

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