I dare me

Saw a silly thing on Facebook. It's a comment on people who don't know about design stuff making silly suggestions to change designers' work. 

 Yes, I've been in this situation. 

 Anyway, the example being "improved" is a classic piece of design by Milton Glaser. 

It's also in a simple-ish style that I can kind-of mimic, so I thought I'd give the silly suggestions a serious attempt. Kind-of serious. 

 The original. Classic, of course.

The instructions. Funny? Maybe a little bit. I added the checkmarks.

 My version. 

It's not as good as Milton's, but it's not as bad as some things. Still awful, compared to the original.

Changing 'This Changes Everything'

The 2014 Naomi Klein book, "This Changes Everything" is an inspiring, depressing read. It states, and gives compelling evidence, that the climate crisis is irreversible if we don't do some drastic things, starting in 2017. Yes. Two years ago. Anyway, it's a good book. You should read it.

Of course the fate of the planet is not what this blog post is about. This blog post is about the cover design of the book.

The many editions of the book have had a lot of variations, while still keeping with original hardcover design using Franklin Gothic Extra Condensed with black, white, blue elements. And, to make the design work, the designer breaks up the word "everything." Gutsy. I can't find who designed the original cover. But kudos to you, cover designer!

The cover eliminates the author's name and puts it -- and the subtitle -- on the back cover. Very striking.

The spine is also pretty great. This would only work on a book of considerable page-count.

Then, the paperback version beefs up the author presence on the cover at the expense of the title impact, but it still works. Note that "everything" is restored to one word.

One could argue that the distribution of the colors could be more effective, but the design is so strong, it works just about any way you mix and match. Like this.

Here's a possibility.

And another possibility.

And here's a cover that uses the subtitle. It mentions the movie. It also touts a recommendation from the New York Times. With each added element, the cover loses a bit more of its appeal. It's starting to look like every other book cover design.

Finally, there's the documentary movie made from the book. The movie poster is by Shepard Fairey, and while it has nice elements, it's a real letdown from the book design. The symbol of the burning earth -- while not an original idea -- is effective. But when surrounded by other symbols and frankly ineffective type design and awful color choices (I have to say that these colors work well for other Fairey designs), the poster could use some help.

I played around with the poster and made an in-between version -- holding over some of the book colors and typefaces.

Better? Probably not. But I had to try.

It was a dress, but it could be a cape

This image on Twitter got my attention. Because I couldn't figure out what it was trying to say.

I searched the internet using Google, and eventually Tin Eye, and found that it was a promotion for a software-writing company. And the thing that wasn't a dress was -- a superhero cape. And there is even itwasneveradress.com website. It's all in the cause of promoting women as superhero software programmers. Or something. And that's cool. 

But I think the poster could use some improvement so it's a little more clear in its message.

Here's my redo.

I did a couple specific changes for clarity. First -- bigger scoop on the neckline so the top of the cape is more visible. And then I made the superhero outfit more obvious -- adding full-body spandex with a logo on the chest. Plus boots and pants. Now there is a superhero outfit.

Then I thought perhaps the cape isn't emphasized enough with the colorful outfit -- so I made one with the colors muted. 

Now it's obvious enough so that even I get it.

Update: Jake Seamans, in a comment, pointed out something: "What about getting rid of the 'It's a cape' line in your redesign? It seems to have more impact when you leave that line out and let the audience fill in the rest themselves."

Jake, I agree. I was over-explaining with that added line of text. Here's the reworked design minus the extra text and plus the company tagline.

Update #2: Changed the headline from "It was never a cape" (which doesn't make sense).

Do-over

In looking at old Twin Cities Reader covers, I find I'm ashamed of a couple of them. Too much color, too many colors. Misuse of type. So I've decided to do a couple of them again.

(I've been giving the Vue Weekly grief lately, so I thought I'd give myself some of the same.)

As always, click on the pictures for closer.

First off: Trying to do something here, but getting lost in my love of bright spot colors. The red bits are just distracting.

In the redo, I went with a spot-color gray instead of green. A subtle treatment for very big type.

I got really carried away with colors and blends on this one. The typography stinks. And the color separation of the tiny photograph is amazingly awful.

So I thought I'd simplify. White space to the rescue.

