Massimo really is a charming guy. I believe I fell in love with him the moment he said,

You can say, “I love you,” in Helvetica. And you can say it with Helvetica Extra Light if you want to be really fancy. Or you can say it with the Extra Bold if it’s really intensive and passionate, you know, and it might work.
— Massimo Vignelli, from Helvetica

However, in regards to having 3-4 typefaces in your life, I think you have to be a really skilled designer to make it work. I mean, has anyone seen the shitty job GAP did with it’s new jeans campaign? It looks so much like American Apparel. Imagine making one type work for 20 different brands without people making a relation to anyone of them? Phew.

I’m sure Vignelli is shaking his head in his swanky, minimalistic, upper east side home. Anyway, for those who are curious.

THE VIGNELLI 12
THE CLASSICS
Caslon
Baskerville
Bodoni

THE SLAB SERIF
Clarendon

THE GROTESQUE
Akzidenz Grotesk

THE GEOMETRIC SANS SERIF
Futura
Gotham

THE NEO-GROTESQUE
Helvetica

THE HUMANIST SANS
Scala Sans
Frutiger
Meta

THE COMPREHENSIVE & UNIFIED SUPER-FAMILY
Thesis

So today, I decided to stack all my design annuals and books up into a pile and page through them. Hopefully the pros will speak to me. I soon realize that paging through images after images can actually make your eyes very tired and queasy. Hence I’m taking a break now to speak randomly.

Just 3 yrs ago, I thought Design was this trendy thing to do (don’t laugh, you know you’ve been there). It was just about how extensive are your photoshop skills and how well you could vector images and have 250 crazy fonts from a free-font website. It’s pretty funny, now that you look back and you realize that 1/2 the world still thinks that way. When good design is invisible. It is when you don’t notice it at all. Speaking of which— The Kerning on NBC’s new show “The Event” is KILLING me.

Anyhow. Back to book covers. I just wanted to post some book covers that I really love from Chip Kidd and hopefully you’ll see why Book Jacket Design is considered Art.

Happening 1// Meet Cunning’s “Thank You” gift

I gave Cunning a Betta Fish (aka Fighting Fish) because I thought it was rather apt in terms of symbolism. Also, my favorite creative sensei Floyd, did say he wanted an office pet. They kindly named it En. I miss En already.

Happening 2 & 3// Homemade Decadent Chewy Choc Cookies

More baking! George is suffering a toothache and I was suffering minor boredom from my sudden change in lifestyle pace, so I made cookies with my leftover L.A Burdick’s Hot Chocolate Mix. Was a little skeptical how it would turn out because the hot chocolate wouldn’t solidify in the oven but then my not-so-quick thinking decided that it would probably be best to take it out and let it cool. And.. wala! Non-molten cookies

True to form, I stuck them under one of those Asian food nets my mom sent over and went out to watch Scott Pilgrim vs. The World… how you say? I managed to get my hands on some free exclusive screening tickets. The show was awesome, I predict that word of mouth will get it the credit it deserves, NOT the trailer.

Happening 4// My idea for UNICEF is up on PSFK’s Future Report Site!

With a 3 day deadline, come up with a life-changing idea to help better the lives of the less fortunate. WE DID! I woke up today and found Floyd’s facebook post announcing that our ideas have been officially published on PSFK’s site. See Mine Here (and be sure to see the others. links below). Exciting News indeed

No.1 : Cats are Weird by Jeffrey Brown
I’ve taken the liberty of scanning my favorite strips from this treasure of a comic book. For more of his funnies for free— Visit his site

No.2: The Other Side of Desire by Daniel Bergner
I think I have a inclination to psychology/storytelling books. You know, the kind that makes knowledge interesting with case studies. Last semester, I read a book on Sociopaths and I suppose this is part 2 of that: Unusual taboo desires. So far it’s been pretty delicious.

No.3: Unwritten by Vertigo Comics
I’ve actually been hunting down this trade since before the beginning of my internship till my last week. That’s about 10 weeks. And I’ve finally gotten my hands on it. 2 comic bookstore owners + 3 comic geeks have told me “You’ve got to get on this!!!” Yes, 3 exclamation marks. they were THAT excited.

