Bumper to Bumped
So I was a little zealous with sourcing stories for my second issue of Outline magazine before I went overseas at the end of May. By the time I returned and started editing and layout in early July, I realised I was heading towards a bumper issue. That was when I decided to bump some of the stories to the spring edition. I cut it back down to size from about 60 pages to 38, which is what the first issue numbered, and it was published this week. I’ve had some lovely feedback already, which is very encouraging.
The bonus is that now I have much, much less work to do for spring, particularly since I have less time to put it together. Hooray!
[Scroll down for some sample pages.]
Lead page for the feature story on collage artists
Illustrators talk about their collage work
Profile on Carolyn Ridsdale, a Netherlands-based Aussie
Illustrator and business-owner Edwina Buckley contributes an editorial on copyright
A lecturer at NMIT, Con Emmanuelle writes about the glory days before computers
One of those jigsaw-puzzle spreads illustrating my credo ‘make it fit!’
The fun back page: a nostalgic look back at Australian artist Douglas Annand
Daily Doings
Today is the day! Off I go, hooray! Off to Spain, Portugal and Morocco. My accountant suggested I keep a travel diary of all my creative doings, and my receipts of course, so that I can make a tax claim next year.
So earlier this week I had a little shop in Handworks, and browsed through the myriad of diary options. I finally found this cute little travel diary by O-Check Design Graphics. I was very pleased to see it was also made from recycled paper and printed with soy inks. It’s full of a variety of papers, mostly off-white, but some coloured sheets, some with ruled lines, some with checks. Some of the pages are printed with quaint travel graphics, such as stamps, vintage postcards, stripey airmail envelopes.
One of the stamps is actually marked Lisbon, Portugal. As soon as I flipped to that page and saw that, I knew this diary was the one for me. It also has handy pockets interspersed throughout the book, so I can fill them with all the receipts and museum stubs I collect. I even bought a little roll of polka-dotted masking tape, so I can stick in all the ephemera of my trip.
This will be a scribble-type of journal; I also bought a cute little book with ruled red lines in which I can write up and sign my official record of daily activities. Adiós!
Although I will be overseas for a month, keep checking back at the Sketchbook, because the posts will keep on coming.
(Typo)graphic
Detail of Luke Lucas’ catalogue cover for Eckersley’s. Click for link to full image. While we’re on the subject of fonts… I loved this poster advertising the art and craft supplies store Eckersley’s ‘back to uni’ catalogue, by typographer Luke Lucas. I loved that the tactile text was created with modelling clay – it looks so squidgy. Again, a ‘typeface’ that is fun is used for a design that does not take itself too seriously.
Illustration by Erin Henry
Eckersley’s then went on to run a competition based on this concept: illustrated type. The winner (above) went for black and white drawings, but I’m rather partial to the poster that won fourth prize. I love the visual pun in the vein of Lucas’ original poster: a literal ‘design tool’ that creates the type.
Too Many Fonts?
Just for fun: a bit of Romantically Yours, Ringlet, Brandy Script and De LouisvilleSome people are quite fascist about font usage. They will tell you not to use more than two typefaces per project. They will tell you to do so is bad design practice. If you are lucky they will allow you to use varying weights. Or if you are VERY, very lucky, you will be permitted to use an extra font for the headings. Otherwise it can be too confusing for the poor little readers because they won’t be able to navigate the page and their poor little heads will get all bamboozled by font overload. Booooo to pedestrian communication! Down with Font Fascists I say!*
Because sometimes bad design can be good. It can be fun. It can be tongue-in-cheeky; it can be clever. It can express good old-fashioned joie de vivre. Just scroll down for the evidence.
Down with Font Fascists I say!
Abstract typographic design made with Letraset, by Lander Janssens
Typographic design, by Gemma Correll
Typographic map, by Craig Ward
*DISCLAIMER
Of course, this technique of employing several fonts in one design still requires discretion and a good eye: employing few words, and a minimal design that is easy to read. Typography styled in different fonts can also be used to great effect to create a pictorial design that is not necessarily read in its entirety; or to mimic the look of historical art and design movements, such as Dada.
Read this great article about Massimo Vignelli’s provocative declaration that designers use too many typefaces, and there are only 12 good ones that should suffice for all the work we do.
Out of the Box
Way back in January I applied for a part time job at the Melbourne Theatre Company. I had already been freelancing there for some time as a graphic designer, with plenty of Photoshop retouching thrown in.
As part of the job application, I had to design a poster for ‘The Cybec Readings’ – plays read by the actors sitting on stage. I had some advantage over the other applicants, as I was quite familiar with the established style of all the MTC’s marketing and promotional material. Of course, I didn’t want to be too rigid, but I knew the poster design needed to fit in with their existing look.
The poster would be hung in universities and cafes, etc, so it had to be eye-catching, and I wanted it to be a little bit fun. I incorporated the existing graphics (the white keyline boxes) of the Lawler Studio. It was these boxes that got me thinking. There was quite a lot of text to fit on the A3 sized poster, and I decided to ‘shake the words out of the box’ and have them tipping down the page.
Now that I’m looking at it months later, I’m still thinking, “Hmm, could do with some refining.” But you can’t piddle around forever, and at least I got the job!