Beyond Typography

Top Ten Web Typography Sins

Smashing Magazine has published a list of the Top Ten Typography Sins. Really useful, and welcome aide to convince non-designers why things should be done in a particular way.

Have a good weekend.

The Empire Poster Quiz

Can you guess all the film from just one letter? The Empire Poster Quiz.

Via Swiss Miss.

A picture is worth a thousand words

WOW! Saw a link in the latest Creative Review for Wordle.

Wordle is a java applet created by Jonathan Feinberg, a senior software engineer at IBM Research. it creates “word clouds” from any text that is entered. The images created using Wordle are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license, so can be used commercially. You can print the images or save them onto the constantly updating gallery.

By the way, the image above made from last week’s posts.

If you were a typeface…

Jason Santa Maria, a Brooklyn, NY-based, graphic designer, says "I am Trade Gothic." If you were a typeface, what would you be? He has got some interesting comments as well...

Me? Well, I am Univers.

A solidly reliable but versatile type designed by Adrian Frutiger in 1957 and released by Deberny & Peignot. This straightforward and well-travelled type can always be relied upon when the more extravagant types have lost their charm. Reliable and hard-working, fits in well with others and is at home online or print.

Via DesignObserver

Font conference special

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Via Quipsologies

Say "what" again…

Just saw this...

  

... Excellent! Found it on markislav.com via Technorati

Doodlebuzz: a typographic news explorer

A news aggregator site with a difference. Doodle your way through the news with Doodlebuzz.

Thanks to Quipsologies.

Embedding fonts on the web

Typical. As soon as I go on about not being able to specify particular fonts on the web (see yesterday's post), I find a post to the contrary.

Changing roles

I've been thinking about those RBI magazines that share the same templates. A few people have commented to me about how "terrible" it is that this is happening. For who? The readers? I've been told it is very unlikely that the readers will view more than one of these magazines. As long as the design is imparting the information in an effective (and attractive) manner, does it matter that they look the same?

What about the editorial designers? I mentioned in the original post that it was not so different from web design. A lot of websites are very similar in look and feel. Ones of a similar function, anyway – news or shopping, for example. A lot of the design is dictated by browser-type and the type of machine and connection speed. It is still difficult to specify a font (unless it is a Flash-based site), you can say serif or san-serif, but little more.

It is up to editorial designers to gain new skills and influence the way things are going. Instead of watching the mundane work disappear, we should be demonstrating and emphasizing the value of good design.

It's no consolation, but similar arguments are happening about photography and journalism. The traditional role of the journalist is being challenged, as is the role of the sub-editor. While it appears that subs are doing a designers job on Computer Weekly, the opposite is happening elsewhere. 

In these ever-changing times, it is better to dance on a moving carpet than to stand still and have the rug pulled from under you.

Something else

On a different note, here's an interesting article about internet English and typography from Virginia Heffernan in the New York Times.

This cartoon wrote a sweary word on your toilet wall.

The Rut via Quipsologies