CS3 in Fine Arts Building?

On Monday, I was surprised when I went to the computer lab in Salazar Hall. I used a Mac Computer to work on the Final Presentation in In Design program. I was surprised when I uploaded the In Design program they the CS3 version, Illustrator CS3, plus the Photoshop is in CS2.It’s a shame to see that the Graphic Design computers labs in the Fine Art building are still utilizing CS1 programs. I wonder how long it’s going to take the department to upgrade the programs? The Graphic Design labs are the ones that need to be up to date with programs.

ABC3D

This is a fascinating and innovative video, it's from a book called ABC3D. It's a
pop-up book of the 26 Alphabet letters, the cover is real cool, I also like the letter U alot. The hardcover book was made by Marion Bataille it will be released on Oct 14,2008. You can preorder a copy today at Half.com. Marion Bataille is a widely published graphic design artist and illustrator. I will definitely buy her book, it's only $19.95.

Words from the Wise

I wanted to share these inspiring and excellent quotes, with my fellow graphic design classmates. Each one of these quotes has given me inspiration; hopefully it can do the same thing for you…….

“Don’t confuse legibility with communication” David Carson

“You can do a good ad with poor typography, but you can’t do a great ad with poor typography”- Herb Lubalin

“Design is about making order out of chaos.”-Cipe Pineles

“A poster must do two things well: to be noticed and to hold your attention long enough to get the message across. And in that order.” Emil Weiss

“The expression in a (typographic) design is what is most important, not the typeface that is used.”-Wolfgang Weingart

Hidden Logo's

I was at my friends house on Tuesday talking about politics, music and more music. He happens to work at FedEx, out of curiosity I asked him, “Have you ever noticed the hidden arrow in the FedEx Logo.” He automatically said “NO”. I told him to look closely between the letter E and x. Yesterday, I got a phone call and he told me that it took him a while to find it. He asked several managers and co-workers if they knew about the hidden arrow in the logo, most of them were unaware of the hidden arrow.

I was amazed that my friend and his co-workers were unaware of the hidden arrow. I don’t blame them either, when I worked at FedEx I found the arrow after working there for several months. I never viewed the FedEx logo the same. It supposed to symbolize speed and precision.

There’s a similar logo to FedEx, it’s a logo created for a puzzle game called Cluenatic. The logo has the letters C,L,U and E they’re arranged as a maze. Can you find the letters? Can you see a key? If you see the logo from a distance it looks like a key.

Kuka the robot calligrapher

Move over calligraphers and typography aficionados, theirs a new sheriff in town. He’s not human, he’s a robot named Kuka. Kuka was created by a group of German artists called RobotLab. Kuka was programmed to write the entire Martin Luther-period Bible, including the Old and New Testaments by hand. All written on a long scroll of paper, by using a calligraphic style early font called “Schwabacher.”

I wish I could of used Kuka for Jimmy’s class. I’m excited to see what Kuka and other robots can do in the future. Hopefully, Kuka won’t replace human calligraphers in the future. Could this be the beginning of man vs. machine in the typography world?

Typography 101: Guidelines of Letterforms

It’s critical to become fluent in the terminology of typography. An awareness of the structural aspects of type is the key to success, it can also provide useful insights for making informed design decisions. Remembering the terminology for describing letters in typography isn’t difficult because most of them are named after the human anatomy. It only becomes difficult because theirs a lot to remember. It is important to first understand how guidelines are used with letterforms, then to learn about all the parts that make up letterforms. These are the basic principles to learn typography.

The x-height consists of an invisible grid of parallel horizontal lines that shows how tall to make a lowercase letter of a typeface. The five horizontal lines from top to bottom represent different guidelines. The ascender line marks the appropriate height for the tall lowercase letters of a typeface like the letters b, d, h,and f. The cap height is the height of the capital letters. The mean line or waist line is the line that marks the tops of lowercase letters without ascenders, which can be referred to as a high waist line or a low waist line; the baseline is a line where all the words rest, making them appear evenly. Finally, at the very bottom, the descender or beard line marks the correct length for the lowercase g, j, p, y and q, it’s the level to which the lowest descenders descend.