Since being introduced to public radio way back in 2004, i’ve become a huge supporter. I don’t know where i got it from or why i became so interested. It may be some kind of audiophilia that attacks wave after wave of elite know-it-alls. A disease that i’m completely predisposed to because of my trendy age demographic. Who knows? Just after i started listening, i found a whole slew of great radio programs that broadcast about everything from politics to science and american culture. Each show done with enormous care and attention to detail. It was like i’d gone half my life unaware of taste.

One of my favorite shows on public radio is one i fell in love with early last year called Radiolab. My co-worker Genna and i like to talk about it in between frustrating change requests and every tele-scam that walks into our office. Needless to say, we’re giant nerds who like listening to the inFLECTious (yes i made that up!) voices of Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, the charming hosts of this unique program.

And we do our fair share of hanging about the web. We’ve become all too familiar with WNYC’s station logo so naturally when it changes seemingly overnight, we’re either the first to know or the last (this isn’t NEW news, sorry!).

Enough mucking though… The only real reason i came on here was to post about WNYC’s re-design to a much broader format. The design was executed by Open and shares a healthy respect for my love of all things typeset in ‘Gotham’. Frankly, i liked the older itteration too, but this new one is just as effective and fun to
look at.

The rest of the design review picks up at Brand New. Great analysis.

By the way, if you haven’t listened to Radiolab yet, nows’ a good time to start! Check out their podcast section.

Facebook has easily become one of the coolest social networking sites since the inception of Friendster….. or Myspace *sighhh*…

But anyway, Businessweek.com just published an article that discusses the pros and cons of a new and sleeker user-interface:

The social networking site’s coming redesign will be marked by a cleaner, more organized look to appeal to its vastly bigger, more diverse user base…
[continue reading]

Typophiles rejoice. ilovetypography.com has new interview with Swedish type designer, Stefan Hattenbach.

His designs for ‘Luminance‘ and ‘Lunda Modern‘ are quirky enough. I wish I could buy every font in the world… I know I can’t but if I could, these would be high up on my list of typographic trophies.

Some of my favorite covers. Designs by John Gall and Hellen Yentus. Photos via my iPhone.

When i’ve hit a creative road-block I visit the bookstore. It’s rare that I ever leave shop without some kind of book to take back home with me whether it’s new, used, or its cover is near disrepair. Doesn’t matter as long as it looks interesting. And for the most part that’s good. We’re raised under the assumption that it’s bad to judge a book by its cover and from time to time I think back on all those urban mantras, wondering if it’s still the kind of stuff they teach now.

Do students leave their classrooms brainwashed and determined to examine content before form? To me it’s always been the exact opposite. Look for the physical flaws first and save yourself a whole lot of trouble later. Does the tomato appear bruised or firm? Does Batman really need that cape to feel menacing to his enemies? (popping out of shadows dressed like a medieval savage isn’t enough?) Does anyone really look as beautiful as the people on ‘LOST’? For me at least, answering these questions first helps inform us of their value.

Books on the other hand, are a complete toss-up. Sometimes the cover can misdirect us emotionally and mask the fact that its content is either really compelling or completely useless. Books are like people in a lot of ways because they’re capable of hiding their flaws behind pretty faces and tasteful fashion trends.

There are also all kinds of unwritten rules when it comes to designing book covers that most lit-crits don’t know about. Like recruiting the use of greens, snakes, or wolves on your dust jackets. Marketing and trend research proves this cuts a book’s profit margins BUT just as people continue to wear sweat pants and flannel pajama bottoms in public, the designer will continue to use these tactics to sell their work… Maybe in spite of corporate marketing plans. Regardless, its people who teach you, earn your trust, and open your eyes to new experiences. Books are altogether capable of the doing the same things.

One good thing about books is that they lend themselves to scrutiny easier than people do. With a book, it’s simple to tell at a distance what to expect because they use their covers as platforms to pedal their messages.

Soft pallets, delicate motifs, and loose letter forms paint the picture that you’re about to pick up a novel for women roughly between the ages of 16 and 25 who appreciate a good cry while covers with bold colors, thick letters, and dramatic photography suggests a story charged with tension and intrigue. When was the last time a person conveyed those things to you in under 3 seconds? Never, because it doesn’t happen.

People wear their emotions on the inside but books wear them proudly where they can be seen. This is why I find them so physically attractive and enchanting. My only problem? Reading them… but that’s a whole other story.