July 2008 Archives

Inspiration: Milk Magazine

Since Fabien Baron left French Vogue to come back to America, you might think you need to bid the city of lights "adieu", but don't give up on France until you've checked out Milk magazine. I came across this French mag for kids' fashion (le magazine de mode enfantine) when I was in Paris a few years ago, at a tiny newsstand near my hotel.… MORE

Consistency Was the Key

A few months ago, I had the pleasure of speaking with The Economist's Democracy In America about the telling differences between Barack Obama's and Hillary Clinton's campaign logos and their various implementation strategies. Although this was something of a reprise of my 2004 Op-Ed for the New York Times, it was an interesting exercise in the differences between the 2008 race and the Bush-Kerry matchup. I made several points about how John Slabyk and the Obama folks really understood what we as magazine designers deal with every day, the notion that consistency and brand-building make for loyal and repeat customers. Now, with the dust settled on the Democratic nominating process, I thought it fun to go back and look at those differences as they were seen during the height of the back-and-forth. Hindsight is, as they say, 20-20. (Kind thanks to Sruthi Pinnamaneni and the folks at The Economist for making this audio available to SPD.)

Listen to the interview here.

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Reel Characters

Check out this short where a group of film majors-turned-comedians give us a jesting look at what the fonts we know so well on a daily basis would be like if they were..... real people.
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Contents: May Intrigue

For some, the TOC is a blip on the way to the glories of the feature well, but for a few of us, they're the most fun to really dig into. Heck, books have been made, just for the glory of the TOC pages. Smashing Magazine compiled a list of some beautiful examples, aside from the Canadian Hockey Atlas here at the top:… MORE

Mixed Media

As Art Director of W and in my pursuit to side with the wondrous world of art collecting, I've been keeping note of some stimulating work currently being produced by young artists. One abstract creator I've had my eye on is Carlyle Stewart, whom I met while attending an art auction benefit last May. His mediums vary from collage paintings and photo montages, to Linear and Tonal drawings. … MORE

Welcome to the New SPD.org: A Note from Your President

As visual journalists, we spend just about every waking moment of our lives making sure the magazines and websites we work for look great. Day in, day out, tending our very own little gardens--which is why it struck those of us on the SPD Board as particularly ironic that the old SPD site looked like it hadn't been touched since spring 1997. 
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Mario Hugo Gets WIRED

We at WIRED are debuting a new F.O.B. in the upcoming September issue and I'm just bursting with excitement about the new sections. Mario Hugo, who designed our very first "splash" page last February, has just completed a cadre of new page slugs--logos for the START, PLAY and brand-new TEST section--and boy are they gorgeous. Not to mention, we're also officially debuting a year-long project in Hoefler & Frere-Jones new face, Exchange Display Light. The September issue hits newsstands on August 19. Click on this headline for a sneak peek.

Blitt Storm

When the controversy erupted over The New Yorker's now-infamous cover "The Politics of Fear" last week (showing a fear-monger's vision of a post-inaugural Barack and Michelle Obama in the Oval Office), perhaps your first thoughts were not of the effect on the campaign, but of cover artist and colleague Barry Blitt, a brilliantly nuanced illustrator/writer who was suddenly thrust into the limelight, and skewered by many as some ham-handed Obama basher.… MORE

Spines of Slovenia

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I Didn't Even Realize the Feast of St. Sebastian Was Coming Up...

but it must be, with all these martyr-homages going on.

Many thanks to Jeremy Leslie at magCulture for his rapid vigilance on this. Two covers posted with the same idea, on one day. Hmm.
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Inspiration Found

Need some inspiration? Something to get those creative juices flowing? Check out ffffound. That's right, four f's. It's like a bulletin board of cool shit. Design, photography, graphics, typography. If you're a visual person there's something here for you.

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