Joy Olivia Miller

Was ist das? Das ist ein TypeSelect!

2006-11-15T11:41:23Z

While googling for something completely unrelated, I found a real gem. It seems that German designers have a newish tool to help them with picking out typefaces that I hope jumps the pond and heads here to the States for all of us Yankee designers to use when hunting for the perfect fonts. It's called "TypeSelect" and it is basically a Pantone formula guide flip book, except with typefaces -- from a number of foundries -- arranged in color coded sections by styles instead of PMS color families. Be sure to check out Novum's short review. If you don't need to know anymore and are ready to shell out some Euros to make one yours, click over to Amazon's German site to place your order. Auf wiedersehen graphikdesigner!

For the Love of Love

2006-10-15T01:33:17Z

Emotions -- especially love -- are like Miracle-Gro for creativity. I don't care what all the nay-sayers think about Valentine's Day being another "Hallmark Holiday." Even if it's become a bit of that, the world needs more love and if folks have to be prodded and guilted into showing a little more compassion every February 14, I say hurrah! I suppose my only negative feelings about the day relate to the blandness of valentine postcards and greeting cards that are created these days. What happened to the delicate illustrations and tenderly diecut lace borders on cards? The delightful rhymes and fun-filled verses? Fortunately I can sate this longing with a few clicks and if you're feeling the same you should hop on over to these sites too:

And for good measure, brush up on your cupid day trivia over at The History Channel's History of Valentine's Day

Don't Judge A Magazine By Its Cover... Creator

2006-09-14T11:07:50Z

I have a secret to admit. It's probably not something a magazine art director should share with the world (or in my case, the three people who read my blog), but here goes: I dread -- and love -- doing our covers. Next time you see a magazine cover, know that the art director probably spent many sleepless, jaw-clenching nights getting it to that place -- success or failure. There's nothing like the excitement I feel when I finally nail the perfect way to grab your audience's attention and convey the right meaning with a great image and nicely typeset hed our clever editors write-up. It's on that note that I'd like to present a sneak preview of our latest cover. We were fortunate enough to work with friendly and obscenely talented illustrator John Hendrix, a generous soul who really went above and beyond for us. Enjoy!

Teamworkin' made fun

2006-09-14T03:59:39Z

Now here's a group project that I can get behind -- a shared, virtual scratch pad! Lunchtimers.com has three different "Big Pads" you can view and draw on at their Web site. But don't wait too long to leave your mark because you only have a couple minutes to contribute before the page refreshes and you have a new sheet to "decorate." It's a timewaster to be sure, but an interesting one at that!

Spec Your Heart Out

2006-08-12T03:11:47Z

I love paper. I love all of their different textures, colors, and finishes. I love specialty papers with chips of sparkling mica embedded in the pulp and even your neon-flavored run-of-the-mill astrobrite copy papers most frequently used for homemade bakesale flyers and the like. Whenever possible, though, I like to find and spec environmentally friendly papers. The amount of recycled content can vary from line to line. Some mills are more upfront about just how much of the pulp is from recycled (post and pre consumer) sources and others are a little more "creative" with their marketing of their recycled papers. This short primer at paperspecs.com provides a nice list of tips and this transcript from an AIGA presentation, reprinted in Metropolis, is also worth a look for my socially conscious friends and readers. As graphic designers, we have the power to make small changes everyday. Spec recycled when you can. Could their be an easier way to save a few trees? Or an easier way to put your soul at ease when you have to spec unrecycled for special jobs?

"Underground" Music Map Action

2006-07-11T00:38:58Z

The Guardian's "Culture Vulture" bloggers recently creatively mapped out music linkages using the famous London Underground as their inspiration. Having used tweaked map motifs before and having seen it done often by others, I am a little leery of this visual cliche but in this case it works... well. Visit their Web site and download their free pdf to see for yourself.

Hooray for Type-Lover Kanye!

2006-06-09T11:21:41Z

I missed the Grammys, on purpose. It's probably hard to imagine that a music lover would miss the industry's "big night" but I simply cannot stand most award shows and prefer to get the most bang for my buck by just getting my flavor for the long events in wrap-up reports and fashion recaps. Imagine my surprise this morning when I trolled CNN's photos from the event and saw that Chicago's very own gold digger avoider -- and apparently graphic design dabbler -- not only won (as expected) but that he incorporated typography into his acceptance speech. Clever sentiment and nice typesetting! Very cool.

