chemistry and design

That's right, a periodic table with photos or representations of each element. I could've memorized it so much more easily, if I'd had this poster. This is fantastic design, right here.

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Graphic designer test, and a thank you

From the 5th Annual World Graphic Design Foosball Championship at Pentagram: Paul Sahre challenges suspected non-designers Big Spaceship (2) with the 'Are you a graphic designer?'... An acquaintance of some renown managed to find 10 seconds to wish me luck and safety while being horribly busy in Africa, while people I'd known for years, who lived less than 25 miles away, were totally silent. One friend's efforts resulted in offers of help from total strangers pouring in. As I said to that friend this morning: There were people I'd known well for years, decades, even, who didn't bother to call and see how I was, because, they said, they knew I'd handle it and I'd call them if I needed anything.

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pack of deadlines

is shaping up to be a day where I narrowly escape from the pack of deadlines which has been chasing me for the last couple of weeks. I've been pulling late nights and weekends, and am pretty tired. One of my minions is off on vacation this week; the very last week he could take vacation before I send him off into a project that will take him a full month.

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Six categories of design firm promotional phrases

In Design Patois: Voice: AIGA Journal of Design: Writing: AIGA: Steven Heller points out that for all the differences in individual designers' styles, there are only six categories of design firm promotional phrases.... This still wasn't enough of an explanation for the small businesspeople I was working with, so I added a bit more, talking about how the design should get out of its own way, how the message should be important, blah blah blah.... I can't say, 'Well, we sit around and drink coffee and snicker at your choice of Bookman for your memos,' or 'We make jokes about how you can't make up your mind about capitalization, and you write a bunch of crappy jargon and call it copy.'

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