Nick Feltron, graphic designer

Nick Feltron is a graphic designer in NYC specializing in information graphics. I talked about one of his charts from the NY Times previously (I didn't know at the time he was the designer.) Nick also publishes annual reports documenting his life. He has three reports currently on his site--2005, 2006, 2007--each one using simple typography and images to visually tell the the story of Nick's year.  

You can also view Nick's work at Megaphone.

Baseline Magazine

Art directed by HDR and produced by Bradbourne Publishing in England, Baseline is a gorgeous typographic magazine. Back issues can be ordered through their website, or online at amazon.com. Issues are pretty expensive, but well worth it if you find one at Borders or Barnes and Nobel. Please check the links for more samples of this great publication. 

Kinematic typography

Kinematic typography is the art of animating text with sound. 

Examples are movie opening title sequences. Such as this classic by Saul Bass. Kyle Cooper is another practitioner of kinematic typography. A lead designer at Imaginary Forces, Kyle has designed the awesome opening movie titles for Seven,  Spider-Man, and the video game Metal Gear Solid 3.

*following contains salty language*

The above kinematic typography of a scene from Pulp Fiction was created by Jarratt Moody.

This example was created for a "Full Metal Jacket" commercial for American Movie Classics.

More examples can be found here.

Design is in the Details

From A List Apart:

CHOICES
There are many choices to be made when you’re designing—everything from type, to colors, to overall tone of the site. Sometimes, I like to throw a lot of things at a design to see what sticks, and sometimes I start minimally. Strive to make smart, simple choices. If there’s an easier way to design something, do it. The complicated choice will feel complicated to the client and intended audience unless you can make a complex interaction looks simple.

COMPLEXITY IN SIMPLICITY: LESS IS MORE
When we discuss “less is more”, we mean different things. For example, sometimes the design needs to scale back. It’s got too many elements. Or a design chokes itself with too many colors. When doing detail work, “less is more” is about leaving in only everything that is necessary and making it harmonious. Let the complexity be in the simplicity—a design is not useful when it’s perceived to be complex. A design should be useful, simple, and straightforward—let the complexity shine through via simplicity.

I read this article recently, and it corresponds well with our class critiques. I am guilty at times of not polishing my designs and then presenting it in class. However, I always know I can revise it. In the 'real' world the luxury of revisions are scarce. 

caution. non-design related post

Looks like the University of Michigan will continue to lose to Ohio State. Blah...

Today, Terrelle Pryor signed his letter of intent to play college football with Ohio State over Michigan. This year--his senior year--Terrelle lead his high school football and basketball teams to state titles in Pennsylvania. Doesn't look good for the Wolverines, who are very susceptible to athletic quarterbacks. 

Movie Trailers

The discussion in class about crafting a story with a timeline got me thinking about movie trailers. Movie trailers attempt to give the audience a brief glimpse (usually 1-3 minutes) of a two-hour movie, hoping to get attention and persuade people to go view. Some of the best trailers are better than the movies themselves because they condense the material down the essential story. One of the best sites to view trailers can be found at apple.com. 

However, the best movie trailers on the internet can be found at the trailer mash. Using footage from existing trailers (and augmenting it with other clips), adding a new soundtrack, and sometimes adding additional words, some very creative people re-imagine classic movies into something else. The above clip takes "The Ten Commandments" and reworks it into a high-school comedy. Another classic is "The Shining" turned into a romantic comedy.

Mac Premo

Mac Premo is a collagist, animator, director, illustrator, painter, carpenter, and stuff maker. Check out the video 'two parts' if you visit his site. (I can't link directly because his site is in Flash.)

The images are from a collage book experiment with artists from Belfast, N. Ireland. Each artist designed a spread and sent the book to the next artist. This created a dialogue through the mail using art. 

Ed Wargin, photographer

Ed Wargin©2008

Ed Wargin©2008

Ed Wargin ©2008

A Minnesotan native (who happily lives in Michigan), Ed Wargin captures the rugged beauty of Michigan. I had the opportunity to work on Voelker's Pond, a picture book about John Voelker (Robert Traver) the author of Anatomy of a Murder. Ed Wargin took images of Voelker's secluded cabin, deep within the Michigan wilderness and juxtaposed them with James McCullough's writings. 

Legends of Light, another book by Wargin, depicts the stunning majesty of Michigan's many lighthouses. 

images courtesy of Ed Wargin | www.edwargin.com

:: Words ::

a few of my favorite words:

kern

raster

ensconced

sinuous

ochre

chartreuse

pallid

tin

auger

colour

svelte

astute

smoosh

persimmon

codec

meiosis

flagrant

embiggen

chagrin

scapula

tibia

pensive

tween

Winnebago

perturb

meh

mercurial

incandescent

protonate

cytoplasm

ghoul

meme

balk

moofing

idiom

wry

flustration

:: Category :: What We Eat

From the current issue of Good magazine. Each page has a general category with a specific image in the background, statistics about the category are in the margins, along with a caption of the specific food.

HDR images

High Dynamic range images created by splicing three different digital image exposures together to produce one single, vividly detailed image. Effects are especially evident in night/dusk shots, and images used purely on computer screens. I have yet to try this technique (I was actually surprised at how long it has been around—1990s, but with the advance of personal, high-res cameras the technique can now be achieved by amateurs.) 

I am curious if it is a printable technique. But I may try it out on my next magazine project at work.

A flickr gallery of more HDR images.

New York Times infographics

By far, the New York Times produces some of the most useful information graphics online, or in print. This interactive graph demonstrates the ebb and flow of movie releases over the past few years. You instantly notice when movies peak, where the blockbusters fall in the year, and how long most movies stay in the multiplex. 

Another graph, shown above, charts the fall of a few civilizations and the causes that preceded their demise. An interesting correlation can be inferred with the US.

These graphs visualize how households spend their income. Accompanying graphs can be found here. 

Finally, there is this chart. It puts into perspective the riches men in US history, that all but 2 lived in the 1800s, and they are all white men.