I’m sure David Carson rotated a “9” 180 degrees at some point so it looked like it was a “b”. So it is very appropriate that Group B brings you Be Aware number 9. Just go with it. I challenge Group A to create a post this divine. Student logo competitions, designing trains, rowdy revisions, letterpress word scramble …

Paul Berkbigler: Design Education

We’ve mentioned it before on the site, but an e-mail I received just this morning reminded me again of why it’s especially important as a design educator to discuss the merits and detriments of various design contests and “create a design” competitions.

I found a request in my Inbox this morning from a company inviting students to “Submit your best logo designs for our new business! One winner will be picked and three runners up can list this experience on their resume!” - It’s always so nice to find such stellar business ethics on display in my e-mail right away in the morning!

We have to work as a community to educate companies, practitioners, and students alike in why this practice directly devalues the work we all do - a colleague of mine used the example of a business inviting artists to bring their work to decorate a new building so that they’ll gain “exposure” for their creations. Nothing like saving the company the legitimate cost of purchasing any artwork they would choose to display by offering such great “exposure”, eh?

Delete these requests, but also take the time to write back to them and let companies know that this won’t be tolerated, especially when students are involved.

Kyle Heinemann: InDesign Tip

InDesign’s Book feature has rescued me from hours of boring, repetitious tasks in the last year. Nestled under the File menu at File > New > Book, it’s real power shines when you export a PDF or print 50 documents at the same time. A book is simply a collection of InDesign documents. They could be chapters of a book, sections of a magazine/catalog, or 50 different 1-page documents. I’ve even had success at sorting multiple multi-page documents of 3.5 x 7ft. tradeshow signs into sections through the use of books. Once added to a book, documents may reordered so the pages are continuous. All sorts of styles and colors can be synchronized/updated at any time. To export or print, go to the palette options pop-up menu for that book (upper right corner). Will this help you save time? Perhaps—try it out for yourself, or post a question.

Bennett Holzworth: Letterpress

Letterpress Word Scramble: When an acquaintance gave me his small collection of letterpress equipment he immediately became a good friend and also started my very “weighty” addiction. Amongst the varied type cases and press pieces was some orphaned metal type (aka pied type). I was of course drawn to the larger sizes and started sorting. There was not near enough to create an entire font, but I automatically tried to figure out what this 48 pt. and 60 pt. type once spelled out (if anything). A couple months later I tried again, and this time I figured it out! It had some small historical significance as well. I was even able to track down a piece that was printed from this type.

If you like … try to figure it out for yourself. Anyone living within 50 miles of Grand Island, Nebraska has a distinct advantage, if that gives you any clue. I will post the answer in a few days. And yes, the two different typefaces spell the same thing.

Daniel Schutzsmith: Design Business

ROWDY REVISIONS: When you find yourself getting deep in the muddy waters of the revision swamp take some of these possible escape routes into consideration for the future:

· Explain that further rounds of revisions will take more man-hours and must be billed as such. Be up front about any overages that might occur as a result of extra revisions.

· Don’t be afraid to sell your design to the client. Chances are, the client may want more revisions because they just don’t understand the solution you’ve provide to them. Show them why it works and how it will help them.

· Remember to always firmly outline the number of rounds of revisions in a contract at the beginning of the project. I’ve found the standard to be 2 or 3 rounds.

Nate Voss: Grunt Designer

Here’s to the variety.

Yesterday I was concepting a brand-refresh for a new client. The day before that I was designing a train. Today I am tracing Helvetica Condensed Medium from a printed InDesign page—that I laid out—into a marker comp. Why? Because it gives it the quality of an unfinished thought. It makes it more alive to the client. Those are things that I’m being told as I’m using a worn Sharpie marker to trace the curve of the lowercase Helvetica “a” and the near-serif finish at the bottom of the stem of a “t.” It makes me think of my shiny new copy of Elements of Typographic Style, currently occupying the passenger seat of my car. I never read it in college, and I’m planning a full-on, wide-eyed, adoration-free book review for the Design Cast as soon as I finish it. I purchased the 2005 printing of it in hardcover, and a part of me hopes there is a section at the end about how to do everything I’ve just learned in InDesign quickly. Tonight I’m grading projects for my class. After that I’m planning an AIGA event. Tomorrow I’m figuring out how to make a capabilities brochure with a cover made out of cement.

So, if nothing else, I’ve got the variety.