A nice tutorial on illustrative lettering by Von Glitschka of IllustrationClass.com
Design Posts
Hack 2 Work: smörgåsbord of tips for designers
A terrific resource for design professionals. Tips for both the technical side of the biz and the people side.
Links
Hack 2 Work | Core77.com
Redesigning NFL helmet decals
Of all the things that could have drawn me into football when I was a wee lad, it feels a bit odd to admit, the team logos on the helmets were the most magnetic.
There was something about the colors, the compactness of the images, and the way that they not only differentiated who was playing each other on the field, but also instantly communicated the identity of the team.
But I’ve never thought critically about the logo choices before, nor how they could be changed to be even more effective.
But Ken Carbone’s post over at Fast Company does just that. He selects the best designs, and the worst, and then he tries to improve the bottom three: The Patriots, The Buccaneers, and the Redskins.
2009 Good Design Awards
The 2009 Good Design awards have been presented. Have a look at them.
They’re great and all, but none of them are as interesting as the ones that Pink Tentacle’s camera wielder snapped. Like this one with the urinals.
Links
Adobe Kuler
I’m terrible with color. Terrible. So I intend to try to improve a little by coloring the cover images for the next season of Q-Burger. And one of the tools I’m going to use is Adobe’s free web-based Kuler (they pronounce it “cooler”).
Designers can browse thousands of color themes created by the Kuler community; including the ability to search for color themes by tags, themes, hex color, and more. So searching for spring will likely bring up a list of bright and cheery color combos appropriate for that flower landscaping brochure you’re working on.
But it doesn’t stop there. Users can also create new themes based on colors in an existing image you upload from your desktop. Once you’ve found a color scheme you like, you can rate it, add it to your favorites, export it as an Adobe Swatch Exchange file for use in any Adobe Creative Suite app, or add it directly to your CS4 app Swatches panel. You do so with a simple drop-down menu in the Kuler panel next to the swatch name.
I’ve already used it a bit on some web projects, but not extensively. I think it might be a pretty useful crutch for we color-confused folk.
