gramme Jr. has finally arrived! Oct 10, 08, 7:37 p.m.

Graham Benjamin Steel was born on October 8 at 4:21 am. He weighed in at 7 lb. and 19.25" long. Both mother and baby are doing fine, we got home this afternoon and are looking forward to not sleeping in a hospital tonight.

And no, I did not name my son after my screen name.

http://www.facebook.com/album.ph…

ichunes advice Oct 3, 08, 9:15 a.m.

Got a hankerin for some new music. I like Deftones but not Taproot. I like Iron & Wine but not Belle & Sebastian. Considering Spoon. Perhaps something heavier, though I can't abide heavy music that lacks melody. Advise me.

Deep Fried Sep 19, 08, 8:08 a.m.

Have worked every weekend for two months straight. Worked 8:45 AM till 3 AM the other day. Am on the verge of total burnout. Have developed an annoying twitch in my left eye from lack of sleep. Our first baby is coming very soon and I will be extra pissed if I can barely pull myself away from work to spend time with him.

So glad the weekend is upon us. Thanks for listening,

[ end rant ]

HTML comp question Sep 13, 08, 2:11 p.m.

Pardon me if this is a noob question, but what pixel height do you web designers typically use when designing comps for a website that will be primarily HTML...not extremely content-rich, but some vertical scrolling required? I'm working at 950 px wide. I had it set at 650 px high but am finding that a bit restrictive. I don't wanna make it too tall but don't know of a standard convention.

THX

Brand Question Sep 13, 08, 8:44 a.m.

So over the past couple years we've designed a bunch of product logotypes for a client of ours. For over a year the accepted convention has been "Product Name by Client" (fill in the blank w/ product name and client name).

Now, all of a sudden, even after previously approving the verbiage in all logotypes, the client's legal department is saying we can't say "by Client" after the product name because the pronoun in that case becomes an adjective. I'm no English expert, but I did pay attention in high school grammar. Doesn't ring true to me. It's always been my impression that a pronoun can never become an adjective.

Yes? No? Am I mistaken? I'm up against the possibility of having to re-jigger all 20 some-odd logotypes and would frankly rather not.

Logotype Critique Aug 30, 08, 11:58 a.m.

OK, I swear I usually do work for people outside of the church ;)

This is for a friend's college ministry in the research triangle area of NC. It's a huge group as far as those things go.

The name of the church affiliated with the ministry is Church of The Good Shepherd. So, I thought a simple logotype would be most appropriate. I've narrowed it down to what you see here. I wanted to subtly hint at a shepherd's crook with the lowercase f, rather than try to make some gimicky shield or crest like I was asked (ugh).

I typically think containing a logotype in an oval or circle can be a cop-out, but in this case it reinforces the idea of a flock or group being unified. I'm leaning towards one direction but would appreciate some feedback first.

http://metagramme.com/Flock_dd1_…

Let 'er rip.

Font suggestions Aug 24, 08, 2:31 p.m.

Looking for a script that feels French, although it can't be too specifically baroque. Bickham isn't cutting it. My knowledge of scripts is much shallower than sans & serif. Any suggestions?

Style Guide Question Aug 7, 08, 8:57 a.m.

For those that have designed & written style guides: if the guidelines are mainly for in-house secretary types (who are just now learning InDesign) rather than designers, and you want to make sure no one ever tries to re-create the logo from scratch, what is the point in showing the logo's construction? I've seen/done both ways. Sometimes people diagram the crap out of the logo, and then again sometimes they just show it without describing what's under the hood, so to speak. Just wondering what you guys think.

Nice Binders Jul 21, 08, 2:24 p.m.

Need a good looking one to house my church's brand standards. Lost Luggage is a bit pricey. I'm gonna print them here on Superfine or some other decent archival uncoated sheet (they only need one copy).

What do you guys use?

Thx,
gramme

Kerning Check Jul 8, 08, 9:46 a.m.

Kerning experts:

This is the final logo for my church, many of you helped quite a bit in the critique phase. The design is locked in, but I'm trying to finesse the kerning. It's a bit problematic in "OAKS". I'm looking at spacing the letters in two ways. Have a look here and let me know what you guys think. Presenting the final final tonight w/ color options.

http://metagramme.com/TOPC_KERN_…

Dino dos Santos Jul 2, 08, 7:35 a.m.

There's a website that shows some of his fonts, and it isn't dstype.com (his foundry's site). Any ideas? Can't seem to find it in my links or on Google. I was specifically looking for design information on Glosa, dstype isn't very informative.

thx,
gramme

Where do you get... Jun 30, 08, 3:20 p.m.

Decent pixel fonts. I'm a print guy for the most part, so the usual suspects are not much help here.

We are redesigning our website. Need something that works well at small sizes in Flash, and preferably plays well with Gotham and Bembo.

THANKS.

I know the pieces fit Jun 24, 08, 1:13 p.m.

'Cause I watched them fall away. Mildewed and smoldering, fundamental differing. Pure intention juxtaposed will set two lovers souls in motion. Disintegrating as it grows, crippling our communication.

Screening spot colors Jun 10, 08, 3:23 p.m.

What do you think about, if done moderately and using a decent line screen?

Critique Please May 27, 08, 10:10 a.m.

Logo for my church. The name is Twin Oaks Presbyterian Church. We're fairly traditional, suburban but with a growing number of young people like myself.

http://metagramme.com/TOPC_MS_pr…

cheers,
gramme

Working over the weekend May 23, 08, 3:19 p.m.

All because of grasping, greedy, melodramatic bureaucrats. Happy birthday to me. This style guide would've been done and delivered months ago otherwise. Oh, and a buddy from back home is in town. Haven't seen him since I got married.

Friend: "Wanna go get beers?"
Me: "Nah, I've gotta overhaul a 50 page style guide. By Monday night. So...find some way to entertain yourself. I'll be keeping this desk warm for a while. Oh and welcome to St. Louis."

:|

Typeface suggestions pls May 12, 08, 11:28 a.m.

I am FINALLY starting to work on the new identity for my church, after talking about it for a year. We're Presbyterian, orthodox, and fairly traditional, but very involved in the local community. There is a growing number of young people like myself, so it feels less stuffy and buttoned-up these days.

Would like to gather some typographic suggestions. I'm liking fonts that have a 17th–18th. c. feel to them, like something you might find in an old Scottish or Dutch book. Also working with some more contemporary American options. Have been using Mercury, Caslon, Benton, Minion, Gotham & Trade Gothic. I'm avoiding fonts that feel very Italian or French like Bembo, Jenson or Garamond. I think Trajan works for some of the directions I'm taking, but I'm SICK of seeing it everywhere. I've been eyeing Penumbra as a possibility.

I feel like I need more options. Suggestions please, and thanks billions.

It's a Boy!! May 9, 08, 12:33 p.m.

All 5 limbs are present and accounted for.

:D

Senior Thesis Apr 17, 08, 2:34 p.m.

Regardless of your stance on abortion, I think we can all agree that this is twisted and horrific:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2…

This does not communicate Mar 20, 08, 3:06 p.m.

what's that site that has the stickers. Cannae find it in the filter.

shanks, gramme-pa