Be A Design Cast 9 : Spec Work
Today on the Almost-Tenth Be A Design Cast we welcome fellow Be A Design Group author and AIGA Nebraska President Drew Davies to the show, filling in mightily for Mr. Nemitz. We dive into the treacherous waters of spec work, Olympic design, and design competitions. Also, Drew shatters my faith in House Industries. (But hey, we all did dumb things when we were younger, right?)
Right click to download Be A Design Cast 9 to your computer, (7mb) or subscribe directly from iTunes.
February 25th, 2006 at 10:06 pm
For a little more info on the graphics for the Torino Olymics, check out the Jan/Feb issue of Communications Arts. Iconologic did much of the graphics for these Olympics and it sounds like they are responsible for much of the look of the Beijing Olypmics as well.
Unless I read the CA article wrong, it sounds like the Torino logo was created by a competition as well. Too bad. Maybe this just shows how alluring spec work can be. The prospect of designing the Olympic logo must draw out some very talented designers. This seems like the best logo that I have seen come out of a competition. It seems very trendy right now, but it is interesting to think about how it was created six years ago. The logo was created by Antonino Benincasa. Most of the information I found on him was in different languages. I think German. It looks like he works for this company now.
February 26th, 2006 at 9:42 am
The first pack of House Industries fonts showed up while I was in art school. Everyone was eager to get their hands on them. But I’ve long since retired them. Especially Funhouse. We recently were given a Build-A-Bear, um, bear. The whole “birth certificate” was done in Funhouse. It sure looks fun!
February 27th, 2006 at 7:11 am
Here’s a question: Most of House Industries’ first pack of fonts was the same as most of the rest of what new type designin’ kids put out there: experimental, different, and what I like to call ‘not-safe-for-body-copy.’ What was good that came out of that first group? OR rather, has anything stood the test of time?
And for that matter, House, how do you feel about Build a Bear? Do you have Build a Bears at your office and hug them with pride? Inquiring designers want to know.
February 27th, 2006 at 7:44 am
I think Warehouse is still a beautiful typeface.
I remember using these with a vengeance for a Lifesaver’s project back in ’97. I think many could still have relevance in the youth market.
My chief complaint about the Build-A-Bear usage is that I would have preferred to see more thought go into the actual logo, rather than just typing in the words “Build-A-Bear” in Funhouse and being done with it.
February 27th, 2006 at 8:03 am
One other thing to think about. Some of the very first House fonts were created by recent graduates or created while they were still students. If I remember correctly, Crackhouse was created by Ken Barber while he was a student at Tyler. At that point in time House Ind. was more of a design studio than a font shop. They kind of fell into the type business and never turned back.
February 28th, 2006 at 8:51 am
Love the podcast, especially the taboo typeface. Still, you should turn it around every now and then and give us your opinion on fonts that rock. Perhaps fonts that rock… to the extreme?
March 24th, 2006 at 9:38 am
I’m catching up with you all here… I can’t believe I’ve missed this all along. Nicely done guys. Can’t wait to take part.