I am currently redesigning this site and am spending hours pouring through typefaces looking for inspiration. Finding the perfect Type for this project is a lot like dating to find the right guy to settle down with. I have pretty high standards, it has to look pretty fine, but it has to have a Bad Ass personality. Over the last few days I have found some typefaces that are really nice catches… just not for THIS project. I would like to take the time and introduce you guys to each other, who knows… maybe you all will hit it off.

Pelso

A sturdy thin typeface that looks lovely large, I recommend Pelso for those who need “a lot of space”.

Bello

Bello is a versatile script that can be dressed up or down with its ligatures and small caps. It is a little pricier than the other 4, but it is well worth the investment.

Great Circus

This typeface is old-timey antique with a modern grunge feeling. The right application of Great Circus can make or break a piece, use with caution.

Dubby

Though this isn’t technically a “typeface” this vector alphabet frees you from the type tool and allows you to arrange the letters as shape. The right application of Dubby can turn any message into one with personality.

Insignia

Neville Brody designed this typeface for Arena Magazine. It has beautiful hard geometric edges accented with unexpected curves. I am just looking for where to use this typeface.

This past Saturday I attended my second Barcamp DC. If you are not familiar with what barcamp is you can read what I have written about it in the past here and here.

This year the talk that really caught my attention was that of Jeff Brown’s, a teacher at Damascus High School in Montgomery County Maryland and a member of the Web Standards Project Education Task Force. Jeff’s talk focused on “Webucation”, and the still very wide gap between what is being taught in college Web Design classes and what is being practiced online and in the industry.

While have been teaching part-time at CDIA-BU, Jeff’s topic caught my attention because of an experience I had about 6 months ago speaking with a group of graduating seniors in a Design program (that includes web design courses) at a local well respected university. While talking to about 30 students I asked them questions like “Do you know what user experience, interaction design, or information architecture is?” with shocking results. Not only were they unfamiliar with the terminology, few seemed to care about possible opportunities in web design. HTML, and CSS? forget it. While I am very aware that I did not learn that stuff when I was in school, a lot of time has passed since then and I really expected more of a progression towards web standards, industry technology, and well… basic interaction design.

After having that experience it became very apparent to me that the majority of higher educational institutions are very behind. It has since been on my mind and it is one of the reasons I so excitedly jumped on board when I heard about teaching part time at CDIA-BU (because they are on top of their stuff). Throughout Jeff’s talk he shared his personal experiences of interviewing with a college and his take-aways from the interview only confirmed many of the predictions I had about other institutions and how they are handling teaching web design. After proposing possible classes he could teach the interviewer came back and explained that word processing and “flash animation (for gaming)” were possible opportunities.

So, what was Jeff’s advice on how to solve these predicaments? Find a non-confrontational approach and become a “Webucator”. Make it a priority to be a guest speaker for a class, visit a college campus, or just step up to be an example for students to follow. Jeff’s talk was definitely one of the most unique and inspirational talks I have sat in at Barcamp DC and I really felt like his message is worthy of passing along.

In addition to sharing his message I want to point out an easy way for any of you guys to step up and help Jeff’s mission as a “webucator”: donate to the Web Program at Damascus High School. Jeff teaches a fantastic group of High School students the wonders of Web standards, and is even taking them to the Future of Web Design Conference on Nov 4th. A High School field trip to see Paul Boag, Dan Mall, Hillman Curtis, & Khoi Vinh talk about the awesomeness of all things web? How rad is that! Even if it is just a few dollars it would be an awesome, and very easy way to contribute to the webucation of the people who will be determining the future of web design.

Donate Now »

Photo by Jason Garber

LetterCult
I was looking up some info on Doyald Young for class when I stumbled upon this site for custom lettering. As you know from some of my previous posts, I love custom lettering, and even recently tried my hand at it (under a 4 hour deadline) for a Viget Flash Mob. I am looking forward to this feed in my netvibes.

Good Magazine
As I was sitting in the San Diego airport flipping through an issue of Good Magazine I thought to myself ” Wouldn’t it be rad if they redesigned their site to look more like their magazine design?” Then poof… it happened. Its sort of like when I wished out loud to Jim that there was a 24 inch iMac and then Mr Jobs unveiled it the next week. I am on a roll. What will be next?

The Daily Monster
Now that I am familiar with Stefan Bucher’s little monsters (the fine folks at ADCMW mentioned the name) I am seeing them everywhere! I especially like the new skateboard decks on Zazzle.

Death By Kerning
Do we really need another blog dedicated to the wonders of Typography? YES. I can’t get enough. With a name like “Death by Kerning” how can I keep this feed out of my reader?

Pattern Tap
With the sea of design galleries on the web these days its rare that I find one that really sticks out, but this one does. Pattern tap organizes sites by design patterns, making it unique and incredibly useful. Need to find inspiration on how to design something specific like comments, or a contact form? This is the site for doing just that.

Design For Obama
Regardless of which candidate you support, there is no denying that there has been an unprecedented amount of design created in this election for Barack Obama. This site has some interesting and humorous concepts exhibited in the form of user generated posters. Im a fan of “Barack you like a Hurricane“. All good presidential slogans should reference hair metal, right?