Thursday, September 2, 2010

Crumbs and Baked by Melissa

In my on-going effort to transfer some of the content management of this blog over to you, the readers, I’m showing two images today that may just spark some debate. They were suggested by a friend and P*S* Reader, and I agree with her for the most part, but I think some of you won’t, and I encourage you to leave some comments and hash it out.






Pr*tty
This growing chain of bake shops has a thoughtful and well-implemented identity system that goes well beyond this charming logo with the handsome type and quirky jester character. The name is also quite nice.

Sh*tty
I’m decidedly not a fan of the tie-dye aesthetic, first of all. I imagine it’s a production nightmare, but it also evokes the nasty, bitter taste of frosting overloaded with food coloring.

My other big beef with this is one I blogged about a few weeks back. The logotype is meant to look hand written, but it’s a font (and a questionable one at that). Obviously the point is to give it a personal touch, but, while the cupcakes may be baked by Melissa, the name clearly ain’t written by her.


Thanks to Katie Kosma for the suggestion.

Quipsologies

Just a quick note to let you know that starting this month I’ll be a regular contributor on the design links blog Quipsologies. Yesterday my pals at UnderConsideration launched a refreshed design for the site, along with a modified approach to how links are submitted and curated. The new design is robust and very visual.

If you’ve never been to Quipsologies, you should check it out. Hopefully you’ll see links from me posted there a couple times a week at least, as well as a wide array from UnderConsideration and the other Quipsologists.

A big thank you to Armin and Bryony for inviting me to contribute!

Oh! And if any of you want to share something with me that could be quipped, please do!

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Wednesday Waffler: NYC Street Signs



A P*S* Reader sent me these images from the Bronx. For most New Yorkers, the first image will look very familiar. The second image appears to be a new design for our fair city’s street signs. I’m pretty sure the typeface is a (sadly) compressed version of Clearview Hwy, the new official typeface for roadway signage, which makes sense.

Still, despite Clearview’s well-researched design and highly-sanctioned usage, the new design doesn’t sit quite right with me. It didn’t sit right with today’s contributor either. But it’s probably safe to say we’re only biased by our familiarity with the older design (an interesting phenomenon that might demand further commentary in another post). So, I’ll leave it up to the larger reading population, especially you non-NYers.

Thanks to Fernando Gil for the images.

Friday, August 27, 2010

An Open Letter to James Cameron: Special Edition

Dear Mr. Cameron,

A letter such as this can hardly do justice to the overwhelming gratitude I’m hoping to express herein. Your most recent film, Avatar, has finally legitimized my work in a way I’ve only ever dreamed of.

Goodness knows I’ve worked hard the past 26 years to make a name for myself. And it’s felt great coming to the aid of New Age spa owners, suburban party planners, and young couples looking to save money by making their own wedding invitations. But only now, by appearing in your movie, have I been given mainstream, high-level recognition as a serious typeface. And for that, I thank you.

Imagine my delight so many months ago at seeing the trailers and posters for this, your much anticipated return to science fiction movie making. To see the title AVATAR (all caps!) typeset in yours truly. Well, I practically wept. And to be rendered in such an artificial luminescent way... finally, in the hands of a true visionary such as yourself, my potential to look totally badass had been realized.


Little did I know that that was only the tip of the iceberg (no Titanic reference intended!). After seeing the finished film (in Imax 3D of course), I can easily say it is the greatest movie ever made! To think, among your many bold choices as a filmmaker—soldiers who fly helicopters despite mastering interstellar travel; inexplicable floating mountains; and humans still petty enough to commit genocide in order to acquire precious minerals such as the very cleverly named unobtainium—that I would be one of them. Kudos to you for not spending a single cent of your massive budget on an expensive, attractive font for the subtitles, and opting to put me to the task instead.


Shockingly, as if you hadn’t already done enough for me, when the title card appeared at the end of the picture, there I was again! Chills, I tell you, chills. I hardly have words, even now, to describe my sheer admiration for this final master stroke: glowing, green letters filling every inch of the screen. A lesser director man might have settled at filling the screen left to right, but not you. You saw me, in my humble proportions, and said No, not big enough. Undoubtedly, a few mouse-clicks later, your most talented technician had me soaring to new cap-heights. Let me never come back down.


Thank you Mr. Cameron, thank you!


Yours in friendship and wanton servitude,


Please note, Pr*tty Sh*tty was chosen as the forum for publication of this letter because of its long standing impartial, and unbiased stance on matters pertaining to design. The views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of the author of this blog. They are the views solely of the author of this letter.

Editor’s Note: Just as Avatar is best scene through uncomfortable, headache-inducing glasses, this Special Edition Open Letter is best viewed with the font Papyrus installed in your system’s fonts folder.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Quiet Time

Some of you might have noticed there’s been no new posts the last couple days. Sorry about that. Life’s a bit jumbled right now, and it’s hard for me to keep up with this blogging stuff. So, I’m afraid it’s gonna be pretty quiet around here for the next couple weeks. Check back in for the occasional post, though. And I’ll be back at it full time before too long.

Friday, August 20, 2010

U Haul Graphics




Pr*tty
This particular illustration isn’t my favorite, but I’m a fan of this line of U Haul trucks that essentially act as ads for state-themed attractions. They’re not exactly legible on the go, but U Haul trucks also tend be parked a lot, so you can read them then. And the illustrations, for the most part, are quite nice.

Sh*tty
By contrast, another line of their trucks are made up to look like their cartoon mascot, Lil’ Sammy. Needless to say, the illusion that this real truck might look like the cartoon version because of these graphics is about as convincing as... well... something that isn’t at all convincing.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Clipart on Signage

It’s not unusual to see businesses include pictures of the products they sell on their signage. Often, those pictures are some form of clipart, or at least in the vein of clipart.




Pr*tty
I think it’s important that a sign’s clipart be A) attractive, and B) consistent.

Sh*tty
Otherwise you get an organic, mis-matched top hat with your worm-infested frozen yogurt.

You think they sold that one sandwich yet?


Regardless, neither of these signs can hold a candle to this magnificent, franken-font, sign-as-catalog beauty:



I know, I know. It’s like the double rainbow of signage.


Speaking of which, I saw a double rainbow on a recent drive across the country. This was in New Mexico. Sadly, only one of them went “all the way.”



And since today is apparently all about bonus images... Mangy wiener dog in a hat and sunglasses: