davidthedesigner

Bonjour

Bienvenue a my little stint on David's blog. In fact, it's not even a stint, really. It's just after I emerged as the lucky winner from David's splendid hat, he asked if I'd report back from my Eurostar jaunt with a post or two. It seems a small price to pay.

(There must be more to Paris than this. From Panoramio)

I also thought you lot probably know all manner of hidden Parisian gems that my wife Wendy and I could explore during our two days there. So I thought I'd ask for suggestions, and then report on them. Or at least one or two of them.

In fact, inspired by Ben, I've even grabbed the TypePad iPhone app, so may even blog from the locations themselves. Try to contain your excitement.

All I have at the moment is the Eurostar tickets. We're going to do the last-minute hotel thing (again, recommendations gratefully received), but the schedule for our two days is pretty much clear. We both want to go back to the Musée D'Orsay, because, well, why wouldn't you? But what else should we know about that's a bit more off the beaten track? Galleries, restaurants, shops, historic monuments, whatever. I don't know Paris all that well, and would love to hear your ideas.

All thoughts welcome in the comments, and thanks in advance for helping me enjoy my prize.

...and it's goodbye from me, and hello from him

I'm not at all sure that I should be telling you this, but I have to go off and do my civic duty and sit on a jury for a little while. It might only be for a day or two (according to my 'summons') - but who knows, I might get a big one.

Anyway, while I'm away, Mike would like to have a word or two. I'm sure you'll remember Mike: he's been here before, though not for a while. And he's the one who's off to Paris on the 22nd, having won my smiley competition.

Be nice to him, won't you?

this made me smile #96

(via my good friend Jeanne)

david pearson is over there

We all love the work of David Pearson, don't we? Well, now you can read what he has to say in his own words by popping over to Canada and taking a peek at The Casual Optimist (and thanks to David's working neighbour Alistair for the heads up).

And when you get to the bottom of the interview take a look at the preceding post, which happens to have a reference to little old me.

i would have been so tempted, wouldn't you?

I guess you must have seen Mike Dempsey's lovely album cover stamps by now? Maybe some of you might think that they're merely an homage to Johnson Banks' Beatles Stamps - but, hey, given the subject matter, wouldn't all of us like to have arrived at the same solution? And it's another lesson to us all that it's simplicity that can so often deliver brilliance.

Amongst designers at least, the perceived impression seems to be that this series of stamps is all about album cover designs. But, actually, isn't it really about the music? And that really tells you something, doesn't it? Not a single non-white face in sight, and only one very well-hidden woman, as far as I can see. I know they all have to be albums by British acts - but isn't our musical heritage far more diverse and interesting than this lot amounts to? Why no Courtney Pine or Nitin Sawhney - or Dusty Springfield or Shirley Bassey?

Anyway, it would be interesting to know how many of these albums you actually own? I can hold my hands up and say it's just the one - and, no, it's not Coldplay (as if). It's Power, Corruption and Lies (on cassette), if you must know.

And getting back to the design bit. If I'd been handed this brief I'd have been so sorely tempted to sneak one in, wouldn't you?

Bang goes my MBE, then.

it's ok again

My good (virtual) friends William and Joost have just released issue 3 of their OK Periodicals: this one with the theme of 'repeat'. If you didn't already know, this is the one with the crowdsourced cover - with their initial layout broken up into separate elements which were then sent out to be individually 'customised'. So you can have hours of fun trying to spot my two contributions:

it looks to me as though this one is on the front; but

this one I think is on the back cover. And it's interesting to see how many others have supplied images that are very close to this. Do all designers have a weakness for big dots and the colour pink, do you reckon?

Anyway, it's available from the OK shop right now.

This made me smile #95

(via animalnewyork)

It's been a quiet blogging week, this week. I've been busy doing other things. I'll try and do better next week.

from the sublime to...

...Ferrari World.

(via things)

this made me smile #94

Ladies: look away now - this is a boy thing.

The very first Ferrari.

(via Angus Whines)

from albertus to zapf dingbats: the 52 fonts that you could use instead of helvetica

This was a series of posts that I started to celebrate the first birthday of this blog in November 2007. It was inspired by Gary Hustwit's Helvetica movie and the intention was to post two fonts every two weeks for the second year of the blog and working through the alphabet from A to Z.

Well I did complete the task within the year, although I didn't always make the fortnightly schedule. And then it had been my intention to go back and present these 52 fonts in a more accessible fashion (than having to work backwards through the category listings). It's taken me another year to get round to doing that (sorry) - but at least I'm well in time for the blog's third birthday next month.

Now, to explain why the 52 fonts, here's what I wrote at the time by way of an introduction:

"...before I start, let's get something straight. Don't expect in-depth critiques on this blog. If you really want to get serious about typography, then there are better places to go: like I love typography or Dalton Maag. And if you're simply looking for a particular font, then try Indentifont.

No, this is about variety: a sort 'Joy of Text'. The design equivalent of 'there's more to life than the missionary position'. Because, speaking as a designer, it's very easy to get caught in a rut of using a few favourite fonts. Even more so if you work for clients who have a brand identity: because then you'll very often be told to adhere to guidelines which will specify the fonts that you're allowed to use. Usually one serif and one sans serif. Which is fine up to a point. But it probably wasn't why we became designers in the first place.

So this is an encouragement to let ourselves go. Loosen up those brand requirements. And have a bit of font fun (and, no, that doesn't mean you're allowed to use the one that dare not pass a designer's lips)."

And so here are the more easily accessible 52:

A for Albertus and Avenir

B for Bodoni and Bell Gothic

C for Century Schoolbook and Cooper Black

D for DIN and Didot

E for Edwardian Script and European Pi

F for Foundry Sans and Futura

G for Gill Sans and Goudy Old Style

H for Haarlemmer and Holloander

I for Ionic and Industrial Gothic

J for... well, J turned out to be the Joker in the pack - so you'll find J for Joanna here and J for Johnston here

K for Kabel and Kepler

L for Litera and Lubalin Graph

M for Meta and Modern

N for News Gothic and Nimrod

O for Optima and Octavian

P for Perpetua and Palatino

Q for Quadra 57 and Quay Sans

R for Rockwell and Rotis

S for Sabon and Snell Roundhand

T for Trajan and Trade Gothic

U for Univers and Utopia

V for Van Dijk and Verdana

W for Walbaum and Warnock

X for Xenara and Xheighter

Y for Yanus and Ying

And finally Z for Zemestro and Zapf Dingbats