design meets film

Posted in design, film

This is a pretty cool blending of design elements, 3D animation and film:

The Ambassadors Design & Animation Showreel 2011 from The Ambassadors on Vimeo.

step-saving kitchen demonstration from 1949

Posted in design

I’m always so fascinated with stuff from the first half of the 20th century. This video demonstrates the step-saving “U” kitchen design, a revolution in farm kitchen design. It’s small, but not cramped and has zero wasted space. It’s a great example of where form and function meet. I really like how much research and thought went into this design. Update the hardware and I’ll take it.

Trajan… the movie font

Posted in design, feature

This is so true! Hollywood needs to dig a little deeper. I would put Trajan on the “Endangered Fonts” list. Endangered of being overused and becoming, dare I say, the next Papyrus. That’s a grim forecast I realize, so let’s use Trajan sparingly.

fonts that piss me off

Posted in design

If you’re addicted to type and letters as I am, then you know how easy it is to be affected by them. Some fonts make me happy, some sad, while others just piss me off. “How?” you ask. Well just look at them. I guess it’s really not their fault; they didn’t set out to be bad type and ligatures. It was the poor execution of the designers and hobos that thought they’d take a stab at desktop publishing that did them in.

Overused, missused and missunderstood these are just a few of the fonts that piss me off:

Apple Chancery- the poor man’s “fancy font.” It looks cheap.

Arial Narrow- the Helvetica knock off. Don’t waste time trying immitate the most perfect font (Helvetica, that is).

Comic Sans- the casual and “fun font.” This doesn’t even look good in comic strips.

Papyrus- sorely overused, it was the first of its kind that was organic and a little rough around the edges.

Zapfino- Completely misunderstood, this has been overused in just about every market. And it’s awkward to work with.

So what did them in? Well, mostly their availability through Microsoft and in turn the general public; and people who don’t understand that fonts have a time and a place.

Please, let these fonts rest in peace. You can do better!!