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Combining Fonts

alex — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 07:59:31 +0000

H&FJ just put out a really cool article on combining fonts. They break it up into four lessons and provide visual examples and typeface options. All the examples use their fonts, but the lessons carry over to usage with other typefaces easily.

I found the article to be especially inspiring, or at least liberating. I have a weird mental block when it comes to combining typefaces. I’ll often use two different ones, but never three without a huge mental commotion. I don’t know what it is, but I get really stressed out trying to finagle more than two typefaces into a design. Of course it depends what type of design it is. I guess I always felt like there was this mystical over-arching design rule that prevented exciting combinations of type (I know that sounds ridiculous). Anyway, something about their examples opened things up for me. It’s nice to hear it from the high authorities that this sort of thing can be this effective.

I’m also consistently amazed how good they are about talking about type; the adjectives they use are always way out of left field but completely spot on. Calling Gotham Rounded ‘cheeky’, for example, wouldn’t have come to me right away but makes complete sense once I hear it. If you recall their scene in Helvetica where they rattle off some rather satisfying descriptions of type — that was awesome.

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Post tags: gotham, h&fj, type

Plancast Process Updates

alex — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 08:15:20 +0000

The little penguin made his iPhone debut last week with the release of the Plancast iPhone app. Everyone is at SXSW right now spreading the word and drumming up support. I designed some emergency t-shirts and business cards for the excursion and I’m excited to hear how it all went. Should have some pictures of that material this week — I’ve yet to see them in person due to the time/production constraints. Plancast also had a big article in the New York Times a few days ago which was exciting to see. If you look closely, you can see a wee version of the logo in the screenshot. Too bad the penguin didn’t hit the front page!

When I wrote about this project last week, I forgot to mention how different the post-production time has been compared to my normal project routine. For just about every one of my process posts I’ve written here, the work has always been completed in school for an assignment. Once the project is complete, it’s over as far as just about everyone is concerned. It’s been exciting to see this one continue to evolve in the real world — like winding one of those wind-up toys and setting it on the table.

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Post tags: iphone, plancast, school

Plancast Penguin // Development Process

alex — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:35:25 +0000

I was hired about three months ago to design a logo and consult on the brand identity for Plancast, a local San Francisco start-up founded by Mark Hendrickson and Jay Marcyes. As you can probably guess from the name, Plancast a way to broadcast your upcoming plans to your friends; or as it’s often described, Foursquare for the future. The site is exceptionally easy and helpful, and I encourage you to check it out.

By the time I joined on Plancast was up and running, but they were without a logo or distinctive visuals. I began work in December and we agreed on the finished logo a few weeks ago. The project was easily the hardest I have ever completed — as well as the most fulfilling. I almost destroyed myself developing this logo and I am really excited to share the process with you here.

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Read the rest of Plancast Penguin // Development Process (1,972 words)

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Post tags: logo, penguin, plancast, Process

Canon 5D Mark II / First Impressions

alex — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:14:41 +0000

I did it. I am now a very proud owner of the Canon 5DMKII. It took months (years) of deliberation (pretty much since Scott wrote this article) and I finally pulled the trigger. I know the rumors are swirling about Mark IIIs and the etc, but once I heard about the upcoming 24fps firmware update I decided it was time. No more waiting. I’ve been shooting on a Nikon D40 since I started school and it was definitely time for an upgrade. (Though I still love the SB 600 flash — took the photo above)

As soon as I pulled it out of the box I was in awe. People say that Canons feel cheaper due to the construction materials, but I disagree. This thing feels like it could level a small village if thrown at the proper angle. Pair the body with the kit lens (24-105) and you have one serious piece of machinery. I purchased through Adorama because they seemed to have the best package deal. Just about everyone sells the body for $2499 at the moment; Adorama throws in a shoulder bag and a 16GB card. (Update: Or at least they used to…it must have been a temporary special price because now that package is listed higher. Keep an eye out in case it comes around again.)

My shots so far have been decent. Honestly I’ve only had it for a few days and have yet to really take it for a photography spin. I’ve mainly been experimenting with the HD video feature (a large part of why I bought the camera). After numerous videos of my shoes and other random subjects I decided to test it out in a music video scenario. Nothing crazy, just a acoustic performance like I usually do on Youtube (till now I’ve been shooting on an embarrassingly old MiniDV camcorder that is almost twice the size of the Canon). You can view the result here.

