You can attest to this: Like us on Facebook here! Wasn’t that easy? Now you’ll end up with magnificent infographics floating in your news stream every-now-and-then.

Moving away from shameless self-promotion: Facebook has actually created and entire new way of marketing to the masses. The only problem is, unlike google, Facebook doesn’t get to keep the money from it. Facebook pages are free to create. Even though promoting your company’s Facebook post to a ton of people can get pricy, a free status update is always an option.

As Facebook struggles with profitability issues, the user base only continues to grow. One in Five websites have a ‘like’ button embedded in their site. We are no exception – we have up to 6 different like buttons on a page at once. Facebook is here to stay, only time will tell how big of an influence it will have on the internet. [BoostLikes.com]

Thanks to my buddies at dailyinfographic.com.
Click here and show them some love.

There was a time when the study and practice of typography was a true science and art. Today, anyone can download fonts, make them bold, change the size of characters, and so on within seconds thanks to most software programs. With that comes a hodgepodge of type that doesn’t always accurately reflect a brand’s promise nor does it always work cohesively with the psychological reactions consumers have to it.

Fonts have a voice. You wouldn’t ask Fran Drescher to be the voice of Darth Vader. The character’s voice would completely miss the intention. Fonts are much the same way. With so many options around, many are free, yet poorly designed fonts, they can make your business card, brochure or website hard if not impossible to even read.  Not that all display (fancy)  fonts are bad, they just may not fit the character of your project.

With that said, the psychology of type isn’t always given the level of importance it deserves in brand identity work, particularly in web design. Ask yourself, does the font used in your brand identity and your website accurately communicate your brand promise to consumers?

While the answer to that question might be easy enough for you to get, there is more to typography than emotional reactions and the psychological perceptions it conjures. Readability is also essential, and readable typefaces in one medium aren’t always readable in other media. Bottom-line, if your text isn’t easy to read, it doesn’t matter what medium you’re using, who your audience is, or what your message is — you won’t reach your goals.

Research has proven time and again that people can read a simple typeface faster than a highly stylized typeface. Like the example above. Furthermore, the right amount of space between lines of text (i.e., the leading) and the width of blocks of text all play a role in how likely people are to read that text and how easy it is for them to read it. However, research has also shown that a fancy typeface can effectively communicate a brand’s position to consumers.

The trick is finding the right combination of typefaces that communicate the brand promise and message without being difficult to read or off-putting to consumers.

Next time you think of just picking out a font you or an executive likes, before you move forward, call me. I can help you find the right voice. The art, science, and psychology of type should be considered first.

Rilla Alexander: Without the Doing, Dreaming is Useless from 99U on Vimeo.

About this presentation

We all have an idea we’ve been meaning to execute on, but how can we really make it happen? In this highly original, all-ages talk, illustrator Rilla Alexander walks us through this classic creative struggle by sharing the story of Sozi – an adorable character who walks us through the arc of an idea. She daydreams, she procrastinates, she sets deadlines, she gets tempted by new ideas, she buckles down and works hard – and finally – she realizes “Her Idea.”

About Rilla Alexander

Rilla Alexander is an Australian-born Berlin-based designer and illustrator. Her cast of creatures dance across Madrid’s Museo del Prado’s ceramics and stationery products, populate Swiss Credit Cards for Cornér Bank and sleep on the walls of Hotel Fox in Copenhagen (where she replaced the bed with a tent).As a member of design collective Rinzen, she has published several books exploring the creative process. The felt-covered book Neighbourhoodfeatured the collaborative efforts of over 30 artists reworking and remaking hand-made toys in a sequence that stretched across the world.

Her all-ages picture book, Her Idea, was launched with an exhibition at Colette in Paris — and tells the tale of her alter-ego Sozi and her quest to make ideas happen.

I came across these three inspirational advertising campaign by Mercedes Benz concepts on the internet. All three vibrant and exhilarating images are simply, mind blowing. It differentatiates the right and the left side of the human brain by pointing out how one is the complete opposite of the other.

