“Graphic design evolved during the late nineteenth century from a sideline of the printing industry into an autonomous field with its own lore, icons and personalities. The missing link in this evolutionary process is trade magazines. Initially they established professional standards for printing, typesetting and bookbinding, yet viewed ornamental design as ephemeral. However, by the turn of the century, when businesses demanded printers provide more sophisticated layout and typography, trade magazine editors were forced to analyze and critique new advances. These magazines did not just reflexively report the current trends instead some aggressively codified key methods and mannerisms that in turn defined a profession.”
Chris Pullman: What I’ve Learned
“Chris Pullman is the only person who can be said to have won not one but two of the highest possible honors from AIGA. The first was the Corporate Leadership Award, which the company he shaped, Boston public broadcasting network WGBH, won in 1985. The second was the AIGA Medal, which Pullman himself won in 2002.
Chris Pullman was a young teacher at the Yale School of Art when he was recruited by Ivan Chermayeff, who had just redesigned WGBH’s logo, to take charge of the station’s in-house design department. He joined the company as Vice President for Design in 1973. This past spring, after 35 years, he announced that he was stepping down. At an emotional going-away party on October 28, he talked about his three-and-a-half decades at the station. He has kindly given us permission to publish his remarks here.”
The chance invitation to work here at WGBH placed me in an environment that was a perfect fit for my temperament, and for my aspirations as a professional and as just a plain person.
Once I came here, I recognized, gradually, why it felt so right as a place to work and associate. I’d like to take this opportunity to share ten lessons I learned in the past 35 years.
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The Grid System
“Made popular by the International Typographic Style movement and pioneered by legends like Josef Müller-Brockmann and Wim Crouwel, the grid is the foundation of any solid design. The Grid System is an ever-growing resource where graphic designers can learn about grid systems, the golden ratio and baseline grids.”
The Designer’s Review of Books
“Although there are several good design websites that occasionally have book reviews, there didn’t seem to be a single place online where you could get constant updates and reviews of new (and sometimes old) design books.
Design books are often expensive and contrary – sometimes the book is worth having for the physical production values alone, sometimes for the images, sometimes for the words and, occasionally, for all three. We wanted to cover those elements in our reviews so that you know whether it’s worth owning.”
Also published in Books, Interaction design, Interface design, Product design, Web design & dev Comments Off
The (Mostly) True Story of Helvetica and the New York City Subway
“There is a commonly held belief that Helvetica is the signage typeface of the New York City subway system, a belief reinforced by Helvetica, Gary Hustwit’s popular 2007 documentary about the typeface. But it is not true—or rather, it is only somewhat true. Helvetica is the official typeface of the MTA today, but it was not the typeface specified by Unimark International when it created a new signage system at the end of the 1960s.”
Gerd Arntz Web Archive: Isotype
“The International System Of TYpographic Picture Education was developed by the Viennese social scientist and philosopher Otto Neurath (1882-1945) as a method for visual statistics. Gerd Arntz was the designer tasked with making Isotype’s pictograms and visual signs. Eventually, Arntz designed around 4000 such signs, which symbolized keydata from industry, demographics, politics and economy.”
The Best Type Book with No Typesetting
“The 1927 edition of Studio Handbook by Samuel Welo is 233 pages of beautiful type and timeless design advice. Only this book comes with a twist – every page was hand-lettered by Welo.”
The eyeballing game
“Some people are bothered by pictures on the wall hanging slightly crooked. Others may not even be aware that something may be amiss. If you are somebody who is into woodworking or construction, its good to be one of the people who notice when things are crooked. But I suspect the ability to notice that things might be just a little off square, off centre, or not quite straight, varies greatly. I thought it would be fun for people to try to test their abilities to see if things are straight or crooked in a little game.” (Thanks kottke.org!)
[command save]
“Happy back to school and welcome to Command Save! We have uploaded a ton of PSU professor profiles to read as well as grad interviews! This space will be used to post relevant links for PSU graphic design classes as well as feature AIGA student group information, student work, design events, Portland happenings and general PSU design program excitement. If you are a grad and have a website, let us know! If you are a PSU student and have a website, let us know! If you have links that you are dying to share, let us know!”
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Mister Retro: Permanent Press Image Filter
“Vintage offset printing and ink effects for any design, photograph, type treatment or image in Photoshop.
Realizing that printing technology has left printed work without the texture, soul, or the spirit of vintage printing, Mister Retro created Permanent Press!
Take any design, photograph, type treatment, or image and transport to another time and aesthetic with our powerful and easy-to-use plug-in GUI interface. We spent thousands of hours developing this one of a kind plug-in sure to bring your work to the next level.”
Also published in Art & architecture, Comics, Sketching & illustration, Software & technology Comments Off