Too many tints on the black and white photos here. Nice photos, mistreated.

I'm attempting to let the black and white photos be black and white.

Not sure I could get away with these at the time. There was a big push to make the covers colorful. But I think these reworked covers are more attractive than the originals.

Cranked up about bicycle postage stamps

Okay, I'm glad the US Postal Service saluted bike riding with this set of stamps released on June 7, 2012. The drawings are nice and the concept of the stages of bike riding is okay . . . but I have quibbles. 

The publicity material reads [with snippy comments by me]: 

"Art director Phil Jordan designed the stamps using illustrations by San Francisco illustrator John Mattos. Each of the four Bicycling (Forever®) stamps features a different kind of bike and cyclist:

". . . a young child learning to ride . . . " [In my opinion, this is the best of the bikes shown here. It has two of the things needed on a regular bike, a chain guard and an upright riding position.]

". . . a commuter pedaling to work . . . " [This is the one that bugged me the most. Why should a commuter need a road-racing bike? This bike has rams-horn handlebars and skinny wheels and the rider is in road-racing clothing. This bike forces the rider into a crouched racing posture that's tough on the back and rotten for keeping an eye on traffic. I'm guessing the saddle bags are partially full of work clothes to be worn after this rider showers upon arriving at work. Commuter bike riding -- to me -- is not a workout and it's not a race. It's transportation. If you're sweating a lot you're doing it wrong. This bike doesn't even have any fenders or lights. Bad for riding in weather or at night.]

". . . a road racer intent on the finish line . . . " [Same bike style and clothing as the "commuter" bike above. Minus the saddle bags and plus the elbow-rest handlebars.]

". . . and an airborne BMX rider." [And what is this? It's the last stamp in the series -- so does it represent the final stage in the evolution of bike riding? Jumping your bike into the air? This belongs at the other end of the stamp series, right after the training wheels. This is 10-year-old kid stuff.]

What would I have wanted on a bicycle stamp? I would have put a regular bike in the middle instead of the road-racing bike shown. Fenders, front and back lights, chain guard, stepthrough frame, upright handlebars. A bike fit for riding in all conditions. And the rider would be in regular clothes, not spandex. I would want the stamp to show that bike riding doesn't always have to be fast, and it doesn't always have to be a competition.

Update: Changed the headline, added the release date of the stamps. Plus, I redrew my alternate stamp to raise the handlebars and put the rider in a more upright posture -- and I added a bell. I also added the picture below of bike commuters in Copenhagen. As always, click for closer view.

Condensed

There's a distinctive warning sign in a parking lot close to Minnesota Center for Book Arts in Minneapolis.



It's one of the more extreme misuses of type squishing I've seen in a while. But I have to admit, it does read a little like poetry.



Do any of these adaptations improve on the original? The original has an aggressive charm to it, but the information is not a quick read.

But as I rework the design to get to something more functional, it starts to look like any other sign. Can I get any of the original charm back by using the original fonts? Maybe.



In the end I have to admit -- I would not take a picture of this sign.

Android logo in physical space

[Updated with the idea drawings on the bottom]

I like collectible figures. I like the Android logo. So I purchased an Android logo collectible figure.

I was a little disappointed.

The figure itself is rather large. It's roughly three inches tall (76 mm) .It looks good with my Pee-wee Herman doll, but completely overwhelms figures from Kubrick, Qee, Lego and Homie. I think a smaller size figure would have been nicer. It would play better with the rest of my toys.


When you translate a flat piece of artwork into the real world, you have to make some choices. The strangest choice the designers made was to make the Android's legs very deep. I understand that it was to allow the figure to stand on its own, but it really makes the thing look kinda stupid from any angle other than straight on.


The proportions of the logo and the figure are pretty close. Only the legs are a little different -- shorter on the figure.


Possible improvements? At the very least, the white sections -- between the arms and the body, and between the head and the body -- could be painted black.

More radical improvements could be putting the head on a much smaller neck -- so it would disappear in many views and be in shadow in all views.



The legs should be the same in form as the arms. Cylindrical. The feet could be made flatter to allow the character to stand on its own.


Or the feet could fit onto a clear base -- allowing the bottom of the feet to stay in the rounded form of the logo. Either solution would look "right" from all sides.