An unexpected issue with the completion of that video was the post-production file format mess. Apparently Canon had no interest in making things easy on us (although that looks like it will change this month). I ended up following the steps outlined here on Vincent Laforet’s blog with great success. I imported to the desktop, converted H.264 to Apple Prores (tanked my drive space), imported to Final Cut, sent to Color and back, exported using Quicktime H.64 compression, then uploaded to Youtube. Kind of a long roundabout process, but things went smoothly. As is true for the still shots as well, you immediately notice how much more control you have over the image in editing mode. Edits that used to crunch up image quality or produce unwanted noise no longer do so at all. The picture is so clean that you can tweak away to your heart’s content without ever losing the integrity of the image.

As I said, I’m just getting my feet wet with this thing and I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I field test it a lot more. I’ll be going to Japan in May and am looking at that trip as a great opportunity to take thousands and thousands of pictures and crash my hard drive with absurd amounts of footage. As I continue to experiment with this wonderful object I’ll put together a more complete review. In the meantime, for my sake, cross your fingers Canon *doesn’t* come out with any shiny new cameras anytime soon.

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Post tags: alex, camera, canon, lens

Old School BMX

alex — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:53:36 +0000

I wish I could say these were from when I was younger, but the closest I ever got to BMX was digging jumps and watching my friends careen off of them (I went off once with a road bike, crashed, and stayed grounded after that).

Anyway the above shots were taken by Cameron Muilenburg from Hidden Clothing. It looks like he and his friends were pretty good — not only at riding but also at capturing the experience with basic equipment (I assume Polaroid). I love the color and composition. The first one feels like a still from a film, paused at just the right moment to capture the most movement.

Sure look like some fearless little kids. Check out the rest of the pics here.

via defgrip

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Post tags: bikes, bmx, polaroid, sport

The Dark Lens

alex — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 08:02:36 +0000

These images are from photographer Cedric Delsaux’s Dark Lens series. The project has been around for a while but a new set of images was just released. World Famous Design Junkies has a great write up of the history of the project. They detail the three waves of content releases and go into a little more detail.

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Post tags: Photoshop, star wars

Lab Partners

alex — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 08:07:03 +0000

Local San Francisco studio Lab Partners is Ryan Meis and Sarah Labieniec. I recognize a lot of their work from Monocle (a magazine with a real knack for sourcing mega talented illustrators). Lab Partners’ work is great because of how well movement is conveyed. You can really sense the hustle bustle in each scene. Just look at Monsieur Boudin (the stylish dachshund)! He is cruising on that Vespa. Of course the color is great too — not to mention a bit unusual — I don’t usually post yellows, purples, and oranges all in the same post.

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Tata Vislevskaya

alex — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 09:28:27 +0000

Tata Vislevskaya has some incredible pictures of the Swiss Alps. This is something I really enjoy; shots of epic landscapes like this, paired with this style of processing. I love seeing the blacks turn to purples and blues (especially in the mountains on that first one). The rest of her series, especially the ones of Iceland, really spurs the travel bug in me. I’ve always really wanted to go to Reykjavik.

via TSA

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Post tags: iceland, Travel

Justin Allen LaFontaine

alex — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 07:53:02 +0000

A few killer works by Justin Allen LaFontaine. I had the Up North one on my blog a while back, but forgot how cool it was until today when I was perusing the electronic basement as it were. I wonder where that photo was taken.. Would love to see some recent work by Justin!

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Post tags: glacier, Photography

Matthew Lyons Process | ISO50 Exclusive

alex — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 13:41:17 +0000

Matthew Lyons is an incredible illustrator. Just about every blog in existence has written a piece about him recently — and it’s no surprise — his work is absolutely stunning. As I mentioned in my post, the combination of his vast imagination and impeccable eye for color and composition begets some really exciting work.

I asked Matthew if he would prepare a short process description about one of his recent works. What follows is Matthew’s description of how he created the piece you see above, The Snide of a Scoundrel Man. Take it away Matthew!

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Read the rest of Matthew Lyons Process | ISO50 Exclusive (1,023 words)

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Post tags: painting, technique