old navy's new logo: not so good

As David Weinberger at Brand New pointed out, Old Navy has changed their logo out of the blue (i.e. they have not put out a press release). Here's a look at what they did:

The most glaring alteration was to the oval background. They vertically stretched the ends to make for a rounder look. The other alteration (really, with how simple the logo was there were only two possible changes) was the type face. Now they are using Gotham Bold, as opposed to the Futura Condensed of yesteryear.

While I think the new choice of font keeps in tune with Old Navy's style--mixing the modern with the old--the oval is poorly shaped and "NAVY" just has so many problems. Look at the separation between the N-A, then look at the separation between the A-V. Things are not flowing well here. Then you have the V-Y connecting up there? Why? I think someone was trying to be a wee bit fancy. Got a little too big for their buffers.

I am not looking to nit-pick. These are obvious flaws, in my opinion. They are not horrible to the point that Old Navy will fail within the next year and close it's doors. (Please, God, no. My wife and I are huge Old Navy fans.) But they are there, looking everyone in the eyes. The OLD and NAVY look different, almost clashing. As much as I like the new font, it will take some extra effort and creativity to make the entire thing work better. For starters drop the ligature (joining two or more letters together) of the V-Y. Then, either change the oval back to the way it was or drop it all together.

Technorati Tags: branding, typography, graphic design

the design disease

Noisy Decent Graphics published an absolutely spot on post regarding a condition some of us have: Design Disease. Cowbells can't cure this fever. He does a great job of showing exactly what it's like to live with this disease. Have a read, especially if you know exactly what I am talking about. You can't walk anywhere without noticing the signs, postings, flyers, windows, everything. You go around town judging good or bad, beautiful or ugly, useful or useless.

Technorati Tags: graphic design, design observations

the blasted church

You know something? I have never had a drop of alcohol. In all my years, the closest I have ever come to consuming alcohol or liquor is in three ways: a rum dressing for a pound cake, where the rum is so diluted and the alcohol so cooked out you would be dreaming if you thought about getting a buzz from that desert; a pink champagne cake, but again, as with the rum, by the time the cake reaches my mouth there is no alcohol to speak of; and a fish taco with beer battered whatever that fish was; but alas, no alcohol to the tongue again.

Have I been missing out? I don't think so. I have never cared to try a beer or champagne, a wine or even a wine cooler. I am just not interested. The only affinity I have to alcohol right now is my seeming adoration for wine labels. Not in the sense of collecting wine labels, but I love seeing the creativity, elegance, brashness and cleverness that many label designers are able to produce.

I enjoy the labels, even the name, of this Canadian wine: Blasted Church. The story behind the name is wonderful. From their website,

On a cool spring morning in 1929, a small crew from Okanagan Falls set off to a deserted mining camp some 16 miles away from home. Their mission: to dismantle an old wooden church and bring it back to Okanagan Falls.

The plan called for a controlled blast of four dynamite sticks inside the church in order to "loosen the nails". Odd as it may seem, the explosion spared the wood from damage during dismantling.

Save for losing the steeple, the plan succeeded. Now, the 108 year old wooden church stands proudly in its second home of Okanagan Falls.

In naming our VQA wines "Blasted Church", we celebrate the ingenuity of this initiative, and honour these pioneers for their vision, steadfastness and craftsmanship.

Their labels have so much character. Each of the wines listed on their website has a different look. Individualized. Nowhere near the style of a high-end wine (for instance, have a peek at this one; ooh la la), but just as appealing if not more attractive. To be fair, though, like I know what a high-end wine is. The wine could taste like skunk and I wouldn't know. I just like the labels.

Technorati Tags: labels, grahic design, marketing

a fun use of fonts

Do you want to see a fun use of fonts, typography in motion, that was actually done with a purpose? Click on this thumbnail and have a look at my wife's poem. She wanted to bring out the emotions and senses involved in this poem so the reader could become more engaged, or at least spark the imagination. The sensual items (not sensual in the lovey-dovey way, but referring to what effects the senses) are given attention either by a change in the color, boldness, font face, or combination of two or more things. They help the reader feel a bit more comfortable reading the text, being able to understand a level above just letters on a page.

