5 (Free) Serif Fonts
Sometimes it’s easy to quickly overlook serif fonts in graphic design. At least I do. There’s just something in your head that always says “Times New Roman” and you want to get as far away as possible. Lately, though, I’ve been finding a place for serif fonts and learning to appreciate their unique characteristics and what makes them look so nice. I’ve actually been a little obsessed with Droid Serif lately. It’s such a clean, well conceived font. Here are a few free serif fonts to download and try with your next design.
Book Review:The Great Bridge
Recently, I finished reading The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge. It’s an excellent book. As usual, David McCullough doesn’t disappoint. There’s a good mix of encyclopedic knowledge and great storytelling.
I’m not going to pretend that I’m some kind of book reviewer. The book was great. I found it absolutely fascinating how the foundations were dug and built. It’s also interesting to note that the Brooklyn Bridge is a one of a kind engineering masterpiece. The likes of which don’t exist anymore. The combination of masonry and steel cabling are one of a kind on such a large scale.
Purchase the book here: The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge
Chase (iPhone) Banking
Banking with Chase just got a whole lot better. The only thing that could be better is if I opened up my account online and it was loaded with millions of dollars. What I’m speaking about is the new improvements to the Chase iPhone app. You now have the ability to deposit checks from your wherever simply by using their app.
There are two rules.
- The check can’t be more than $1000
- You can only deposit a maximum of $3000 per week
The app is extremely simple to use. All you do is take a picture of the check (both sides) with your phone. The camera is built into the app and is proportioned for the rectangular shape of checks. On the next day, the money is magically deposited in your account without ever leaving home. It doesn’t get any better than that.
Here are a few screen grabs I found online of the app in action.
Design Process – Part 6
It has finally come to an end. The design process and this series of posts. You’ve done your design work, you’ve made all the revisions and it’s time to finish up the project. With most design projects there will be a few loose ends to tie up.
Is that brochure really ready to go to print? Are the colors separated correctly? Do you have the files setup correctly for the printer? Is the website complete? Are all the links working correctly and have you tested in all web browsers…especially Internet Explorer?
Once the project is out the door, don’t lost track of your customer. Check in periodically. Make sure the project went well. If it’s a website, check the site. Make sure it’s working correctly. Ask if they have any questions. If you do a good job the first time and stay in contact, repeat business is the best. Ideally, you want all your clients to think of you for all their design needs.
Design Process – Part 5
I took a small break to work on remodeling my office. I’m back and ready to continue the series on my design process. If you’re interested, check out Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4. This next phase is where you take the suggestions that your client has made to the original concept and “fix” it.
This phase is pretty straightforward. I do however see two ways to approach this part of the project. The first, and easiest, is to just make all the changes the client wants. This typically leads to happy clients. That’s never a bad thing. You can probably then guess that the other approach is to pick and choose what changes to make. Many reasons can dictate this decision. You may have spent too much time and just can’t afford it. The fixes may be a hindrance to the design. Or, they may just be plain bad suggestions. Using judgment here is the most important thing. Not every piece needs to go in your portfolio. You may just have to suck it up and make the corrections. I’ve even changed a piece for the client, but kept my original design or concept as my showcase piece. I go back to the fact that happy clients are the best ones. They lead to more work and more money. Which, where you are comfortable admitting it or not, is the main goal of owning your design company. You don’t do the work for free.
Colosseo Letterpress
I thought about adding this to the Weekly Town Crier for this week, but I didn’t want it to get lost in the mix of other links. So, enjoy this special Thursday post. Check out the video and see some more images on his website.
Colosseo: Reimagining the Roman Coliseum with type (Canon 7D) from Cameron Moll on Vimeo.