Digital Creative Resources Presentation

The following post is intended for students in the Texas Creative Portfolio Sequence at the University of Texas at Austin.

 

 

Here are links to the digital creative resources I presented today.

 

Typography

Linotype

 

 

Hoefler & Frere-Jones

 

I Love Typography

 

For the Love of Type

 

 

Source Images/Inspiration/Stock

 

Veer

 

Getty

 

 

Branding

 

Logo Lounge

 

Lovemarks

 

Brands of the World

 

Wikipedia

 

 

Design

 

The Dieline

 

Pantone

 

Design Addict

 

Flatstock

 

Reading, Rhetoric, etc.

 

No Caption Needed

 

In The Mix

 

NPR

Parenting

I was just procrastinating (with a little help from facebook), and while searching for an old friend I discovered a girl named Ariel Black.

That was all the encouragement I needed to search for more people unintentionally (maybe? hopefully?) named after fonts, typefaces, or misspellings of either/both. In five minutes I’ve found 16 Brad/ley Hands, 9 Cooper Blacks, 1 Vladimir Script, and a Georgia Rockwell. 

 

RQ

Prior to June of this year, I’ve considered pursuing a PhD to be something I might do in 20, or so, years. But after an email from my Theories prof, a whirlwind exploration of research topics and university programs, and a whole lot of thinking, I realized that that pursuit might come sooner than I expected.

So here we go.

This semester I’m taking a class with a few PhD candidates and one other MA student, and I’m at the point where I need to start defining my area of research for my next paper. And what I’ve found most interesting as of late is an examination of visual rhetoric in branding.

This includes all elements in a brand experience: the information that would be listed on any sort of style sheet; information that a consumer would not explicitly see, but if executed well, would be inherent to the brand. Basically, I’m interested in what a consumer “gets” from the overall brand. What does the color say? What does the typeface choice say? In this instance, type would function as a visual, rather than words. Recognition of the brand would also need to be taken into account to alleviate any outside influences (or in the case of type, to prove that nonsense words — such as Nike — within a brand, act more as  symbols than words).

From here I need to develop some sort of distinct research question, pared into a specific problem or question in current advertising practice. 

After I wade through previous research on the subject, I’ll let you know what that is.

Satin in a coffin

 

The other day, while driving home after lunch with some friends, I found myself following what I thought was a basket company truck.

I didn’t think much of it until I was stuck behind the truck at a red light — and when given the chance to look at it more closely (without the risk of being run-down by drivers in Austin) I saw that it was actually a truck for the Batesville Casket Company.

Sitting there, I realized that I had never thought about how caskets get to funeral homes. Perhaps that’s a good thing; but it seems like I had always assumed they were built on-site. My daily route to school growing up took me past a funeral home and I don’t remember noticing delivery trucks there. It’s possible that those types of deliveries are made at night. 

I’m not sure where the Batesville truck was headed that afternoon, although our trips were identical until I turned into my apartment complex.

When recounting the story a few hours later, I accidentally referred to the company as the Baskerville Casket Company. 

I knew this was wrong, but I’m quite fond of it.

 

Luckily I was following the Batesville Casket Company Truck. But if it were indeed the Baskerville Casket Company, I hope it would be following me.

Flouncy

No Fish in My Dish

No Fish in My Dish

Type

Taken from Betty Crocker’s Sphere

Oregano

Regular spice-use feature; also taken from Betty Crocker’s Sphere.