Great Characters – Wooden & Human

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Wood type is beautiful. It’s aesthetic qualities of wrinkles, flaws and tactile characteristics are unique to only real wood press. Typeface is a film that focuses on the convergence of modern design and traditional technique at the Hamilton Wood Type Museum is in rural Two Rivers, Wisconsin. It is home to over 1.5 million wood letterforms – all available to hold, touch, and use in printing workshops. As the film’s site describes, “the scenario at the Hamilton Museum illustrates an intriguing convergence: the historical transformation of a craft having evolved from a practical, commerce-driven commodity to an object of aesthetic inspiration and academic study.” Of course, most contemporary graphic designers can certainly appreciate and admire these beautiful artifacts and the work that they produce.

(image source)

The demand for wood type was originally fueled by Industrial Revolution posters who’s large type could not be metal. Wood type was incredibly effective in poster design where the objective was to simply be louder than the poster next to you. Unfortunately, offset lithography overthrew the press in the 60s because etched metal plates eliminated the need to set individual pieces of type. Although it’s lack of practicality made it obsolete, it seems to now be making a comeback thanks to the oversaturation of mass production. Society is now flat, and the touch of letterpress stands out again. I was amazed by the passion of the craftsmen in the film who describe letterpress as laborious, but very relaxing. Enthusiasts hoping to keep the practice of letterpress alive note that using a computer to mimic wood type style taints the entire process. It is simply not authentic. Computers are too fast and automated; handling type gives respect to details and design process.

The film made me sad for the uncertain future of wood type as it’s original craftsmen grow old, taking all the tradition and detailed practices with them. It is rather tragic seeing such a focus on computer generated work and design software over handcraft. The film definitely has, “great characters both wooden and human” as it takes an in-depth look at the lives and feelings of the craftsmen, artists, and design students. I would absolutely recommend this film to anyone interested in design, typography, or even American History. If only Wisconsin were a little closer…

Film site here.
Museum Site here.
For you: Ok, who out there has been to the Hamilton Wood Type Museum? Please tell me about the experience!

MoMA & M-Cups

This past Friday, I had a lovely day exploring MoMA with my mom. It’s always refreshing to get out and get a burst of creativity and inspiration thrown at me for a few hours, and since my mom was with me she insisted on picking me up something at the gift shop for my new house. I’m in love with these beautifully designed, clever Fred M Cup Measuring Matroyshkas!

I showed some self control in not getting the other awesomely designed items that I thought would look fabulous in my new place:

(vase, salt & pepper shakers, and chips and dip bowl)! All clever, practical, and smartly designed.

Awesome Photoshop CS5 Features You Should Know

As I mentioned in my post about Illustrator’s new features, Adobe has made some helpful little improvements for CS5. For Photoshop, I don’t necessarily think I will use all the new features frequently, but I am excited about some of the efficiency adjustments in existing tools. Here are some of the most notable new features:

1. Smart Radius
Finally an easy solution to making those pesky selections around hair! Make a simple, rough selection going in a little more than normal by the hair. Refine Edges and smooth and feather any necessary areas. Increase radius to get the details back by the hair, then select “Smart Radius.” Awesome! If refinements need to be made, use the refinement touchup tool on the left of the Refine Edge box for localized fixes. For further perfection, check “Decontaminate Colors” and drag slider to the right.

2. Content-Aware Fill
I think this feature had the most hype pre-release of CS5 and it certainly delivers once you get used to it. Simple select an area you want to remove, go to Edit > Fill > Content Aware. No need for lengthy sessions with the healing tools. Thanks, Adobe! Watch a funny spoof of how the tool works here.

3. Puppet Warp
The next generation of transform tools has arrived! Essentially, this tool allows you to pin certain parts of an object down, while allowing you to manipulate other parts of that object (like a puppet with joints). To use it, isolate an object on a layer and go to Edit > Puppet Warp. Click “Show Mesh” on top menu to see what you’re working with, and click anywhere on the mesh to add points (that pin down areas). Click and drag to manipulate an area, or option-click to rotate a point like a hinge. It take a little playing around, but I can see this as being useful under certain circumstances (ie: slightly repositioning something, making an animated gif, etc)

4. Bristle Brushes
Like Illustrator CS5, bristle brushes are now a paint option with realistic brush strokes. See my post on Illustrator’s New Features for more on how it works.

5. Mixer Brush Tool
Ah, a tool that realistically mixes paint and can be used on photographs. Cool? Yes. Will I use it frequently? Probably not. But here’s how it works: Select the Mixer Brush and use the dropper to chose your start color (or hold opt key to sample multiple colors). Make a new layer if you are working with a photograph, and choose “sample all layers.” Use the top bar to determine style of painting you are making (the wetter the brush, the more fluidity in the color mixing). From here, just stroke and paint away.

Here’s an example from lynda.com (before and after)

Productivity Improvements Worth Mentioning:
- You can now delete all empty layers by going to File > Scripts > Delete Empty Layer
- Opacity can be changed on multiple layers at a time!
- Can now “Paste Outside” of selections
- Ruler tool can easily be used to straighten a horizon by simply clicking, dragging, and clicking “straighten” at top
- Can copy color’s hex code from the color panel and paste into document
- HUD color picker with eye dropper allows closer look at selected colors as well as  their relationship to others on the color wheel.

Of course this is only a quick run-through, so check out lynda.com for more information and training. Stay tuned for InDesign CS5 Awesome Features, and check out my Illustrator Awesome Features.

For you: What is your favorite new tool? What do you think Photoshop still needs to add/improve upon?