This is typography. The use and manipulation of fonts and text with a specific goal. Her goal was accomplished. This is a great poem, with great presentation.

I am trying to figure out the best way to have this poem available online so you can place your mouse over the fonts and see what they are, their color, size and so on. I could do an image map, or a flash thing. I don't know; we'll see.

what's in a font?

Maybe you didn't know that fonts are quite the creature. Maybe you didn't know there was more involved in a font than whether or not there was a serif. Did you know fonts have cap heights, x-heights, baselines, bowls, stems, finials, terminals, ascenders, descenders, spines and crossbars? The various elements in a particular font give that font character. The reason Verdana looks different and is used differently than Times New Roman is not the serif/sans-serif question alone. Have a look at this simple diagram:

The cap height refers to distance from the baseline to the top of the capital letter. This is what determines the point size of a font. So, when you are picking a size of a font, e.g. 12 or 14 point, you are actually picking a size based on the capital letters of the font. The x-height is the height of the lowercase letters. The ascenders and descenders take into account letters like f, p, g, etc. And I could go on boring you with the details.

I guess these elements are more important in detail for those who make fonts, or those of us who would be considered nerdy or geeky by those who couldn't give a rats hind-quarters as long as the font looks good. But, I always think it better to know than not to. If you would like to get more information on fonts and typography, I recommend Ellen Lupton's Thinking With Type. Quite a valuable text in my opinion.

All that to say there is more that differentiates Verdana from Times New Roman than the simple serif. There is more to a good font than meets the eye at first.

fresh font friday: verdana

While I still had some time today I figured I would deliver another font-ographical thought and post a second Fresh Font Friday. On this special edition I will gloat about our good friend Verdana.

Verdana is the typographical epitome of the easy life. So simple, so clear, so easy on the eyes, this font is a must have in everyone's collection. Granted, the font comes standard with MS Office; but the collection I am talking about is the one I call "Fonts I Use." This sans font is a very safe selection for any on screen use. It can be a great selection for some print projects, if (like every other project) used wisely. The stems are straight, not needing to throw any fancy twists into the look (compare to Gill Sans MT in a previous post). Little characteristics like that make the text very easy to read, regardless of the size.

I have read of web designers who swear by this font. Understandable; maybe going a bit far, but understandable. Defaulting to Verdana (as is something I do in Flash) will not be a waste of time. You will not have to worry about whether or not the audience will be able to see the letters clearly enough. You may look around for other fonts, but in the meantime Verdana is a great alternative. Again, very safe and very simple. I like the circular O in Gill Sans MT, as opposed to the subtly squeezed sample in Verdana. Nonetheless, this font is quite appealing and not going to strain they eyes. Truly the easy life.

To go one step beyond, the Greek text within the font is very clean and clear as well. It may not be as fancy as other Greek fonts (e.g. GraecaII, SGreek) but it is still effective due to it's readable nature. And that is the key to Greek: it has to be readable before it is usable.

Technorati Tags: fonts, typography

fresh font friday: gill sans mt

I would like to tout about one of my favorite fonts: Gill Sans MT. Originally designed in the 1920's by one Eric Gill, this font is very simple, clean, and easy to read. This is a great font to use on screen, mostly for websites with a lot of text. As seen on the t-shirt, though, it has other uses. Maybe not for a t-shirt, but images with text will not look worse if you need a clean sans font.

The letters are not trying to be bold, just effective for their use. Notice the O's. They are circles that rival that of Futura. Most fonts have skinny O's, more like ovals. You see a similar form to the G and some other letters. A top quality font.

There are some free packages of this font available, but for the most part the Gill Sans family is downloadable after purchase. However, I believe Microsoft Office includes a few of the fonts in the program.

