Google Fonts is amazing collection of free fonts. 916 font families just waiting for you. You can download them all in one zip file totalling 407 MB. I haven’t updated my Google Fonts collection since 2015. Today I added the updated collection to my hard drive. Over the course of four years, Google has added …
For a design comp, I quickly selected a Google font, Encode Sans. Because it comes in lots of weights thin, extra light, light, regular, medium, semi-bold, bold, extra-bold, and black. WONDERFUL! Such glorious options. And then quadruple over these options with Condensed, Semi Condensed, Semi Expanded, and Expanded families—each with 9 weights. This isn’t just a family …
Ten thousand regular typefaces when all you need is an italic Read More »
Some key commands are easy to remember. Command-c for copy. But what about obscure ones like Indesign’s command-option-j for underlining text? (In Indesign that’s called a paragraph rule). What does the letter j have to do with underlining text? Maybe there’s some word that starts with the letter j that means to underline. All of …
How to remember command-option-j to underline text Read More »
How to fit 100 columnists, 15 comic strips, and 50 employees into one holiday invite. This year I was asked to design the invite to our company holiday party this year. Normally, this would be finding some nice holiday stock art on our photo service. But this year I wanted to have a little more …
I have a penchant for creating really complicated Christmas cards. This year I decided to print fifty photos onto strips of paper. Then slide those strips into a clear plastic ornament. Kinda crazy. But also kinda fun. Here’s a preview of our Christmas card: There are six strips of paper inside this ornament. Sliding the …
When your company syndicates Dick Tracy, you often get to have some fun at work. Four months ago we moved out of the Tribune Tower, and into our new office space in One Prudential Plaza. In the recreational part of the building, we have a ping pong table. Next week we are holding an company …
Rotis Semi Serif not a serif. It’s not a sans serif. It’s an in-betweener with hinted serifs. Your body text does not want hinted serifs. Your body text wants either full serifs or none. But good news! Rotis does come in a serif and a sans version! In fact, the typeface comes in four variants: …
Please do not ever use the font Rotis Semi Serif as your body text Read More »
Back in the 1930s, the Tribune Tower’s observation deck boasted one of the best views in Chicago. The ticket to the observation deck looks a bit like the 1984 State of the Union ticket. Ah, vintage design.
The design of the State of the Union ticket has gone through several evolutions through the years. Most recently a typo appeared on the 2018 State of the Union ticket. Oops! Ok, the typo is pretty bad, but many other questions loom. Why does the paper look like construction paper or something from Office Depot? …
[button link=”http://spudart.deviantart.com/art/Science-fiction-is-totally-cool-589672191?purchase=print” size=”large” color=”orange”]» Art prints and canvas available[/button] Giant alien robots invade Chicago! Death rays shoot out of their eyes. The campy setup makes for a great B-movie sci-fi thriller poster. What could be more fun? Swap out the killer robot from Venus; and put in a giant mole with death rays shooting …
[button link=”http://spudart.deviantart.com/art/Science-fiction-is-Knowledge-invention-589673191?purchase=print” size=”large” color=”orange”]» Art prints and canvas available[/button] A worm dressed in an astronaut uniform watches a rocket blast off into outer space. Totally crazy. This is the final poster in this series of three illustrating the etymology of science fiction (view webcomic). The Worm character needed to be the main character for this …
