Category Archives: Design

Essays on Design

Blogs, Design

Many books have been written based on blogs, but few actually receive my respect. Seventy-nine Short Essays on Design is the result of many writings by Michael Beirut at the outstanding blog Design Observer, with 272 pages discussing design with no pictures at all (only 79 different typefaces).

Seventy-nine Short Essays on Design

Michael made an interesting point on why to write (a book or a blog) :

“I’ve found that writing is a way to slow things down again, to question my own premises, to force myself to pay attention to things I might otherwise file away after the quick glance. (…)  I discovered that putting the words on paper changes the claim those words make on your attention. Is it better? Is it worse? The answer may be different for every reader. As a designer, I am very grateful I’ve been given the opportunity to let you see for yourself.

Adobe CS3 is out

Business, Design

The software package has just launched, with several editions available, and thanks to some early leaks we had a sneak peak on pricing and packaging details:

Product Retail Pricing
CS3 Design Premium (up) $1799.95
CS3 Design Standard $1199.95
CS3 Web Premium $1599.95
CS3 Web Standard $999.95
CS3 Production Premium (up) $1699
CS3 Master Collection $2499
InDesign CS3 $699.95
Photoshop CS3 Extended $999.95
Photoshop CS3 $649.95
Illustrator CS3 $599.95
Flash CS Professional $699.95
Dreamweaver CS3 $399.95
Fireworks CS3 $299.95
Contribute CS3 $149.95
After Effects CS3 Professional $999
Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 $799
Soundbooth $199

CS3 pricing

Source: MacRumors

CS3 box

Source: Apple Insider

The editions scheme seems a bit confusing, as if Adobe is borrowing ideas from Vista. But be warned: if you want to be a designer these days, it will cost you at least of $999 USD.

Update: this morning (GMT 0) , there was a product special on Adobe homepage, and there will be a webcast of the launch event.

My favorite features (as a flash developer):

  • Flash integration with Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and After Effects
  • Flash IDE now supports Actionscript 3, with improved debugger
  • 3D compositing in Photoshop
  • Improved vanishiog points in Photoshop, exportable to After Efffects

The big winner in CS3 seems to be Flash, although Photoshop has some impressive features on specialized areas.

Helvetica turns 50

Design

Happy birthday, mr Miedinger and Helvetica.

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/TTUGhsNk6bk" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

This year we celebrate the most universal typeface ever, created by Max Miedinger in 1957. Initially developed in an attempt to replace Akzidenz Grotesk, it became the typeface of choice for many companies, and is widely used by any graphic designer (altough some of them don’t seem to be very fun of it).

From packaging to the new iPhone, it was renamed Helvetica in 1961, and since then it has been copied extensively, most notably by Arial, a cheap ripoff on Windows.

I became aware of this event, through Helvetica, The film, a documentary screening next March (and a SXSW selection).

Helvetica the film

This movie will surely be one of inspirations for many designers, and a reference to the role of typography in our daily lives.

The web learns how to draw

Design, Illustration, Inspiration

As i’m picking up my old drawing passion, i’ve found some brilliant people out there, sharing their love for illustration and drawing. The amount of dedication and work you see on some sites is amazing, and i’m not mentioning the major community sites like CGsociety or deviantart, but some smaller stars like Dani.

DaniDraws.com

An illustrator working in the children’s market, besides her portfolio site, she has a blog with several inspiring videos on the art of drawing and illustration, available on YouTube, where we get to see a in-depth look into the magical world of an skilled artist.

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/3pzKK6310N0" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

YouTube link for RSS readers

If you’re into illustration, after watching some of Dani’s knowledge, you might want to check these ones also:

Enough of information. Start drawing !

Wait, just one more: The Little Chimp Society.

Design, Illustration, Network

In one more episode of shameless promotion i’m featuring the work of Carlos Quitério, a portuguese artist that just launched Fitacola.com (translated as tape glue), a site/blog with collages from him and his wife Graça.

His personal website is Kodap.com with great drawings, illustrations and other mixed media.

Kodap.com

Being itself a former student from ESTGAD University, at Caldas da Rainha, he does regular collaborations with other portuguese artists (such as Adriana de Barros or MusaCollective), altough his work has a worlwide reach.

Motion Design in title sequences

Design, Inspiration, Motion

Forget the film - watch the titles
Link to Forget the film, watch the titles

As my friend Claudio just said,

“sometimes a title sequence is able to capture the essence of whole film, and is in itself a short movie”.

This great resource features the work of great animators and motion designers. Maybe if the big studios weren’t so righteous about their copyrights we could watch the works of historics such as Kyle Cooper or Saul Bass.

Source: Motiongrapher