The reading for this weeks blog talks discusses how much writing can affect and improve your work as a designer. When we enter in the art school, we don't always assume that we will be writing research papers, but in the end, it is understood that they will benefit our work. In order to become successful and innovative designers, we need to become aware of the work around us, and the great designers that preceded us. Writing can also help us to understand our process and why we made the decisions that we did. Overall this reading basically inspired me to write the paper that is due on Tuesday, and it helps me to understand why we are writing this paper.

Grunge Design

Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Typeface-

The Thirteen Reasons to use a certain typeface that really rang true for me:
1. Because it works-some typefaces just work perfectly for some projects.
2. Because you like it's history.
3. Because you like it's name- sad but so true.
4. Because of who designed it- just like a purse.
5. Because it was there- convenience isn't always a good thing.
6. Because they made you- doesn't only happen in school.
7. Because it reminds you of something- good old nostalgia.
8. Because its beautiful.
9. Because its ugly.
10. Because its boring.
11. Because you believe in it.
12. Because it's special.
13. Because you can't not.

The 10 Commandments & How to Break Them

10 Commandments:
I. Thou shalt not apply more than three typefaces in a document.
II. Thou shalt lay headlines large and at the top of a page.
III. Thou shalt employ no other type size than 8pt to 10pt for body copy.
IV. Remember that a typeface that is not legible is not truly a typeface.
V. Honour thy kerning, so that white space becomes visually equalized between characters.
VI. Thou shalt lay stress discreetly upon elements within text.
VII. Thou shalt not use only capitals when setting vast body copy.
VIII. Thou shalt always align letters and words on a baseline.
IV. Thou shalt use flush-left, ragged-right alignment.
X. Thou shalt not make lines too short or too long.

How to break them:
1. Break the letters imposed by the use of only three typefaces.
2. Let thine eyes be seduced by the hierarchy of type.
3. Do not forsake smaller or bigger sizes.
4. Be seduced into trying new and expressive typefaces.
5. Treat kerning and tracking with total irreverence.
6. Entice the reader to sample the delights of your text.
7. Do not forgo the liberal use of capitals within your text.
8. The Lord designed letterforms to stand side by side, but there is no harm in their being lured away from one another.
9. Yield to the temptation to align text in unusual ways.
10. Lure the reader down unfamiliar paths.

The Stefan Sagmeister video talks about making and viewing design that makes you happy. Sometimes it seems as though everything is so serious, and created in order to have some important function, and it is no longer created to simply make someone happy. We are always drawn to things that are more upbeat and dealing with happiness, but it is a complicated subject matter. While reading the article of bad and good design, I learned a lot. People don't always realize how much design affects our daily lives, and if someone was to be poorly designed, it could have disastrous affects, like in the case of the Florida ballot. They are not necessarily talking about the artistic qualities of a design, but more about how it is changing the world. I also really enjoyed looking at the work on the work on the Sagmeister, Inc website, it was very innovative and interesting.

These videos really spoke a lot about communication, and how you can work to really reach out to your audience, and find strong ways to get your specific point across. He also spoke about how important it is to pay attention to how your work will be understood across many different spectrums and areas of the design world. It was a new a refreshing way to look at designing, and all of the videos gave me some great pointers and suggestions!