Letters & Black Pens...

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Anyone who knows me know that I obsess over black pens and that I love to draw letters.

Here is a link to 2 beautiful little videos ("Flow" and "Poem") from the home page of Japanese pen/pencil maker Mitsu-Bishi (Uni): Thank you Laurie for this link!

And I also want to recommend a good site for pens www.jetpens.com. I got some new pens to play with. I've got a couple alphabet fonts in my head trying to get out. Thought some new pens may help. I think the solution to everything is new office supplies.

Helveticia, Arial and Walgreens

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Here is a link to a cute video on Helvetica vs. Arial. I love Helvetica and think Arial is a bad knock-off. But it is on all PCs so it is popular. And I was just thinking about how much I like Walgreens. I know I am hearing gasps from all you who know me and also hate big box stores. And I also support the neighborhood grocery store, and try to vote with my dollar as much as possible. But this morning I went to the post office and bank and then stopped in Walgreens to see if they had hamburger buns. And they did. One Sunday morning when I went there to get the paper I got eggs. And last week I actually got a nozzle for our hose. There is always just one kind of eggs, buns or nozzle but that has kept me from having to get in my car and drives miles to buy that one thing.

Last Summer I managed to buy almost all our food at the farmer's market on the square and fill in with soap, paper products etc from Walgreens. Buying from a place I can walk to for a year has reduced my carbon footprint.

Poor Comic Sans

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Typeface Inspired by Comic Books Has Become a Font of Ill Will Read the recent Wall Street Journal article.

Yes, poor Comic Sans. This was a great article on how Comic Sans came to be. And has taken on a life of it's own. I am sincerely thankful that non of my fonts have gotten this notoriety or are as reviled.

Lots of people hate Helvetica too but that is a different kind of hate. I think Helvetica is well designed but over used. But good design is good design. If you like documentaries watch Helveticia.

Calling Cards...

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I was going through some things at home and ran across these. I saw them once many years ago. These are calling cards that were printed when you graduated. These are my Mom's although I remember having some and they inserted into your graduation announcements. I have no idea if they still do this and of course any of mine are long gone. Above is my Mom's card and the metal plate that they must have been printed from and a piece of paper it was wrapped in. We did not trade them but they obviously did. Here are a sample of some of her classmates. I probably have 50-60 different ones with different type styles and embossing. Very interesting. I will have to figure out something to do with them.

I love old paper things especially with good type. Maybe something here will inspire a new font.

ABC3D

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"Easily the most innovative alphabet book of the year, if not the decade... Beyond clever."—The Washington Post Prepare to be amazed. From the lenticular cover that changes with the angle of your hands all the way to the Z, ABC3D is as much a work of art as it is a pop-up book. Each of the 26 three-dimensional letters move and change before your eyes. C turns into D with a snap. M stands at attention. X becomes Y with a flick of the wrist. And then there's U...Boldly conceived and brilliantly executed with a striking black, red, and white palette, this is a book that readers and art lovers of all ages will treasure for years to come.

About the Author MARION BATAILLE is a graphic and book designer who has never before been published in this country. She lives in Paris, France. -- Amazon

I love type. I love pop-up books. It just does not get any better than this pop-up type book. Everything about this book makes me very happy... except maybe the Z. I would have done the Z differently but...

And I had seen this book advertised but with my self imposed non-book buying rule until we move I had passed. So I was truly delighted to get this as a gift. Thanks Nancy!

Done... Over... Whew...

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We have now been guest speakers at the Madison Area Technical College 3 times. We did the first class because John met a woman on his second shoot that taught the Design Fundamentals class at night. She was part of the agency that picked John for the shoot. John mentioned what I did and she asked if I would be a guest speaker for her class. I told John that if I was going to do this he had to too.

So John introduced us, I talked about the creative part, he talked about the technical part (which he is doing now) and I talked about marketing. And we tease each other a little to get a laugh. Then the first teacher passed our names on to other teachers and we did the lecture twice this week and now I am going to be done.

This has taken on a life of its own. But yesterday we spoke for 45 minutes and took 45 minutes of questions. We were surprised about the quantity and quality of the questions. And then the teacher suggested that we may want to give our lecture to the design community. I am sure I had a look of horror on my face. John nicely declined saying that this was my last lecture. While I can present and try to do a really good job I don't enjoy it. I don't like to be the center of attention, the one everyone is looking at... just not in me.