the devil uses Archer
I thought The Devil Wears Prada had a wonderful insight into the culture of design and the mindset of designers. You may be able tell at a glance that I am somewhat a stranger to fashion, but there was much of this movie I could relate to – none more so than the scene above. ...
February contest results
Congratulations to Alec Strand for winning Shew Design’s February contest! It was tough competition, but he was the only one to correctly identify Bethlehem Steel as the answer to Q5 and that put him in the top position! Close behind were Shelley Calissendorff and Christina Wright and Tina S. Maxell Volkswagen. Original text: “Think small.” ...
January contest winner!
Thanks to everyone who gave our January contest a try. We had a total of three people who completed 100% of the answers correctly, including Troy Date, Andrew Pritikin, and Craig Margaret. Additionally, there were a few ‘close calls’ including Lauralee Carbone and Katie Fleming. Randomly selected among those that got 100% right was Craig ...
an open love letter to Garamond
Garamond is one of a handful of typefaces that designers of all eras return to again and again. Apple used the condensed form in the late eighties, and it became the quintessential typographic solution for business communications in the early nineties. People who make lists of the most readable fonts tend to pick Garamond first. ...
Like movie posters? Use your knowledge to win beer (or books) and letterpressed coasters from Shew Design.
It’s simple! Visit this link and complete the questions. The questions use the theme of typography dovetailing with writing to create tone and feeling. We’ve taken quotes from popular movies and typeset them in the manner of the posters. The goal is to correctly guess which movie poster the typeface was used in. The reward? ...
variations on a theme
The combination of new location, a daily bike commute, and quick daily walks have made Becca and I much more sensitive to the changing seasons this year. Readers of previous posts will remember that leaves are of particular interest to us this fall. We were especially struck with the incredible richness and range of colors, ...
type as metaphor
Thinking creatively means making contextual decisions that are not always informed by an absolute set of opinions or values. For example: some people hate hyphens and never use them, but “real designers” know that sometimes hyphens have to be used… usually to avoid something even worse. I say that because recently we’ve been involved in ...
A puzzling invitation
When we heard the theme for this year’s Mt. Baker Planned Parenthood fundraiser event was “Tango and Tapas” we knew we wanted to letterpress the invitations, so we went about finding a combination of Argentinian type to use with a dramatic tango dance image. We chose a color combination of a vibrant orange and a ...
positive reflections of an ugly subject
Developing an identity for the Bellingham/Whatcom County Commission Against Domestic Violence raised some challenging questions about design and marketing that we hadn’t encountered before. The Commission works with a variety of community partners to detect, prevent, and help people recover from domestic violence issues. Their identity needed to reflect the organization’s role of understanding domestic ...
building credibility
Thinking about structure in your marketing materials is about how you decide to use visual relationships to reinforce your message. It means thinking beyond what is being said, and exploring the how. As always, the process begins with focusing on your message, ideally your one message. Deciding on a core message is often the biggest ...
type management strategies
Type is present in essentially all marketing communications. Other than color, perhaps no other visual element plays a more crucial role in building a consistent presence across multiple forms of media. Yet, type is something few businesses use effectively, with even large established companies continuously making arbitrary choices with type. Those choices undermine their long term ...
does it swim in the water or live on the land? A simple way to think about type.
I think no other aspect of a designer’s work is more telling than their use of type. It shows their understanding of culture, the subject matter, and the audience in very subtle but important ways. For the rest of us, type doesn’t have to be complicated. A few simple “common sense” rules can help you ...