The Left Brain Says

‘I am the left brain. I am a scientist. A mathematician.  I love the familiar. I categorize. I am accurate. Linear, Analytical. Strategic. I am practical. Always in control. A master of words and language. Realistic. I calculate my equations and play with numbers. I am order. I am logic. I know exactly who I am.‘

The Right Brain Says

‘I am the right brain. I am creative. A free spirit. I am passion. Yearning. Sensuality. I am the sound of roaring laughter. I am taste. The feeling of sand beneath bare feet. I am movement. Vivid colors. I am an urge to paint on am empty canvas. I am boundless amount of information. Art. Poetry.I sense. I feel. I am everything I wanted to be’

Artist is unknown which is a shame because if he or she is capable of producing work at this caliber then I want to see the rest of the designers portfolio.

To paraphrase one of the greatest spokespersons — not as great as Wendy’s own (and its founder) Dave Thomas — “I don’t always eat quick-service hamburgers, but when I do, I prefer Wendy’s.” Perhaps it’s the square shape of their hamburgers but they are the least unappealing of all fast food hamburgers. Their frosty dessert thingie is awesome. Anyway. The Associated Press has reported on a new Wendy’s logo that will start appearing in March 2013 on newly built and renovated restaurants — which I am assuming will follow the test stores designed by San Francisco, CA-based Tesser.

In undertaking the redesign, the company realized there were three key elements that had to be preserved; the image of the little girl, the color red and the way the “Wendy’s” font swerves up — what executives call “the wave.”

It’s well-known that Wendy’s is named after Dave Thomas’ daughter and the logo is based on her, at 8 years of age. It’s an iconic image: The freckles, the smile, the blue-and-white striped dress, and, of course, the gravity-defying red-haired pigtails with the oversize bows. Way more complex than the McDonald’s arches or Burger King’s swoosh, but equally recognizable. However, Wendy’s Wendy has been imprisoned for years inside a very tired-looking frame with an overly Western-ey wordmark, a strange filigree, and some crammed typography inside yet another tired-looking frame. This logo has been in play since 1983. That’s 29 years. That’s a long time for anything to remain fresh.

Overall, this is a great redesign that could have gone much worse. Having a caricature of a person is always tricky because they can overpower an identity — see the Quaker guy — but Wendy here doesn’t come on too aggressively to take over.
My only concern is, Wendy’s strategy. Trying to rebrand themselves as a high-end fastfood restaurant, I feel the logo reminds me of some bottom shelf hotdog or cold cereal aimed at younger kids.
In which case, is the wrong direction.
I do love the simplifying of the logo by reducing the unnecessary “old fashioned” or “western-ey” elements.
Sometimes less really is more.

The company developed an infographic, below, that details how interruptions impact employee productivity.

“Is it possible to be too connected in this digital age?” Red e App asks in a blog post. “Research data indicates, yes.”

Among the findings, the infographic shows that workers are interrupted approximately once every 10.5 minutes, and that it takes an average of 23 minutes to return to an assigned task. The impact of these interruptions is staggering — costing the American economy almost $650 billion dollars a year, it says.

The infographic then breaks down the amount of time that Facebook, Twitter and email suck out of your day.

What do you think of the data? Tell us in the comments below.

Because color is one of the main visual communicators, we associate feelings with colors. More so than any other element of design.

Moreso than shape, space, line, size, texture or value. Like these, color is only one part of the statement. Where space may draw one aspect of communication, color draws out another, usually a feeling.

Some time back I posted a series of color pallets to inspire your next big idea.

Click on the images to download the palette for use in Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop or Indesign.

Drop me a line or send me a picture of your next big idea and how these inspired you.

Check back soon for more.

Design Observer: writings about design & culture

Smashing Magazine – a weblog dedicated to web-developers and designers

Core77 / design magazine + resource /

Authentic Boredom – by graphic designer, Cameron Moll

Coudal Partners: a forum for creativity and experimentation

CR Blog – News and views on visual communications from the writers of Creative Review

Dexigner – popular design portal featuring the latest design news

Hicksdesign – Journal of a small creative agency based in Witney, Oxfordshire, UK, authored by Jon Hicks

I Love Typography, devoted to fonts, typefaces and all things typographical.

