CategoryInspiration

August 8, 2014 — Over the last century, many incidents have provided examples that innovation and creativity can play an essential role for an organization in the midst of crisis. They can be applied to redesign a company’s structure and devise a more innovative process that leads to products that meet both creativity and business needs. In this article, Rafiq Elmansy will talk about one interesting example of this: LEGO, the world-famous toy manufacturer. By studying its crisis, lasting from 1993 to 2004, we’ll answer two main questions: Can creativity and innovation help an organization in its time of crisis? And can studying cases such as LEGO’s reveal a model for the broader role of creativity in an organization for other enterprises to follow? Read more…

June 2, 2014 — Creating a typeface in a day is possible, but it takes months or even years to finish all of the glyphs and for testing and production. When one writes by hand, every letter is a little different. In this article Harald Geisler would like to share a hands-on overview of his creation process of creating a handwriting font inspired by the Sigmund Freud typeface. Handwritten text shows a personal side of its author, one that contrasts with the standardized look of digital communication. This contrast is perhaps what makes handwriting fonts so popular. Harald hopes you find this to be a helpful introduction to creating handwriting fonts. Read more…

May 16, 2014 — Design is an arrangement of both shapes and space. Learn to see the shapes that space forms and how space communicates. This is second part of a series on design principles for beginners. The first part covered an introduction to gestalt; today Steven Bradley will build on those gestalt principles and show you how many of the fundamental principles you work with as designers have their origin there. Make an effort to spend time observing how space is used in design! Read more…

April 11, 2014 — We’re moving away from the functional and technical characteristics of the industrial era, into a time when consumers are making buying decisions based on how they feel about a company and its offer. In a borderless world where people are increasingly doing their research and purchases online,companies that don’t take their branding seriously face imminent demise. Enter emotional branding. It’s a highly effective way to cause reaction, sentiments and moods, ultimately forming experience, connection and loyalty with a company or product on an irrational level. Read more…

April 4, 2014 — Khajag Apelian not only is a talented type and graphic designer, unsurprisingly, but also counts Disney as a client, as well as a number of local and not-for-profit organizations throughout the Middle East. Designing a quality typeface is a daunting task when it’s only in the Latin alphabet. Khajag goes deeper still, having designed a Latin-Armenian dual-script typeface in four weights, named “Arek”, as well as an Arabic adaptation of Typotheque’s Fedra Display. Read more…

March 29, 2014 — Gestalt principles are important to understand. They sit at the foundation of everything we do visually as designers. They describe how everyone visually perceives objects. This article is part of a new series about design principles that can serve both as a refresher for seasoned designers and reference for newcomers to the industry. Hopefully, the content covered here isn’t too obvious and self-explanatory, but it’s always great to have a nice quick refresher every now and again, isn’t it? Read more…

March 25, 2014 — Being a good designer or developer is about so much more than knowing how to use tools. It’s also about the way you approach what you do and your attitude towards it. In this article, Andrew Clarke is going to talk about four lessons that can help you do what you do better. These have been important to him. They’re lessons that he learned a long time ago, at art school. Read more…

March 20, 2014 — With time, Arabic calligraphy began to be used in architecture, decoration and coin design, and it continues to develop both in traditional methods as well as in digital and computer-generated arts. Arabic calligraphers from around the world continue to develop their own styles and artwork based on existing scripts and their own letters and scripts. Free modern scripts contribute to the art just as much as traditional scripts have done. Read more…

February 21, 2014 — In this article, Alex Moss interviews Mike Little and Matt Mullenweg, the co-founders of WordPress. Their contributions to WordPress have enabled people like Alex to make a living from this community-based open-source platform. Thanks Matt and Mike for taking the time to conduct these interviews! Read more…

February 18, 2014 — A type design brief is like a charter path: It asks you questions, and the answers will guide you to where you want to be. The walk won’t be much shorter, but the chances of getting lost will be lower. In this article, Nadine Chahine shares six questions that will shape the typeface through its first moments of creation and serve as guiding principles through the various stages of the design. Read more…