“Bad Typography is Everywhere, Good Typography is invisible.” —Craig Ward

As designers, we live this quote daily. Whether it’s a horribly kerned sign on the train, or a flyer in the local paper completely set in Impact. It makes us cringe, wince, and gasp. All of us “type snobs” have been there:

“Why on earth would you think typesetting your resumé in Brush Script would make it seem more personal?”

“Really, real estate agent? You thought Chalkboard would make your boring paperwork more fun for me to read?!”

We all have our own personal tragedies, but sometimes there comes one so horrible that the masses turn their heads. It’s not that these typefaces are terrible; it’s more that their applications were so out of place that it made us take notice. So take a walk down memory lane with us and read about our favorite typographic controversies of the last few years after the jump.

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The newest promotion from Neenah Paper is hot off the presses, and it’s designed to inspire creativity. Put down that Wacom pen and pick up an X-Acto: the “Striking Every Time” piece for Oxford and Esse premium papers is more than just an engaging visual and tactile experience for recipients. It asks you to interact, and includes several clock faces that you can assemble and actually use – the kit includes a working clock motor. Read the rest of the entry >

When you actually find some free time in your over-strenuous schedule and can walk away from your desk, where do you find yourself? Lounging around at home catching up on your favorite episode of Glee? Playing some softball in the park? What about going to one of the many music festivals that are held every summer in Chicago? There is no doubt that music plays a big role in the lives of Chicagoland residents. As I spoke in my last blog post, music is a huge part of my life, so I attend many concerts and festivals every year.

There are a vast variety of different music festivals in the Chicago area that you can attend, no matter what genre you’re partial to. One of my favorite aspects of these festivals and concerts are the amazing posters that designers produce for them. It seems like the majority of people who aren’t designers simply look past these posters. I stumbled upon a website that compiled a good amount of recent posters. A lot of these posters are simply beautiful, and have expressive formal elements in many different ways. It seems as though designers really have the opportunity to express themselves freely when designing something for a band or event.

Not only do I find the designs inspirational, but the bands and events that are the subject matter are usually something to get excited about. It seems that most of the bands that have these nicely designed posters are not the typical radio popular music, which leaves a lot of room for experimenting expressively. So if you’re looking for something to inspire your everyday life, break out and take a listen to some of these bands.

If you think you would enjoy going to some festivals this summer, I will list out some of the most popular ones. There is usually something for everyone.

There is the ever-popular Lollapalooza in Grant Park, Pitchfork in Union Park, The Taste of Chicago down Michigan Avenue, Division Street Festival (which actually just passed), Warped Tour in Tinley Park, Wicker Park Fest on N Milwaukee Avenue, Summerfest in Milwaukee, and of course Jazz Fest and Blues Fest.

Most of these events have a pretty impressive lineup of bands, definitely good enough to force you to get away from your desk and enjoy a beautiful summer in Chicago. Whether your a designer or not, everyone can appreciate a well designed poster of your favorite band. Even if you don’t enjoy going to some of these festivals, at least check out some of the beautiful things created for the bands. I have listed only a few events in the Chicago area, are there some that you have discovered recently that I didn’t mention? Possibly something in the suburbs, or even further?

Coco’s back…in Twitter form.

Many fans were shocked by the big NBC late night shake-up earlier this year, which left Conan O’Brien without a slot in the lineup. A lot of speculation followed on where Conan would go next, yet at the time it wasn’t a major network that snagged the star, but a social network. Sure, maybe he didn’t have the network tv fanbase that Leno does, but his move to Twitter proved that he indeed has a large audience.

His bio reads,

“I had a show. Then I had a different show. Now I have a Twitter account.”

With this statement and his first tweet,

“Today I interviewed a squirrel in my backyard and then threw to commercial. Somebody help me.”

he gained 270,000 followers in a single day. As of today, he has amassed 898,696 with this number growing by the day. Compared to Jay Leno’s Twitter account, which has less than 10,000 followers, Conan is apparently doing something right.

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When our studio manager, Katrina, mentioned that she had signed up for 30 days of bikram yoga, I didn’t think too much of it. 9 days into her 30 day challenge Katrina posted about the benefits of this style of yoga, and I gained a little perspective and education. Inspired by the idea of issuing challenges, Katrina managed to convince Justin, our inspirational leader, that upon her completion of the 30 days Justin would be required to attend one session at his own expense. As Katrina quietly chipped away at the number of days remaining on her self imposed contract with a sanctioned form of human misery, discussions began about providing Justin with some backup in the yoga class. Naturally, I was selected.

My next goal is to get the whole office to attend a class as well – Katrina

It was at this point that I saw an opportunity. As Katrina would the ambassador by which Justin and I were introduced into the world of bikram yoga, I wondered if there was any way that I could maximize both our experience and Katrina’s embarrassment for having brought us. Hit by a sudden unavoidable bolt of genius, one word came to mind: Speedo. Normally, I wouldn’t wear a speedo. (And by the term “wouldn’t”, I of course mean that I do every chance I get.) Upon Katrina’s successful completion of her 30 day program, I was granted that opportunity.

Yeah I should have known something like this was going to happen….. – Katrina

At the end of our work day on Wednesday, November 4th, Justin and I drove to our destination above a local Walgreens where the yoga class is held. While Justin was dressed in standard gym clothing, my plan was veiled in a set of 1974 Michigan blue and maize tear-away pants. Walking into the studio there is a noticeable change in temperature, and people draped in towels and sweatshirts recovering from or getting ready for their bikram yoga session. We signed in and Katrina began explaining the standard procedure for the class, while we looked through a plexiglass wall at one of the sessions already in progress. After a couple minutes, we headed into our classroom to assume what I now know as “the corpse position”, to begin our pre-yoga relaxation while laying in at 105 degree room. At this point, I quietly removed the tear-away pants as students began to fill the classroom and Justin laid next to me trying not to laugh out loud and maintain focus on the relaxation technique.

Once given the command, everyone stood up to receive instruction from the teacher and cue Katrina’s embarrassment. Now, I would rarely say this, but catching a glimpse of myself in the mirrors surrounding the studio; I looked good. I mean, really good. Having begun to sweat a little already from the temperature inside the room, I noticed that the blue speedo and the blue long-sleve running shirt had become the same color, so I appeared to be wearing a leotard, reminiscent of the Beyonce “Single Ladies” music video. To begin the embarrassment, each of the new comers were introduced to the class and it was mentioned that Katrina had brought us to the class. At the conclusion of the introductions, we began the Yoga.

I was rather startled looking in the mirror and seeing what going on behind me and seeing Kellen’s outfit. – Katrina

Credit to Katrina for completing the 30 day challenge, because it is no joke. Bending, balancing, and concentrating we churned through position after position, until we moved from the standing positions to the seated and laying positions. Each position challenged a different set of muscles and as the class continued, mental concentration became more and more important, which is difficult to do when you’re wearing a speedo. Dripping sweat, and only drinking water when instructed, the session seemed to last longer than an hour, but in the end it was worth it, if only to honor our friend’s accomplishment.

Well it was longer then an hour… class is 90 mins. But I was super proud of you and Justin for making it through the class. You guys definitely made an impression on the rest of the class – Katrina