Be Aware celebrates sweet 16.

Donovan Beery: Web Tips

Print designers who venture into the web always comment on the lack of type options you get online. As body copy needs to be in a font that the viewer has on their computer (and that means one that a majority of people have) we are limited to a very few – or more specifically, we are limited to those that come standard with Microsoft Windows. Microsoft has six new fonts shipping later this year, so add these to the list to use online. A human factors expert I’ve had the opportunity to work with sent me a link that also shows they appear to test well in legibility. Every now and then, even Microsoft can surprise you.

Drew Davies: Logo Trends Gone Wrong

There’s a continuing discussion about they very idea of finding “trends” in logos, and the determination of whether we’re looking at collections of appropriate logos that happen to use similar elements, or people aping a style they see in other “cool” logos for no discernable reason. I’m not sure which category these fit into, but I know it’s time to call for an end to it. I know we all fully understand that, appropriate for the situation or not, using a Millennium swoosh is simply no longer kosher. Recently, I encountered the mutated offspring of the swoosh, in a form I like to call “swooshman”. These playful figures combine variants on the Millennium swoosh to create humanoid figures. Only problem is, they’re so commonplace anymore that they’re useless for distinguishing an organization (especially if you provide occupational therapy or chiropractic care). Long story short, this is a trend I’d like to encourage us all to avoid. (And yes, even Coke has fallen into the trap. That bottom left logo is for their “Beverage Institute for Health & Wellness.)

Travis Gray: TypeWatch

At first I was going to post the fonts that the top 10 consumer websites in the 2006 How International Design Annual used but then I came across the KitchenAid site. Ironically the page pictured, and also the first page I was greeted with, featured their flagship mixer with the headline “Savor Every Detail.” But unfortunately the kerning on the headline was itself unsavory … sending a mixed message to anybody who notices these types of “details.” Below is the before and after of a quick kerning fix in Photoshop. Seems to me the HOW judges should have paid more attention to details like this as well, especially since it’s such a major feature on the homepage.

Adrian Hanft: Alternative Photography

Do you ever just want to take your camera apart and force it to do what you want? Me too. Unfortunately modern cameras aren’t very friendly to wannabe hackers like you and me. Luckily there is CameraHacker.com. The site is packed with useful hacks and mods that will surely satisfy your your inner MacGyver. So go ahead, void that warranty and start taking your cameras apart!

Tom Nemitz: Awesomely Bad Website

http://mchammer.blogspot.com/ (WARNING: Sound)

When I was preparing to post something on my own blog this week, something caught my eye on the Blogger Dashboard screen, specifically, the box that features “Blogs We’ve Noticed Lately”. It was called subtly enough “MC Hammer Blog”. I figured it was some hack who created a blog about MC Hammer. I figured wrong.

Its an actual blog written by the actual MC Hammer. And one of my rules in life is anytime the guy who popularized wind pants and the phrase “Hammertime” starts a blog, I have to link to it.

And honestly, anytime a blogger can sign a post “—Hammertime From My Sidekick”, and OWN IT, well that’s awesomely bad, isn’t it?