Stefanie Villeneuve Photography identity design is by Mahmoud Bachir and Mariana Angeli.

Here are some excellent resources for the grid that I use regularly that I thought I’d share:

Grid Systems in Graphic Design by Josef Muller-Brockmann.
One of the original books on the typographic grid and a book I think every designer should have.  Although the concepts and approaches were written for print design, they still transfer over to digital.

Basics Design 07: Grids.
A great introduction on the typographic grid by my favourite authors on graphic design. Although it’s an introduction, I review it from time-to-time when I’m on a project to freshen up on ideas liked juxtaposition. The print examples are great as well!

960 Grid.
Now a standard and excellent starting off point for any web design project. This grid for the web is based upon screen resolutions of 1024 pixel widths. Although desktop browser screen resolutions have gotten a lot larger than 1024 px widths, this still serves as a happy medium between A-Grade mobile browsers (Apple iOS, Opera Mobile, Android) and typical desktop browsers.

Ordering Disorder by Khoi Vinh.
This book talks about applying the principles of the typographic grid to the web. What’s really helpful is Chapter Four: Execution where Vinh goes through by example the application of the grid to a during the design process. (As a side note, check out Vinh’s lastest project: Mixel).

Grid Based.
A survey of websites that make good use of the grid. A great way to see different approaches to layout. And what’s also nice there are some really good examples of html5 websites.

Top pic is a detail of Karl Gerster’s ad for Schwitter, 1959.

I just caught an encore presentation of an interview with Jason Fried on CBC Radio. Jason is the founder of 37signals, a cloud-based software company – their flagship product is the popular Basecamp collaboration tool. He talks about his and 37signals’ approach to work and the work environment. He promotes the idea of less direct interruptions (less calls, meetings, IM) at work, and more passive communication where one takes conversations online through wiki’s and emails. This allows people to respond to messages according to their schedule.

Having worked in a few open-office environments, I think this makes sense. It’s so easy to have impromptu meetings and interruptions. For myself, it usually takes me awhile to really refocus and get back into my initial frame-of-mind after a call or meeting. But at the same time, chatting with someone in-person or on the phone does resolve problems quickly, and it’s nice interacting with someone tangibly rather than virtually through a computer.

Check out this  TED Talk with Jason Fried where he goes over these same issues.

Here’s a great book lent to me by my friend, Richard, called “Universal Principles of Design” by William Lidwell, Kritrina Holden + Jill Butler. The book covers ideas and concepts that apply to different fields of design, from graphic design, industrial design, interactive design, to architecture. It’s easy to read and digest because each principle is concisely explained within a two-page spread, with great descriptive illustrations and further-reading notes.

One memorable principle for me is the “80/20 Rule” that states 80 percent of the results or effects of a design originate from only 20 percent of the whole design. For example:

• 80 percent of a given product’s usage involves 20 percent of its features.
• 80 percent of innovation comes from 20 percent of the people.
• 80 percent of a compay’s revenue comes from 20 percent of its products.

This concept is great when applied to designing websites (or other interactive projects). Web designers and developers can really focus and concentrate their energy on specific aspects of a website, such as individual pages or components within, that can really benefit users.

Another insightful principle is the “Aesthetic-Usability Effect.”
 It says that when a design or experience is aesthetically pleasing, people will tend to overlook flaws in usability. Impressions based upon how nice a design looks builds upon our level of trust and belief in the quality of the product. In the long term, an aesthetically-pleasing design affects our use of a product in terms of affection, loyalty, and patience.

Although the book’s principles apply to specific fields of design and are not necessarily “universal”, it’s a still a great read (especially for graphic and interactive designers).

This past weekend I’ve been listening to a really great podcast called Your Dreams My Nightmares by Sam Weber. Each week he interviews illustrators and designers, and asks them about their craft and working in the commercial arts. It’s revealing and insightful to see the insider’s take in the world of commercial illustration, publishing, and graphic design. And the banter is fun as well! The highlights for me so far are his interviews with my favourite illustrator, Tomer Hanuka, and with GQ art director, Chelsea Cardinal.

Your Dreams My Nightmares airs every Wednesday at 8 PM on SVA’s radio station, WSVA, and is also available as a podcast on iTunes.

After reading through Erik Spiekermann’s book, Stop Stealing Sheep & Learn How Type Works, I found out about this really great book in its bibliography called Finer Points in the Spacing and Arrangement of Type by Geoffrey Dowding. I managed to find a copy and, wow, this is one of the most useful books on typesetting I’ve read so far! It’s short—it’s only 90 pages—as well as concise and easy to read. (By the way, if you haven’t read Stop Stealing Sheep, it’s a must read for anyone designing with typography).

Finer Points is presented in two sections: 1) Pointers on typesetting body copy, and 2) Pointers on typesetting headlines. It covers aspects of typesetting that most typography books don’t cover, such as the importance of word spacing (aim for the thickness of the letter “i” of the font used) and the thickness of rules (typically the width of the font’s character strokes). The only thing I would knock about this book is some suggestions are a bit dated. For example, it suggests using ampersands as a replacement for “and” in typesetting body copy to save space on the measure of a line. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this done in modern typography.

But despite a few examples of outdated instruction, this is a great book! If you manage to find a copy, pick it up!

Here’s a fun little game called Kern Type that tests your kerning abilities. The game presents a series of individual words and you correct the letterspacing of the letters. After, you submit your solution and the game compares it against typographers’ solutions.

As part of my Advanced Information Design class, I’ve started a book project on the subject of Designers (and Illustrators) and their favourite objects. So far I’ve gotten very positive and enthusiastic responses from people I’ve invited to participate.

(That’s my favourite object up above. I bought it during my trip to Japan in 2007. It’s from the Toji Temple Market in Kyoto.)

You can check out my accompanying blog here: designersfavouritethings.com

I just finished a very short project for a new creative group called Senior Creative People. This group consists of ex-copywriters and art directors who worked for DDB in the 60s.

The project was to design and develop a simple “Under Construction” page with provided copy and photography. The very cool thing with this project is the typography is set in the Univers webfont from Fonts.com.