Making Ideas Happen Review

Here’s a little equation for you:
Making Ideas Happen = (The Idea) + Organization & Execution + Forces of Community + Leadership Capability

This can easily be a never-ending post and review of my Creative Freelancer Conference purchase, Making Ideas Happen by Scott Belsky. I’ll try to keep it brief, and you can (and should) go read it for yourself.

Another equation to ponder as we look at Organization:
Creativity x Organization = Impact
100 x 0 = 0, or loads of ideas but no organization, yielding zilch.
50 x 2 = 100, or someone “less creative” somehow produces more work than their talented peers. Stellar organization makes impact.

Belsky proposes The Action Method for handling well…everything. Every idea (personal or professional) is considered a project that needs to be acted upon, from making a doctor appointment to launching a new website. Every project consists of three components:
1. Action Steps: specific tasks that inch you forward (send memo, post blog, pay bill)
2. References: project-related handouts, sketches, notes, manuals, websites, discussions…items that are not actionable, but serve strictly as reference for later
3. Backburner Items: things that are not actionable now, but may someday (revisit these once a week to see if they are closer to being feasible)
Projects can be easily organized into folders with these components for easy access. The system can be modified and certainly seems effective. For more extensive info on it, check this out.

Prioritization is always tough for me since I tend to think everything is important and in need of immediate attention. However, energy is your most valuable commodity. In order to be successful, you need to stay focused on long-term goals and really evaluate the amount of energy that you should be spending on each item (visualize from extreme to idle across all projects). Belsky suggests sticking to 5 projects that matter most per day…when “important” stuff comes up, these never get brushes aside.

Onto Execution, where we all experience the inevitable project plateau of brick walls, frustration, and procrastination. The easiest way out is of course to just start a new idea, but this is also the most dangerous because our addiction to new ideas cuts others short. So how do you get over the hump? Relentless persistence and perspiration…and of course, passion (in a nutshell). Celebrate progress and find places and habits conducive to working and getting you through the bumps.

Forces of Community is a part of the equation that I have been working on, and find rather challenging as a freelancer. We all need feedback and support, both online and offline. Belsky says that there are three types of people: Dreamers (idea generators), Doers (focused on execution), and Incrementalists (can do a little of both). We all have strengths and weaknesses that work better when not alone. An approach to critique mentioned in the book that I liked was Start, Stop, Continue, giving specific feedback of what the person should start, stop, and continue doing on a particular project.

Finally, I found Leadership interesting in that Belsky addresses self leadership, meaning our best hope for always staying on track is to notice when we stray and figure out why. We must develop tolerance for ambiguity (there will always be unknowns), capture benefits of failure, and embrace the fact that every day and every project is an opportunity and responsibility. I think there is much to learned from this book – go check it out!

For you: What do you do to overcome “project plateaus”? If you are a freelancer, how do you handle forces of community?

Awesome Illustrator CS5 Features You Should Know

The folks at Adobe have done quite the commendable job on their Illustrator CS5 improvements and additions. There is added flexibility, efficiency, and improved usability that we can all appreciate. With CS5 installed on all Mac Lab computers at school for the fall, I’m hoping some of these great features can catch the eye of some of the more Illustrator-hating, Photoshop-loving students. Here are my favorite features to check out:

1. Perspective Grid
Finally, a way to effectively create accurate depth in Illustrator! You can only have one grid per document (one vanishing point), with several points to adjust as you like. Grids on the planes can also be adjusted and serve as guides to lock your art, like regular grids. You also have the option to save a grid as a preset to use in the future. I love that you also have the option to either draw artwork directly into perspective (by selecting specific panels in the perspective tool widget), or you can map flat artwork to the grid. Awesome!

2. Variable-Width Strokes
My eyes lit up at this feature as I wondered where it has been all these years! Simply select the width tool in your tool panel and click and drag on ANY path! You are not adding anchor points…these are width points that can be dragged around on the path. Two other tips: hold shift to move multiple points together, and hold option if you only want to increase width on one side of the path. Of course, you can save your stroke as a present if you want to use it again, or you can apply it to an entire artwork rather than painstakingly adjusting each width point. This is really a fantastic feature.

3. Bristle Brush
Ooo, real brush stroke simulated in Illustrator! The tool is lactated under the existing brush tool, with options to control bristles, opacity, and stiffness of the bristles. As a bonus, if you use a pen tablet, you can control the rotation of the brush like you are really painting. Quite a fun tool.

Note: This tree is not representative of my design skills. It was quickly drawn to show off the new brush

4. Shape Builder
Not a fan of the Pathfinder Window? Then this is a tool to get excited over. Just use primitive shapes to throw something together, and instead of using the Pathfinder, select the Shape Builder Tool and click and drag over desired areas of selected shapes to combine them. Tip: When building, use transparent fills to see exactly which paths you are combining. I think this will prove to be a handy little tool.

5. Enhanced Drawing Functions (Draw Behind & Draw Inside Modes)
No need to worry about sending things to the front and back as you build objects anymore. There are now two new options on the bottom of the toolbar – Draw Behind Mode, and Draw Inside Mode (automatically clips paths that wander outside of shape, and even works for photos).

6. Pixel Grid for Web Graphics
To have a better idea of what your web graphics are going to look like, you can now view the pixel grid when in Pixel Preview (View > Pixel Preview). To improve the look of your edges without guessing, you can “Align to Pixel Grid” by going to Window > Transform > and check the box for “Align to Pixel Grid.”

Other Improvements to Get Excited About:
- Command-click to select artwork through other objects
- Copy > Paste in Place is now finally an option!

Of course this is only a quick run-through, so check out lynda.com for more information and training. Stay tuned for Photoshop and InDesign CS5 Awesome Features.

For you: What is your favorite new tool? What do you think Illustrator still needs to add/improve upon?