"Fresh Font Friday" will be a regular edition of this blog. Each Friday I plan on talking a bit about a different font. Some that I like, and some that I don't. If you have any fonts that you like or are interested in, let me know in the comments section.

Technorati Tags: fonts, typography

you call that a sign?

That's not a sign.

Do you think you will be getting a lot sales this morning because of the sign? Are you hammering the sign on the post because you are truly trying to attract street traffic, or because that's what you're supposed to do?

Everyone posts a sign somewhere; maybe even two. Some are on red or yellow poster board, trying to grab the eye's attention. Neon green seems to be a popular color. In the last few years I have seen the addition of balloons tied to the signs or nearby poles. Anything that is not too expensive to give the audience something to notice.

Have a look at the above sign again. Notice there are no arrows, no directions, no address. Nothing but the words "Garage Sale!" The sign is being nailed right where the garage sale is going on. But let's be realistic. If the street or foot traffic are able to see that sign (thin black lettering on a small white board, right at eye level), then they have probably already taken a gander at the four piles of men's and women's slacks, seven pairs of argyle socks, the baby bouncy seat, 1960's entertainment center and coffee table, plaid futon couch and the Arizona-style rocking chair with no backing (wow, that sounds familiar). If people can see the obvious garage or yard sale before ever knowing there was one, why make the little sign?

Sure. Maybe the garage is set back behind the house. Those are hard to see from the street. If that sign, however, is the only one this guy had, and only posted it right in front of the house, then the sales are going to be lower than expected (only because we all expect to make thousands on our yard sales...then we start bargaining, trading, buying from our neighbor's yard sales, buying breakfast and lunch from Carl's Jr., and so on).

Why not try something a bit different? Why not . . . go bigger? Try something like that for a garage sale and see what happens. Maybe post two or three in some strategic locations, and see if you don't grab a few more customers than you bargained for. Hopefully those customers won't be police or city people, depending on the rules your town might have about signage.

A sign like this would be inexpensive, and maybe cheaper than buying that cardboard from Wal-Mart or Walgreens. What about a large bit of cardboard, probably for a dishwasher or something large like that? Trace out the letters, use a bold color, give the letters an outline, and cut it out. You are only limited by the size of the cardboard. Even plywood is still cheap. That would be tougher to cut, with a bit more work, but if you already have the tools you're fine. The wood signs would even survive the day and be ready for you another time.

You have to be creative if you want more attention. No, you don't need to do something like that to get some attention, some looks; that will always happen. But to separate yourself from the rest you have to take some risks. You have to be original. Yard Sale Cruising is a Saturday morning ritual for a lot of people. There are a lot sales going on each weekend. Why not yours? Why shouldn't yours be the center of attention? You can't get the money if you can't get them there.

There is a lot more you can do than this. You can't even read the sign up close.

Now, about having stuff worth selling. Well, that's a whole other story.

 

 

 

 

Technorati Tags: signs, advertising, typography, garage sale

the automatic cereal dispenser

My eye caught this gem via Steve Portigal at Core77.

Just in time for your Christmas shopping list, or even your Christmas wish list, we have Breakfix, the Cereal Solution. "Changing the World, One Bowl of Cereal at a Time," this invention will revolutionize eating cereal for breakfast. This simple device, and quite real, can with one simple touch dispense a healthy amount of cereal into your bowl without you having to get the box, open the box, and pour it into the bowl yourself. Imagine the possibilities. Dream of the vast time saved each morning, and how those seconds will be added to your life.

Ok. Ok. So I am infusing a bit of sarcasm. Still, this is quite real. There are no jokes, no strings attached, and no mirrors used. For a meager $79.99 you too, or your loved one, can enjoy this cereal dispenser. And apparently nothing like it exists here in the US. Enough of my thoughts. Let's look at some other critiques out there.

My cats have one of those. Except it dispenses cat food instead of breakfast cereal. Although I guess I could put some miniwheat in there. I doubt they would appreciate that.

