Classic Design: the Blade Runner Sketchbook

Worth a look folks. The artwork of the 1982 film “Blade Runner”. This has done the rounds a few times, but the Blade Runner sketchbook contains some stunning concept work by Syd Mead, Ridley Scott, and others who worked on the film. Enjoy.

 

Tip of the hat to fellow blogger Tom Muller.

Dean Fraser Mashup: Part 2

More madness from my one of my fave fan artists: Dean T. Fraser. This time, Dean has done a cool mash-up mixing the Batman: The Animated Series universe with Star Wars. These images are priceless. It’s pretty obvious to geeks like me, but if you’re feeling a bit challenged, go get your little brother to help. He won’t mind.

Cadson Demak’s Kurry Pro

Kurry Pro has been one of the surprise sellers at MyFonts.com of the past couple of months. Among the many no-nonsense sans-serif fonts that have come out recently, it stands out as a rather exotic hybrid. Its basic structure is simple — a narrow rectangular skeleton rounded at the top and the bottom — but its somewhat quirky details set it apart. Terminals end in a softened point, as do some strokes where curves join straight stems; many letters have a swashed alternate version, and special English-language keywords such as “with”, “of” and “by” (the latter two in upper- and lowercase) add to the font family’s versatility.

 

About the Font’s Design Firm

Cadson Demak is an image planning firm with typographic service based in Bangkok Thailand founded in 2002.

Introduced in in 2006, “Cadson Demak Distribution” a group of custom Thai type designers working together hand in hand to set up a common ground for digital type design business in Thailand. Cadson Demak Distribution gradually becomes typographic supplier for most of Thailand’s leading brands such as Tesco Lotus, Wallpaper magazine (Thai Edition), Men’s Heath (Thai Edition), ThaiBev, Chang Beer, AIS, Communication Authority of Thailand and Dtac (Telenor Thailand).

If you like this typeface from Cadson Demak, check out some of their other fonts:

 Kondolar

It’s easy to let Kondolar’s occasional swooping descender trip you up, but that shouldn’t distract from what is essentially an uncomplicated, multi-purpose text-and-display slab serif. The option of flourishes on K, Q and R adds a dash of adventure to the workmanlike slabs.

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Due

Launched in December 2011, Due is Cadson Demak’s latest take on the genre of the humanized businesslike sans-serif. Its open shapes, agreeable curves and clear, rather wide italics make it a good choice for display and basic text settings in corporate as well as editorial design projects.

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Knight Sans

With a rounder overall character than some of Cadson Demak’s other sans faces, Knight Sans would be a good candidate for corporate publications, special print projects and websites. It holds up well as a varied text face possessed of enough character and individuality to escape bland conformity.

HOW Cover Student Project

My students are always a great resource for what’s possible if you put your mind to something. This first year project was to design a themed cover design for one of the HOW magazine specialty issues. Although this cover template is no longer in use, we managed to get one more semester out of it. Required skill set: Basic knowledge of Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.

Chat with Kim Deitch

Worth a look: Kim Deitch (veteran underground cartoonist and son of animation director Gene Deitch) talks about his comics career and cartoon cat influences. Kim is one of over 75 other top comics creators interviewed in a new book, Leaping Tall Buildings by Christopher Irving and Seth Kushner (both blog at Graphic NYC).

Here’s his video interview for more insight. Enjoy!

HOW 2012 Logo Design Competition

A logo is one of the most important aspects of any business, and most designers have spent a fair share of time creating effective logos for clients. HOW Logo Design Awards began in 2008 and has quickly erupted as a prestigious logo design contest that recognizes the best. This design awards is judged by an industry leader who is well-regarded for stunning logo designs.

The Top 10 Logo Design Winners are recognized in a public gallery on HOWDesign.com, a site that receives over 3 million visits annually. The gallery containing the Top 10 Logo Winners will be promoted in HOW’s design newsletter, which reaches nearly 50,000 subscribers. From the Top 10, visitors to HOWDesign.com will have a window of time to vote for a Reader’s Choice Best of Show winner, which will receive additional attention as the featured project in Behind the Design, a column in HOW magazine.

A strong logo sets the tone for any venture, big or small. HOW wants to celebrate the phenomenal work you do establishing identity for clients, yourself, a social event—or even an imaginary company!

The deadline is June 1, 2012 (11:59 PM EST). The Send in your best logo work and you could see it featured in HOW magazine!
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO!

Chip Kidd @ Ted

Designing books is no laughing matter. OK, it is.

Chip Kidd doesn’t judge books by their cover, he creates covers that embody the book — and he does it with a wicked sense of humor. In one of the funniest talks from TED2012, he shows the art and deep thought of his cover designs. (From The Design Studio session at TED2012, guest-curated by Chee Pearlman and David Rockwell.)

Chip Kidd’s book jacket designs spawned a revolution in the art of American book packaging.

Why you should listen to him:

You know a Chip Kidd book when you see it — precisely because it’s unexpected, non-formulaic, and perfectly right for the text within. As a graphic designer for Alfred A. Knopf since 1986, Kidd has designed shelves full of books, including classics you can picture in a snap: Jurassic Park, Naked by David Sedaris, All the Pretty Horses … His monograph, Chip Kidd: Book One, contains work spanning two decades. As editor of comics for Pantheon, Kidd has commissioned work from graphic novelists like Chris Ware, Art Spiegelman, Dan Clowes and Ben Katchor. He’s a novelist as well, author of The Cheese Monkeys and The Learners.