Creative Juice » Focus On

Focus On: Fonts

Kickstock Photo — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 09:06:07 +0000

It’s been around for a while, but It’s still a great thing to have around the studio. The perdiodic table of the fonts was originally published at behance.net http://www.behance.net/Gallery/Periodic-Table-of-Typefaces/193759 and subsequently flashed around various sites including lifehacker. You can download screensaver versions from the original creators at http://www.squidspot.com/Periodic_Table_of_Typefaces.html

periodic table of fonts

Focus on : Logo Design

Kickstock Photo — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 15:40:05 +0000

The right branding and logo design is vital to enterprise success (these days even more so, where online there can often be little to mark out the team players from the supporters.)

The web is littered with design companies who will create you an identity for $29 or less, but a couple of great resources for those who want to spend a little more time designing the right image caught my eye this week:

logopond.com calling themselves ‘identity inspiration’ this site features some really great looking logos

logolounge.com i’ve highlighted an individual post on this site, they have a series of design trend articles back to 2003 which make interesting viewing.

Focus on: Color

Kickstock Photo — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 01:47:56 +0000

Or ‘colour’ if you prefer…

Unless like most designers you don’t think the sun shines from adobe’s ass then you will have probably already come across adobes kuler. (which is a great way for the lazy to choose a good looking colour scheme)

this week we have three resources for the colour blind:

worqx.com site of a self confessed ‘colour enthusiast’

www.colormatters.com colour and emotional response

www.colourlovers.com user contributed community of colour palettes and patterns.

colorblender.com simple, but seems to work well, creating a palette of 5 harmonious colours

Focus on: Ajax

Kickstock Photo — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 02:12:35 +0000

More of a tip for web developers and programmers this week opposed to our usual design and style ideas.

What is AJAX?
Ajax (asynchronous javascript and xml) is the combination of several web technologies that allow better user interaction with websites. Ajax allows the content of a page to change dynamically depending on user interactions with the page.

Ajax Resources:
I’ve listed a couple of sites below which offer demos of scripts and access to examples or free downloads. In particular the code editor at ajaxdaddy which allows you to tweak the page live and see the changes is great!

> ajaxdaddy.com (recommended site)

> freeajaxscripts.net

> bestajaxscripts.com

Focus on: Typography

Kickstock Photo — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 02:02:35 +0000

The art of arranging type on a page is something that takes years to lean, and some suggest with the advent of the web and lazy type standards is a ‘dying art from’. Look at any printed ad or well designed online space and you will see different. Today, with a glut of visual media coming from all directions, type is more important than ever.

This weeks resources:

veer.com commercial typefaces, and some good stuff in their wallpapers section

ilovetypography.com typography blog makes for some interesting reading

typophile.com yes it’s a font commenting and critique community.

typographica.org font reviews and related reading.

WhatTheFont very useful visual font search engine to find the name of font from a sample image

also see our creative network links for some free font websites.

Focus on: Design Portfolios

Kickstock Photo — Thu, 01 May 2008 03:49:00 +0000

As well as self promotion, design portfolios can be a great source of graphic insipiration, designers have specially selected the best of their work and made it available to view in one place.

Three very varied porfilios for this weeks feed:

nopattern.com – creative portfolio of Chuck Anderson

oyoaha.com – web design group portfolio

ndesign-studio.com/portfolio – colourful backdrop!, some fresh looking graphic work.

If you have your own portfolio to share, feel free to post it below.