How do you get the milk into the bowl?

Okay, I'll grant that if you've got disabilities, you probably could use one of these.. . . But everyone else, you of sound body and strong forearms . . . if you just don't have the time to pour a bowl of cereal, then you really must needs to clear your planners and agendas and take a freaking breath!

This would be great, but the milk is still all the way over in the refrigerator, and the bowl is in the cupboard, and the spoon is in the drawer... screw it, I'm going back to bed.

This also needs automatic milk dispensing, otherwise it's just not easy enough and so I will gorge myself on bacon instead.

But how are we going to eat when the batteries die?

I was just saying the other day, golly, I wish I could dispense my cereal faster.

Unless it goes to the store and refills itself when it's empty I really don't see the point.

Oh, glory days, my cereal will sit not on the lonely shelf of segregation, but rest instead on the welcome bosom of the countertop of freedom next to my automatic can opener

So is there an attachment that will pour the cereal out of the box and into this device? What about loading the batteries? Surely it's not manual, is it?

All this ridicule quite unfair. If you're so bloody lazy in the target market for this device, you're probably so bloody lazy far too busy to be posting your opinion of it

i understand why some people may find it funny to mock an invention like this, but over the course of a lifetime it could save you dozens of seconds. that's time you could be spending with your family, watching tv, or just relaxing. think about it, people: would you rather spend your life pouring cereal or eating cereal?

These things are good and fine until a rat falls in there and the entire family succumbs to the bubonic plague.

I like to load my Breakfix full of croûtons, then stick a bowl with one lettuce leaf and half a cup of ranch dressing underneath, and whammo! The perfectly-proportioned salad!

The terrorists have lost!

Obsolete. Breakfast was sooooooo 90s.

What they need to make is one of these things with a timer, like a coffee maker, that you could set to pour you a bowl of cereal mere seconds before you reach the kitchen. This would save you from having to A. go to all the trouble of pushing the button to dispense the cereal and B. wait the interminable amount of seconds it takes for the Breakficks to do its thing. And your Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs wouldn't be stale from having spent too much time sitting on the countertop of freedom

Come on now. I know you have your own thoughts on this one. And yes, there is a connection to graphic design in this. Product design is a large area of the Graphic Design field.

Technorati Tags: industrial design, inventions

a bit about me

While I am not one who really likes to talk about himself, I thought I should at least give some information about myself and why I have set up this blog.

You can call me Eddie. My given name is Eduardo Gonzalez, but since my experience has been that almost everyone splices that name up and jumbles the pieces around before they repeat it. I have heard and seen my name stated in more contorted ways than Cirque de Soleil performers get on those ropes. Except they make it look good. And it's not like the name is hard. Maybe it's just me. Is it my face? I don't know. Anyway, call me Eddie or Eduardo; whatever you are comfortable with.

I am quite happily married, and as of right now I have almost three kids. Two have been out and causing havoc in the world for 1 and 3 years; the other is on the way very shortly. Soon. Very soon. We live in the beautiful San Diego, CA area, where you pay for the view. If you have never been to La Jolla Shores then you have never been . . . to La Jolla Shores. But, it's absolutely stunning. And once the city figures out how to deal with the Seal vs. Man problem at Casa Beach (a.k.a. the Children's Pool), and we get the protestors out of here, along with the crazy humans who go acting stupid with the seals, then it will be so much better.

My love's in life are very easy to pick up after a short while of checking out my blogs. (In addition to this one I have my martyrologist blog also on lifewithchrist.org.) My wife and I are both History buffs (i.e. B.A. in History), with my focus being martyrdom throughout Christian history; my wife's focus is medieval women's history. Reading, writing, research, buying books: all are must do's in our lives. I would relish the opportunity to work in a museum (the local San Diego Natural History Museum will be hosting a Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit next year) or get paid to do research. Maybe some day.