No.4: The Art of The Idea by John Hunt
This was given by the folks at Cunning. I fell in love with the way the book was set (as well as their uber sweet card) and I can’t wait to start on it tonight… the book of course.

So that’s it. I’ve never done multi-reading before… but it’s hard to mess up the content of a book list like mine.

I’ve changed my blog theme yet again, it was such a hassle to upload pics on that one. note to self: find a minimalistic yet gorgeous layout. Thanks to Tim, I found one and edited it to my own taste! Speaking of “taste”, George and I have been making cupcakes. Naturally, it was my idea but he’s much better at beating the batter smooth (can’t say the same for his piping skills though). So we managed to whip up some coffee cupcakes with vanilla icing and fondant (which my friends at Cunning completely devoured to my delight) and the next night we decided to try some cocoa & vanilla cupcakes with lemon icing! They were both pretty delish, I have to say.

]]> http://astraywonder.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=750 2 http://astraywonder.com/blog/?p=690 http://astraywonder.com/blog/?p=690#comments Sat, 01 May 2010 22:31:09 +0000 En Amaebi Tsao http://astraywonder.com/blog/?p=690

So the semester is finally over, it feels good. Done with portfolio, internship, projects and interviews… well not so much interviews but that’s ok. I’ve finally got the time to finish my other half’s birthday present… not too shabby, just a month late. I think I’m pretty happy with the title of it. Sneaky little Terroriums.

my cat knocked over my building blocks again… so it was time to make a new sentence!

Think of the Gocco as the Japanese invention of a hand-held, portable silkscreen solution. awesome? I think very much so. This baby can print countless event invites, prints for keeps, handmade tags, thank you notes, whatever your little heart desires. At some point in our lives, this gocco machine was in a third of all japanese households. Those Japanese, bless their soul for coming up with such nifty things! BUT, Gocco is dying! yes.. gocco might be no more soon… to quote Save Gocco— “In 2005 Riso (the parent company of Print Gocco) pulled the plug on Gocco, claiming a sharp decrease in sales was to blame… In December of 2008, Riso shipped their last stock of supplies to loyal vendors and closed its doors on Gocco forever.”

Now Gocco prices have risen to a whopping $529! so even though i bought the Gocco Guide 2 years ago hoping that I could afford one myself, I have my reservations, seeing as my less-indie Canon printer does a good job eating up my moolah for it’s ink… imagine trying to buy ink for a machine that has seized manufacturing altogether… that ought to be fun!

So anyway, help save Gocco! I am going to try and write more… seeing as my sorry ass last blogged in 2009. That’s pretty lame. Good night!

1. Sony ericsson Pureness is available now for 530 pounds, abit steep but very sexy and I guess privacy would be an issue that I might possibly be willing to sacrifice. You can view their lack-of-content teaser video [click me]

2. Do you guys remember cootie catchers? I was searching high and low for the name of it and how to make it for an entire year.. and I finally chanced upon it while reseatching for… wait for it – cutlery (yeah google is awesome, isn’t it?) Anyway, if by any chance, you love these things, you can make 20 of these like I did [here]

3. I don’t skate. But I do love Enjoi. It’s such a cute panda on a deck. A brand with a panda and an umbrella. Mmm. Anyway, if you want to buy it for me, to hang on my wall, so that my boyfriend can try and steal it off the wall and skate with it, you can [find it here]

4. Finally, I was watching Animal Planet (surprise surprise) and I think when I’m 29 and decide to take my skill(z) to a whole new level, I will do an internship [here] with the big cats, and write a graphic design book about my magnificent brothers and sisters.

And alas, it’s 547pm but looking like 10pm. I hate winter but love it.

Hey all, it’s been awhile I know, been up and about, trying to get things sorted. I have way too many pics to post.  I started writing morning pages since it’s suppose to help creative flow… we’ll see how things go with that. Classes are pretty hectic junior year– I think the Summer break really kills the pace of how your brain thinks. I swear, I just feel like my brain is just not where it’s suppose to be… but I think it’s getting there. Anyway, once I get settled in I’ll try to make blogging a daily event again. For now, here’s a desktop wallpaper I made (feel free to snag it)

love.