Still, it's a fun little guy and I'm glad I got it.

[By the way, when I say I like the Android logo, I mean the little guy. I don't particularly like the Android type treatment, but that's probably the subject for a different post.]

Reasonable prediction

With each more-counterfeit-resistant redesign, American money is getting more colorful. (And one could argue, uglier.) I think it's reasonable to predict our bills will soon feature full-color renditions of our presidents.

(Thanks to Sandra Fj-B for the inspiration for this post.)

Zoom in on "Foot In The Door 4"

The Minneapolis Institute of Arts' Foot In The Door 4 exhibit is all about quantity. And context.

Delores's piece is on display as you enter the exhibit. We were worried it would be on the sculpture area, but fortunately it was hung on the wall.

As with all these pictures, click for a closer view.



Sandra's piece also has a pretty good position -- you can get a good look if you bend over a little bit.



Roz got the very bottom of the display. Actually, it's kinda nice -- she has one side completely to herself.



Linda wasn't real lucky with her placement -- she's in a corner. And the glass on her frame adds sharp reflections of her neighbors art to her piece.



Kirk snared a very good spot in the sculpture forest. I think his display here on the table is equally as good as if he had been on the wall -- except he got an extremely rare and valuable corner spot! Two sides free from other art! Excellent work, Kirk!



Jil also snared a window seat for her entry. Very nice!



Steve was not so lucky with his 3-dimensional piece. It's positively buried in a thicket of other sculptural pieces. Bummer!



The photo below and at the left is of a regular Minneapolis Institute of Arts gallery sign -- jumbled in with the "Foot In The Door" artwork. Amusing.

And finally, I have a complaint about the "Foot's" artist catalog, available online and in kiosks and on computers in the exhibit itself. For some reason, the art is displayed in groups that are nine rows across. A normal computer screen will only display four or five rows at a time.

This nine-row configuration means in order to see everything on each screen, you have to scroll up and down AND scroll left and right. A major pain -- and a major usability blunder.

Why didn't they just put four rows per screen? Then you would be able to click and scroll your way through a large amount of entries without undue mouse futzing. (I've Photoshopped together a nine-rows-wide screen below.)

The "Artworks" viewer is labeled "beta," so I hold out hope that something will eventually be done to make it easier to view the artist information.



Complaining aside -- what an amazing show! Five thousand pieces! Overwhelming!

Note: And here is some crop art that made it into the "Foot" show.

A publisher for "Cornered!"

(Click image for a really close view.)

Big news! In December, Nodin Press of Minneapolis is going to publish my anthology of In This Corner comics. I self-published the book this summer and sent it around to a couple real publishers. And Norton Stillman at Nodin decided to go ahead with a new edition!

Having a new print run was an opportunity to critique my original design and make it better.

There are just a few tweaks inside -- I've added some new comics, an additional introduction page and a few more entries in the index. But the biggest change is the cover.

I felt that, while I liked the original design, it didn't address the origins of the comics. The comics were first published in the St. Paul Pioneer Press newspaper. On newsprint the pristine computer-drawn lines make a nice contrast with the textured paper. And and a nice contrast with the visible halftone dots. When the cover drawing is perfectly printed on glossy paper using very tiny halftone dots, the final result looks a little too perfect. So I decided to try to bring some of the newspaper roughness back.

I scanned some blank areas of the Pioneer Press -- hooray for white space! -- and used those as a basis for the front and the back covers. I took the color tint areas of the original drawing out of Illustrator and plopped them into Photoshop. I applied the Pixelate > Color halftone filter. (The document is 250 dpi and the dots are 15 pixels in diameter) I put the dots on top of the newsprint scan and set the layer to Multiply -- so the newsprint texture would soak through.

Then I brought that picture back into Illustrator to be used as the background for the black line drawings and the type.

Linda Koutsky also consulted on the design. Linda, among many other things, designs books for a living at Coffeehouse Press. She had a few suggestions. She said the book needed a subtitle. So I did one. She also said that it needed an author photo and short bio for the back of the book.

I did what she suggested and, doggone it, now it looks like a real book. (Pioneer Press co-worker Ben Garvin took the author photo.)

Look for "Cornered!" soon at your local bookstore!