In the meantime, I enjoy any chance I get to play soccer. My oldest boy was kicking a ball before he could walk. Arsenal, Liverpool, Barcelona, France, England, Brazil: any chance I get to watch them play I have to take it.

If you were to ask me, as in many applications or forms, "What religion are you?" I would have to give you a convoluted answer. My confession is basically that I am a disciple or follower of Jesus Christ. Theologically and practically speaking I am a finely mixed breed of Calvinist and some variation of an Anabaptist.

Then there is graphic design. I started out by focusing on web design, but have gone away from that medium more and more. Not so much because of web design itself, but I am finding a lot of pleasure in doing magazine/newsletter design and production. There is so much freedom involved and creativity expected. I created a newsletter for the department I work in (for over 90 employees) and love to explore the possibilities in design. I have fun creating posters, brochures, flyers, quicky images, and various other projects I get to do. I am hoping to get a chance at the place I work now, to move up and take care of the company-wide newsletter (the present one has much to be desired; they use extremely tall pages and waste so much space) as well as other design projects, but that's not likely to happen. So, I have to look around and see what is available out in the world. We are praying and praying for God to open the right doors, and to make it very clear which ones we need to go through. I don't mind a swift kick in the pants.

The reason I set up this blog was to get some of my ideas out there on the subject of graphic design. I tend to do more with typography than anything else, but graphic design in general could always use more voices and actors. I want to give my take. Like everyone else who has delved into the world of graphic design, there is no reason why we all can't voice our opinions and ideas. There are so many new trends going on around the world. If you check out the latest two editions of I.D. Magazine you will catch a glimpse of some fairly wild and titillating ideas.

Well, that is somewhat about me. Drop me an e-mail anytime. If you have any graphic design in you, let me know. I am always looking for more ideas to study and folks to learn from. I'm always looking for amazing, usable fonts. Anyone giving away a tablet or Wacom type device is welcome to send it my way. Plus, if you happen to be giving away the latest Adobe Creative Suite, do think of me. Technology is not the end-all, absolute must, in graphic design, but it sure is nice.

tuesday typography: typography itself

Each Tuesday I would like to spend a moment and talk a little about the typographical issues in the world today.

But, maybe you are not all that sure what typography is. Maybe Tuesday's would be lost if you did not know the depths of this truth known as typography. Let me help you. Let me help your Tuesday's be that much brighter.

Typography is theory in practice. The term does not specifically refer to fonts and type, but how fonts and type are used. And not just how they are used on paper or on screen. We are talking about walls, the cardboard box from Amazon.com, the skywriters, bookmarks, dishwashers. Anything that has some sort of type, lettering, or communicative language involves typography. The actual font or typeface itself is only as significant as the reason why you use it.

Have a look at this image.

There is no real pizzazz. There is nothing really special about it. I created this one really quick to have an example of typography. There are two different fonts used: eurostile and grafik text. Eurostile has that very modern, techno feel to it. I like the "t"; and notice how the letters (especially the "o") are sort of blocky, almost squared. Grafik text gives you the fifteenth/sixteenth century sensibility to go along with background image. That image is an old etching from The Actes and Monuments . . . by John Foxe. There are two men tied to a stake and about to be burned by order of the English Queen Mary Tudor, a.k.a. Bloody Mary, in 1555. The gentleman on the right is John Bradford, best known for the quote, "There but for the grace of God go I."

There are quite a few questions with this image, which may be problems. For instance, why the German out front? Why is there German at all? Does the eurostile font fit in with the rest of the image? Do you need the drop shadow? Can you read the faded English text? And so on. I am not too hot on it myself. It looks like something pieced together quickly. But what aspect of this are we missing? What do we have to understand about the image before we just pass judgment?

What's the point?

Sounds too basic to be worth asking, really. But think about that for a minute. What if I had been asked to create an image around 450x350, with the famous quote by John Bradford, a nice modern font that shows the quote in German, and it must have a drop shadow? If that were the case this would be a fairly good product. With some more tweaking here and there, it would at least be a presentable option. On the other hand, what if I had been asked to a professional lead-in page in a magazine like Christian History where the subject was going to be the influence of the Reformation in England, particularly under Mary Tudor's reign, on the Germanic people?

