Thank you Steve Jobs

Thank you for your contributions, your determination and your inspiration. You have enriched our lives greatly!
      If you are unable to view the video of Steve Jobs 2005 speech at Stanford you can listen to the audio on the internet archive.

Celebrating Printer's Labor

I'm just returning from a long holiday weekend celebrating Labor Day by not working. I have lots of material saved up to share this week, but will begin with this 1939 US stamp commemorating the 300th anniversary of the first working printing press in the US; The Stephen Daye Press in Cambridge, Massachusetts. By my count that now makes it 372 years ago. The first published work from the press was a broadside, The Freeman's Oath, followed by an 8 page Almanac for 1639 and the first published book in the US, the nearly 300 page Bay Psalm Book. You can find an interesting account of this first press here or if that's too much work, kick back and listen to the audio clip of it instead.

iThank You Steve Jobs

Adapted from the interactive visual of Shan Carter at the New York Times.

No one has been more influential to the design and technology industry than Steve Jobs. A remarkable 313 patents are listed with his name as principle inventor, designer, or collaborator. His patent list includes everything from iPod lanyards, monitors, mice, laptops, keyboards and packaging, to the beautiful glass staircase that graces some of the Apple stores. Miguel Helft reports on these achievements in a New York Times article today and on Job's influence and leadership of Apple since its inception in 1976. Worth viewing, is Shan Carter's interactive feature for the article, which displays many of Jobs' impressive patent holdings. Another great link takes you to an interactive timeline by Danielle Belopotosky and Sam Gorbart featuring Apples' benchmark achievements during Job's tenure.
      Under Steve Job's leadership, Apple has had a profound influence on the design and publishing industry. Perhaps one of his most important contributions has been the elevation of typography into our daily language. Since the inception of the first Mac, everyone has learned the difference between a serif and sans serif, and they all have opinions about their likes and dislikes of fonts. This has not necessarily improved overall typography standards, but it certainly has invited more people into the typebar for conversation.
       Thinking differently has been Job's approach to everything. Foremost, it was about the user's experience—about how we work and play. (This was evident with the introduction of the first Mac in 1984, when it greeted you with a cheerful Hello). He has been one of the most legendary successful chief executives in corporate history (just 2 weeks ago, Apple surpassed Exxon as the stock market's largest company), and his visionary contributions have changed the way we listen to music and communicate with words and images. He has given us the tools to become a nation of storytellers, but his personal story remains one of the most inspiring. Though he is officially stepping down from his role as CEO, this is not his fade-out departure into the sunset. He intends to remain involved as chairman of Apple's board, which leaves him more time to concentrate on his personal health challenges. I wish him the greatest success in the next chapter to his remarkably different story.  

Agreeable Letters

I have spent much of today reviewing student proposals for their client work assignments. These are considered to be legal agreements for design services provided by the student designer, for their individual clients. Each agreement must document the scope of work, outline a set of milestones, a timeline and provide terms and conditions specific to their individual assignment. It is like reality tv for emerging young designers where they each have to acquire a real client and perform design services for pay, trade or public service. I unfortunately am in Donald Trump's role I think, (but at least I'm not wearing a mobius strip on my head).

       Now recommending legal advice is beyond my pay scale and job description, but I feel it is critical for students to have some professional practice. I judge their agreements based not only on content, but on their typographical layout and design, as this best represents their skills. Often it may be the only sample of work a client sees initially, so it better damn well look good (or they're fired). Suitable font selections, hierarchy, and grids all play essential roles and even spelling and grammar counts. All of these details and considerations are dizzying to review, but it is refreshing to see the occasional contract that is nicely designed and refreshing to read. This might mean it is written from the voice of the student, not remixed legalese or textbook jargon with bullet points. I try to encourage students to find a balance between creating a watertight agreement while remaining cordial and professional. Otherwise one risks appearing litigious and this only sets the tone for an adversarial working relationship. It's a difficult balance for all of us. 

       It was by happy coincidence that I stumbled across this old legal document from France today in my files. It is actually a beautifully hand-scribed four-page legal contract from 1738 written on cotton paper and secured with some sort of a natural fiber, and has an official stamp of the provincial authority I presume. With not a misspelled word or error, and hierarchy imposed by variation in size and a heavier hand in some cases—it would be a pleasure to read in any language. This sort of contract may be impractical for most client proposals, but give me that client who would appreciate a letter of agreement like this. I just wish I could scribe such a lovely work myself!

:: From the Letterology Archives

A Field Guide to Color Management

Alex Cornell at ISO50 offers up this great comprehensive guide to color management 101 and explains how to calibrate your monitor and get decent color output from your inkjet printer. The delightful dog-earred cover design is from self-taught designer Scott Hansen of ISO50.

Should I Work for Free?

Jessica Hische provides her Work for Free chart for free. Get yours here. Available for Google translation too.

How We Work

Desk - Music and Sound Design from Aaron Trinder Film:Motion:Music on Vimeo.

Whistle While You Print

It was blind luck I guess that we found ourselves in San Francisco around the launch of the Levis Ready to Work printmaking pop-up workshop in the Mission District on Valencia. I stumbled across a newspaper blurb about it a day earlier which piqued my curiosity. I was unable to attend the launch however as it coincided with the opening of Maira Kalman's exhibit at SF's Jewish Contemporary Museum. The next day I dropped in and had an opportunity to speak with the curator and learn more about the ambitious project. Wieden+Kennedy of Portland, OR is responsible for this We Are All Workers campaign which promises to be a seed for change as it celebrates workers of all stripes. They encourage anyone to come in off the street and roll up their sleeves and design something to print. Inside there were people working at a counter of nice new iMacs and printers–all for public use; an entire room dedicated to silkscreening posters, t-shirts or even tortillas if you were so inclined; and two large Vandercook proof presses and shelves of ink waiting to be used. This may be a grand marketing campaign for Levis, but it is also fostering community spirit in a very economically depressed neighborhood of San Francisco and it is doing a great public service of encouraging pride in our work. No longer should it be just a four letter word! Evidently Levis intends to open other temporary pop-up workshops centered around different work themes in other metropolitan areas around the country soon. Below are some of the photos I took there last July.