Resinating

2006-05-07T20:29:21Z

It always amazing to me when talented folks turn seemingly everyday normal things into mini masterpieces of ideas. Take artist Wilfrid Wood, for example. Armed with some resin and a lot of imagination and hardwork, Wood -- as the folks behind beinghunted.com recently wrote -- "mixes humor, irony, exaggeration, as well as sexual connotations." However you want to put it, it's fresh. It's good. And it's definitely worth checking out. (link via Mira y Calla)

Artwork by Charles Harper

2006-05-07T03:48:14Z

As a graphic designer, I'm always on the look-out for talented illustrators to help me create eye-catching layouts with their artwork. Whenever I page through the latest issue of a publication I crack open the binding and peek into the gutter to see the attributions. Who did that amazing charcoal portrait? What mastermind came up with that cool collage? Sometimes, though, you come across an artist whose work is so amazing that you have to need to introduce them to as many people as possible. Someone whose work you find so amazing that if, like the Barenaked Ladies' song posits, you "had a million dollars" you would buy pieces of their work for everyone you know. Wildlife-focused pop artist Charles Harper is one of those special illustrators for me. Last week, I tried unsuccessfully to purchase his koala silkscreen (titled "Down Under") for my brother-in-law Brad who spent a semester studying in Australia, and finding his work on eBay.com reminded me that while Harper has a small following, he deserves even more recognition and admirers. Thanks to a blog entry that my friend Matt at Scrubbles.net posted last year, I've been trolling the Web looking for more impressive examples of his work. I'm especially fond of his avian creations, but really they are each wonderful in their own way. Now if only I could add one to my art collection for a reasonable price!

V for VERY interesting

2006-03-24T10:38:40Z

My favorite thing about going to the theater to catch a movie isn't the buttery popcorn, it's the long screening room corridor lined with lively posters for upcoming movies. Unlike reviews and trailers, movie posters -- when designed just right set the mood. If much care has been given to the poster, you can bet your booty the director, actors, and everyone else on the film gave it their all too.

Of the upcoming crop of films about to hit theaters, V for Vendetta looks the most promising -- mostly due to their great posters. Sin City did it up the comics-to-film-thing perfectly and still tops V for Vendetta in terms of translating the mood of the comics to the big screen advertising, but V for Vendetta does come pretty close. Even better than the re-imaging of the original comic book cover art into a poster are the versions with completely new visual concepts. I haven't been this geeked about a movie poster since Fairey strutted his posse-lovin' stuff for Walk the Line. Here's hoping this illustrated posters trend continues in Hollywood!

The big mix up

2006-03-04T08:29:49Z

The only thing I love more than graphic design is music. Specifically, listening to and combining sets of songs into mixes. If I wasn't an art director working for a magazine, I would probably be a struggling dj somewhere. To pay tribute to my favorite past time, I created a new mix about mixes and posted it to the Web's best mixmaker haven -- Art of the Mix. Be sure to drop into their image gallery. The art that folks submit can range from cheesy Web graphic collages to sophisticated covers featuring original artwork and typographic treatments. Truly a must-see, even for the non-mix lovin' creative type. But back to those of you who would consider yourself a mix appreciator or creator, be sure to add Thurston Moore's latest book Mix Tape : The Art of Cassette Culture to your library, or just hop over to Wired to read his article "The Best 90 Minutes of My Life" or to NPR to listen to his thoughts.

Superbowlogo

2006-02-05T13:46:33Z

While most sports fanatics make predictions based on how well teams match up, I'm going to make my first Superbowl prediction based on factor that I know a little something about: branding. Over all, Seattle's brand looks like a sports team logo whereas at first glance Pittsburgh's brand gives off a more corporate feel. The typography for Seattle's wordmark packs more punch and feels appropriate to communicate power and strength (two qualities one would truly like to have associated with their sports team, no?). On the flip side, the Pittsburgh wordmark's typography seems informal, slight, and less impactful. It is almost overwhelmed by graphic element of their brand. The logos themselves, though, have me routing for Pittsburgh. With its strong bold collection of three repeated diamond-like shapes that have an almost Rand-like whimsy, Pittsburgh's logo is far more memorable. Its uniqueness as a brand, despite its lackluster typography, makes me pick Pittsburgh as a hands-down winner. I guess we'll see if that shuffles out to be true on the field, too. For a little more on the Steelers logo, check out this well-written story from the Houston Chronicle

Wrap it up

2006-02-03T12:54:04Z
If your creativity is being spent elsewhere this coming Valentines, don't worry. Martha and her minions are ready to hook you up with an attractive way to jazz up your average candy bar with some festive holiday trim featuring a calligraphic heart-shaped graphic. Hop over to Martha's site and download the free pdf template. Now if all timesavers were this attractive and inexpensive!

She's baaaaaaaaack...

2006-02-01T07:38:57Z
There are loads of spots on the Web for really intellectual discussions about graphic design (Design Observer and Speak Up are just two that come to mind), and while I appreciate those sites, I wanted to create this blog to serve as a place to mostly just post cool stuff and personal updates as a way for me to keep up to speed on what's inspiring me -- past and present. If you've stumbled upon this site, I hope it keeps you entertained and if it doesn't, there's always the best design site in the whole world... and I suggest you pop over to see what's new: Scrubbles!