If I saw this image I would ask to be put on the stake along side those men. Dear Lord, help me.

And that is only a simplified example. But hopefully you can understand the idea of why knowing the motivations or reasons behind an image, in particular specific choices for fonts and font placement (lettering, alignment, spacing, etc), and the message the creator is trying to pass along.

Here is a real life example to look at. This time, let me give you the background first. The European Union will be celebrating their 50th Anniversary next year. A competition was commenced, and students (design and arts students) were commissioned with the task of creating the Anniversary logo. The goal: create an image that would "encapsulate the idea of European co-operation... and the future of Europe in particular." From the 1,700 submissions, the winner came from Szymon Skrzypczak:

What do you think? Did the winning image capture the European Union's desired goal? You can read more about this at BBC News.

OK. Personally I cannot stand the image. It's closer to a typographical nightmare than dream work. I mean, I can understand why Szymon would do this: he tried to bring together various forms, "voices," including accents, into one word to parallel the various voices of the different nations in the EU, and how they come together to try and do some good in the world. The result, however, is a mish-mash of irrelevant letter forms, with no continuity, and does not convey the message of someone who really thought through the design. It's as if he said, "Hey. What if I take lot's of different fonts and slap them together? See what happens." The "r" is not even a letter; that's a symbol. Is "togethe" a registered trademark? Plus, the "since 1957" is not far enough off centered to keep it from looking like bad placement. But now I am just being picky. I would like to have seen the other submissions; get some sort of context for this winning image.

Consider how the image will be used. Consider the message the words will convey. And not just the words themselves, but how they are represented, where on the medium they will be displayed, who will be the audience, and so forth. Typography is theory in practice. It's the difference between landing the bid or considering another career. Art is art. Design is design. There is good art and bad art. Good design and bad design. If you are looking at typography, you have to get beyond the fonts themselves. You have to ask why. You have to ask "Who wants this? Who needs this? How do I get the point across?"

I have over 1,200 fonts in my small laptop. Don't think for a second that I use them all. You have to stay away from the mentality of "use it because you got it." Especially stay away from the biggest trap of all of them: "That's a cool font. I'll use that one." Just because a font is cool does not mean it is the right one. Picking a font is art. It is ultimately subjective, but they will not all give you the end product you were either looking for or actually needed. Of those 1,200+ fonts, it's the tried and true, old reliable's that usually end up in my work. The simple, no nonsense fonts like Verdana or Trebuchet MS, Gill Sans MT or Tahoma, Century or Futura. Those fonts are always there for you when you need them. You will be surprised how usable and comfortable they can actually be if you give them a chance. (I will get more into specific fonts on Friday's.)

That is typography in a nutshell. I had to summarize it in such a way that you get the practical side of the theory, but as a whole typography begins in the mind of the designer. Whether it is "Goodyear" on the side of tires or a 9 pt. letter "A" on a 24"x24" poster, both show typography, and both have their own reasons why they are the way they are. Each Tuesday I will discuss something from the world of typography, mainly real world examples. And maybe, just maybe, between now and then, I will learn how to be a better writer. I do apologize for that. But, if you made it this far, guess it's not half bad. Maybe just three quarters.

Technorati Tags: typography, fonts, design theory

please excuse the mess

Please excuse the mess I have around here. I have just opened this up because I wanted to have a blog dedicated to Graphic Design. Especially Design Theory. Thinking. Exploring.

No, I am not saying this default blog template is messy. But I am twisting things around with it. So for a time, please bear with the chaos. I wish I had the chance to make a brand new one, but that will wait for now.

Little by little I will be touching up here and there. Slowly but surely. Just please give me some time . . . you know, that "thing" no one ever has but would probably waste anyway.