Noisy Decent Graphics

Awful typography

Saw this last night. I hate to be negative, but I think there are lessons here.

The typography on this ad is awful. It's a simple line, just six words, that have been made harder to read by the design.

Your eye has some real work to do getting from "the" and then back to "day" all the way on the other side of the 6 sheet. Reading makes you feel a bit sick as your head has to do so much movement from left to right and left to right and…

It looks like they're trying to hide (or lose) the word "the" which would be OK if you could read the line without it, but you can't really.

There's absolutely no hierarchy to the information. I'm pretty sure each of the six words are a different size which makes it really hard for brain to work out which words are important. If I was walking past quickly, what's the take out - start shine?

Why underline start?

This kind of typography is hard to get right, but this an example of how not to do it.

Legibility is key in any form of communication. If you can't read the line then that's game over.

(All that and we haven't even started on the puntastic line.)

How To Draw Mr Tickle

Bloggers Drinks, tonight, on the corner

Tonight, sadly, I can't make it to Laptops and Looms. So we're having Bloggers Drinks in London instead. This is mainly because Marcus is over from Germanland as he's speaking at a conference on Saturday at Ravensbourne. He's a proper Social Media Expert you see.

Anyway. Bloggers Drinks, tonight. In the Golden Heart, East, near W+K. Facebook invite here. All the old crew will be there; Marcus, Sit Down Comedian, Anonymous Graphic Designer, Colman, Claire Gates, WAM, Famous Rob, the Pickler, Tom L'Oreal Garnier, Dangerman, Charles Frith, Seth Godin - all that lot.

Come along. Should be fun.

 #booming

Deacon Blue's Ricky Ross in the D&AD Annual

I forgot all about this until the other day when I was browsing through last years D&AD Annual. We made it into the book for TOFWOTI and as part of the credits I had to list all the writers.

So firstly, that means Tom Taylor, Matt Jones, Anne Ward and other luminaries have been "in the book" which is funny enough, but secondly I added Ricky Ross (from Deacon Blue) to the list. Just because I thought it was funny.

I laughed anyway.

Are you happy with this?

These new tables provide me with some ace still life backgrounds.

Hand Written Letter Project

I went to the launch of the exhibition of Craig Oldham's Hand Written Letter Project the other day. It's a great project and a good exhibition. Worth a visit.

It's the one where Craig wrote to lots of well know designers and asked them to send him a letterhead. They did that, and being designers, the sent back lots of "creative" responses. Full of "jokes" and "ideas".

He's had a brilliant response, look there's one from the Sag.

Wim - all your favourites are in there.

 

There's even one from me, from The Design Conspiracy days.

There's a book too, which is limited to 175 editions. It's limited because he's asked all the studios to send him actual letterheads and then he's bound all the actual (real) letterheads into the book.

The advantage of this is that you get to see all the funky paper sizes and the fancy foils and embossing and effects that designers love.

In fact, probably the thing that strikes me most from the exhibition is just how crap designers are at designing letterheads. Sometimes it's like playing 'spot the address'. Often there's too much graphic design and not enough letterhead. But anyway.

Here's Bob Gill.

And here's Craig. 

Craig deserves credit for starting this project a few years ago, for bothering to get all these letterheads, for organising the exhibition and for getting a book published. Nice work Craig.

Take care - with the hierarchy of your messaging

Picture borrowed with thanks from blech​

Not to be sold separately

 

There's a brilliant exhibition in the foyer-ery bit of the Guardian at the moment. It's called Not to be sold separately: The Observer Colour Magazine 1964-1995 and features covers and spreads from that period.

There are some great covers.

This one is particularly cute.

And this is an interesting article about women working in The City.

"Hard work is no good, I've learnt, without luck too. I gave them assurances of no future children, and of being able to arrange my domestic life so that it wouldn't interfere with work."

"Inside the office of the future".

So good.

It's free, open to the public and a five minute walk from Kings Cross. More details here.

Even more bike stands!

Yet even more funky bike stands, erected in Tunbridge Wells as part of the Tour De Britain thing from a few years ago.

Seems like not everyone has worked out they are bike stands. Actually, maybe they aren't bike stands? I thought they were.

Previous bike stand posts here.

BT Tower

I went up here the other day.

It was amazing. As you'd expect.

More pics here.

 

Three Hs

I love the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition

I love this exhibition. Always have. Lots of stuff, all packed in. Lots of variety. Paintings, sculpture, architecture. 

Closes this weekend.

 

I'll let you into a secret

I hate book jackets. Cumbersome, useless, unnecessary. The first thing I do when I get a hardback book is throw the book jacket away.

So it was nice to find a pub the other day where every single book jacket had been removed.