Mark Boulton: Design Thinking. Web Delivery. By a designer based in Cardiff, UK.

Quipsologies – Corralling the most relevant and creative on- and off-line bits that pertain to the design community.

Russell Davies – incredibly diverse UK-based blog on topics associated with design

Speak Up > Design Dialog

Subtraction 7.0 – NYTimes.com’s Design Director, Khoi Vinh, blogs about design and other relevant info.

swissmiss – tina roth eisenberg | swiss designer gone nyc

Typographica. A Journal of Typography.

Veer: The Skinny – provides visual elements for use in professional creative work

Veerle’s blog 2.0 – Webdesign – XHTML CSS | Graphic Design

Logo Design Love: a website dedicated to all things logo.

Ace Jet 170 – Found type, print and stuff

AisleOne – Design, typography and everything else.

Anamorphosis. learn design create

Chris Glass, The Last 10 Days. A creative fella’s journal from Ohio.

Creative Curio – Learn, discuss and explore the realm of graphic design.

Design Notes published by Michael Surtees who tries to see life filtered through design as opposed to placing design on a pedestal

Designers who Blog – features blogs discussing graphic design, web design, illustration, marketing, photography, branding, writing and advertising

Design Adaptations | Charity Ondriezek

Design is Kinky – a proudly Australian blog on design

Design Sojourn | Strategic Industrial Design Blog

DesignM.ag — Articles and Resources for Web Designers

Design View: Articles, Essays and Opinions by Andy Rutledge

Fuel Your Creativity – Find your spark

Grain Edit – covers contemporary graphic design / illustration, as well as design from the from the golden era of advertising (1950s–1970s).

Graphic Define Magazine – focuses on the business of running a graphic, interactive, or web design studio.

ideasonideas, a blog that invites dialogue on issues relevant to communication designers and brand strategists

Inspiration Bit – Get inspired and learn from the latest technology, art and design buzz on the Web.

ISO50 – The Visual Work of Scott Hansen

Jasongraphix :: A journal of art, thoughts, and projects by Jason Beaird

Noisy Decent Graphics by Ben Terrett, a Graphic Designer in London

Positive Space :: The Graphic Design Blog

Spoon Graphics – the personal project of Chris Spooner, a UK based Graphic / Web Designer.

Swiss Legacy – Graphic design and typography

The Dieline – packaging design blog

things to look at – plenty of images, and oddly, things to look at

Type for you. A blog on typography, by Pedro Serrão, a graphic designer from Porto, Portugal.

TypeNeu dedicated to typography, fonts, lettering and typefaces

PR 4 blogs

AdGoodness – advertising and design blog from Frederik Samuel

Andy Budd :: Blogography – based in Brighton, England

Computerlove – Contemporary Creative Culture

David the Designer – don’t underestimate the knowledge this man has acquired (and don’t call him Dave)

Elliot Swan survived three days without the internet

FormFiftyFive – Design Inspiration – the pet project of designers Glenn Garriock and Jack Daly

graphicPUSH – “a sporadically but faithfully updated design blog”

Graphic Design Blog – graphic design, freelancing, illustration, advertising, web design

Laughing Lion Design : Graphic Design & Illustration Ireland

Lealea Design: Blogblog: Design inspiration and introspection

Luz Cannon: The Work of David Brooks : Designer, Photographer and Audio Producer

NOTCOT.ORG – for your ideas + aesthetics + amusement.

SeptemberIndustry | a showcase of the best in international graphic design

We Made This (It’s Our Blog)

Your Brain on Design: A Graphic Design Blog | Leslie Tane Design

Just Creative Design – by Jacob Cass

Truly Ace – Graphic Design Blog

The animated GIF has made it beyond technical application and began it’s journey to clogging up inboxes around the world.

The application of the animated GIF still has great potential.