News Feeds

TypeTalk: The Anatomy of a Character

IleneStrizver99 — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 03:18:50 -0700

TypeTalk is a regular blog on typography. Post your questions and comments by clicking on the Comments icon above.

Q. Why should I care what the names are for parts of a character? Does it really matter?

Scanning Around With Gene: Best in the West Graphics, 1970

GeneGable — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 03:50:00 -0700

In 1970 I was a freshman in high school. Although I wasn't aware of graphic design as an art form, I was beginning to notice the effect design had on me as a consumer. Book jackets, billboards, record-album covers, and magazines were an important part of my life. In a few more years I would begin to appreciate the talent they represented.

Scanning Around With Gene: Colorful Produce Crate Labels

GeneGable — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 03:13:00 -0700

When railroads became a dominant form of transportation, and especially after the completion of the trans-continental railway in 1869, it was possible for farmers to ship their goods great distances. And with the advent of the refrigerated rail car, the concept of nearly year-round availability of produce became a reality.

Scanning Around With Gene: More on Children’s Safety

GeneGable — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 03:17:00 -0700

Last week, I looked at illustrations from a booklet on bicycle safety published in the early 1940s by the Police Safety Council. Because the booklet was intended to change behavior by frightening the readers, most of the kids in those drawings ended up badly hurt, crippled for life, or worse, very dead.

Scanning Around With Gene: The Dire Consequences of Careless Bike Riding

GeneGable — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 03:01:11 -0700

One of my most popular columns of recent times highlighted a safety booklet from the 1940s entitled “It’s Great to Be Alive.” If you didn’t catch that installment, you should take a look — it’s pretty funny how gruesome some of the safety warnings for kids were back then.

TypeTalk: Hand-Drawn Type

IleneStrizver99 — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 08:33:52 -0700

TypeTalk is a regular blog on typography. Post your questions and comments by clicking on the Comments icon above.

Q. Do you have any inspirational suggestions for creative type treatments to start off the new year?

A. Hand-drawn lettering is an excellent alternative to a traditional typeface. I’m not (necessarily) talking about fancy calligraphy or professionally drawn hand lettering, but informal letters that look like (or are) actual handwriting.

Scanning Around With Gene: A Visit to the Sunshine State

GeneGable — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 03:05:13 -0700

I’ve been to Florida a number of times, but always for business and only to the Miami and Orlando areas, which are small representations of a very large state. And I’ve never been to Disney World or any of the other Orlando attractions. So I can’t say I really know the state.

Scanning Around With Gene: Painting With Air

GeneGable — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 07:02:03 -0700

When I came across a 1947 edition of “Painting With Air” (published by the Paasche Airbrush Company and written by Frank J. Knaus), I assumed the airbrush had lost favor in our digital times. Once a standard for photo retouching and original illustration, the airbrush was a common tool in many commercial art and design studios. Now it’s software like Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop that dominate the creation of original art and the retouching of photographs.

Scanning Around With Gene: Winter Wonderland

GeneGable — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 03:57:00 -0700

Winter is the one season I don’t know very well — at least not in the ways we traditionally think of winter. I’ve lived on the West Coast my whole life, so winter has always been mild to say the least. While I’ve travelled to places where winter comes in the form of snow, barren trees, and frozen ponds, I’ve never had to shovel a driveway, missed school because of a snow day, or ridden a sleigh down a bumpy hill. And my limited experience with ice skates took place indoors during the summer.

Scanning Around With Gene: Faded Holiday Memories

GeneGable — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 03:28:33 -0700

Even though I’m feeling a little Bah Humbug this year, I’m still a sucker for holiday schmaltz. Most of my holiday memories are good ones, and I love all the trimmings that come and go with the decades, so I enjoy looking at Christmas through the lenses of other people in other times.

Today's old snapshots are examples of Christmas celebrations from the 1950s through the 1970s, I'm guessing. They all come from eBay, where a number of people sell them to collectors. Click on any image for a larger version.

TypeTalk: The Dos and Don'ts of Type in Motion

IleneStrizver99 — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 02:46:41 -0700

TypeTalk is a regular blog on typography. Post your questions and comments by clicking on the Comments icon above.

Q. Do you have guidelines for typography in motion graphics?

A. Type has gone multimedia, appearing in many forms beyond its traditional role in print. As an element in motion graphics, typography is used in marketing materials, websites, presentations, commercials, television intros, movie titles, and video games, to name a few.

Scanning Around With Gene: Clever Things to Make at Home

GeneGable — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 03:51:21 -0700

I used to make a lot of gifts for Christmas, but I now suffer from a shortage of talent, time, and temperament. Plus, I have little family left, and my circle of friends no longer exchanges presents. So while I once made clocks, planters, wind chimes, and other items, I now pick up a couple of gift cards for my nephews and call it a day.

Scanning Around With Gene: Would You Like Collector Cards With Your Tea?

GeneGable — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 03:36:52 -0700

In the United States, collector cards are included with bubble gum and often deal with sports figures. But in the United Kingdom and elsewhere, collector cards were (and in some cases still are) a staple with other products, including cigarettes and tea. These cards, mostly targeted at children, typically contain an illustration or photograph on one side, and a bit of educational information on the back. The subject matter often ranges far from sports.

Scanning Around With Gene: Viva la Révolution!

GeneGable — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 03:56:46 -0700

It seems as though every generation or so, there's some sort of widespread civil uprising, the most recent being the Occupy Wall Street movement in cities throughout the United States and, indeed, the world. As I’m just old enough to remember the civil unrest of the late 1960s, I thought I’d take a look back at one of the more significant protests of that time: the general strike and associated activities that took place in France from roughly May to June of 1968.

Scanning Around With Gene: How Dated is Your Kitchen?

GeneGable — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 03:05:08 -0700

I can be rightfully accused of having a particular fondness for vintage illustrations and photographs of kitchens, which are not only the heart of the home, but are easily dated by design. I sometimes wonder what the kitchens of today will look like in another 30 or 40 years — probably just as out-of-date as those from yesteryear appear now. It strikes me as funny to think that the granite-counter, Wolf-stove look will someday feel as dated as harvest gold appliances and no-wax linoleum. Contemporary design always feels so fresh and era-less when you're living in it.