From the category archives:

Design

Rick Poynor on ‘Design Academics’: Having His Cake and Eating It Too

April 19, 2012 Design

[This article was swiftly written as a provisional response to Rick Poynor's article The Closed Shop of Design Academia which first appeared on Design Observer on April 13, 2012. The editors of DO had agreed in principle to publish my response, but shortly afterwards decided it should be confined to the comments section of Poynor's article. [...]

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Exporail (Montréal)

September 20, 2009 Design
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Glorious lettering and typography from Exporail, the railway museum just outside Montréal.

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HELVETICA

April 7, 2007 Design
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Helvetica premiered at SXSW and is selling out wherever it plays; it’s also receiving rave reviews.

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Full Circle

October 11, 2005 Blog
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Public lettering is a term that is increasingly used to describe the totality of visible letterforms that surround us: on street signs, storefronts, monuments, drain covers, bus tickets, etc. Public lettering predates the development of graphic design and of typography before that.

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Interview with Klik magazine

July 21, 2005 Blog

I’ve just finished an interview with a Slovenian journalist called Barbara Predan for Klik magazine. She contacted me because I was a jury member for this year’s Memefest. I found Predan’s questions about the politics of graphic design, especially logos and culture jamming, both informed and challenging. I’m posting the full, unedited, English version here [...]

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What a difference a year makes.

July 11, 2005 Blog
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It’s almost a year to the day since we last joined our friends for a trip to Lake Champlain. This time around we even stopped at the same gas station – which led me to take a snap of this motel sign across the road once more (top: 2004; bottom: 2005). It’s definitely the same [...]

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In the Spirit of Independence Day

June 30, 2005 Blog
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Here’s a compelling project that emerged from DesignInquiry this year. Patriotic to the core.

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The Maine Thing.

June 19, 2005 Blog
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Phew. Just returned from a great week at DesignInquiry in Maine. (Some stuff already posted here.) Lots of talks by great designers/educators/thinkers, plus studio workshops (even an acting class; erp). I think my own stuff went across pretty well, and the students working with me produced some very interesting ideas. More soon.

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Chicago! Chicago?

May 25, 2005 Blog
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There’s a scene early on in the movie Meet the Fockers where Ben Stiller and his bride-to-be fly off to see her parents. The establishing shot (above) cleverly reminds us exactly which city they’re leaving. Which brings us to the big, helpful sign: first, it was clearly comped in during post-production; and, second, it’s typeset [...]

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Hell in a handbasket?

May 23, 2005 Blog
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Conclusive proof that the client should not design the building.

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Logo Cities

May 16, 2005 Design

OK, Logo Cities is finally up and running. It’s not perfect, and there’s a lot more we want to do with it, but there you go. Any and all feedback appreciated. I also got interviewed by the Montreal Mirror (article here) and Urbania magazine about sign heritage.

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Logo Cities update

April 21, 2005 Design
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The first phase of the Logo Cities project is nearing completion. The interface, above, features four different, panoramic views of the city of Montreal. These can be viewed as they appear at night or during the day. Clicking on a prominent logo on the skyline brings up some basic information about that sign, and, ultimately, [...]

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