Ooh, pretty! Graphic design

[Ellie]

I dunno, I just want a thread with lots of good design stuff in it so I can bathe my eyeballs in well-crafted documents and illustrations.

Some cool stuff here: http://losttype.com/browse/

[dhex]

i have some fondness for:

http://ilovetypography.com/
http://www.subtraction.com/
http://typographica.org/
http://ministryoftype.co.uk/

[Ellie]

If anyone ever runs across or knows of a graphic design critique community, please pass it on -- I'd love to learn via lurking.

[dhex]

the only two i've ever read are graphicdesignforum.com and http://www.howdesign.com/forum/

both are ok enough.

[Aresen]

Penis font

(Pornographic design.)

[Ellie]

I am not nearly qualified to be choosing fonts on my own. Gah. Who let me into this job?

Edit: also probably endlessly downloading more fonts is not the solution to never knowing the right font to use.

And yes I am still using clipart. DON'T MURDER ME DHEX

[dhex]

If you're using clip art you're beyond death's icy grasp.

Also yeah keep it simple with the fonts. Two is generally fine for most poster/flyer communications.

[Eric the .5b]

Helvetica.

Unless you have Univers, perhaps.

[Highway]

coooooooomic saaaaaaaaans... dooooooooo it......

[Mo]

Three words Pa pie russ

[Ellie]

Also yeah keep it simple with the fonts. Two is generally fine for most poster/flyer communications.

In my tiny defense I keep it to 2 per design. But always once I find one I like, I can't find another that goes with it.

[dhex]

cheat sheet:

1) pick one sans serif for your headlines, paragraph headers, etc
2) pick one serif font for your body copy
3) done

so long as you don't pick something really, really bad you'll be fine.

[Ellie]

Has Creative Suite always cost $1200? Am I insane? All I want is vector graphic editing and Not Microsoft Publisher. Should I just try to halfass it with Inkscape and Scribus? Admittedly we're talking church bulletins and picnic flyers, not multimillion-dollar ad campaigns.

[Hugh Akston]

Has Creative Suite always cost $1200? Am I insane? All I want is vector graphic editing and Not Microsoft Publisher. Should I just try to halfass it with Inkscape and Scribus? Admittedly we're talking church bulletins and picnic flyers, not multimillion-dollar ad campaigns.

Creative Suite has always been hella expensive. If you're looking for a more affordable alternative, Adobe Cloud has all the same functions but they drill you monthly.

[Ellie]

I had $700 as the number in my head. OMGSTAGFLATION

[tr0g]

I had $700 as the number in my head. OMGSTAGFLATION

I seem to recall if you know a kindly student type, they can get a student version way cheaper.

[dbcooper]

The Pirate Bay has a great deal on Illustrator too.

[Painboy]

I had $700 as the number in my head. OMGSTAGFLATION

That's probably the upgrade price for those who already own it.

[Ellie]

I seem to recall if you know a kindly student type, they can get a student version way cheaper.

Dammit, why are all my friends so old and out of college?

Heck, maybe I can get my job to pay me to enroll in a college class and use myself as a student. It might be cheaper overall!

[dhex]

i think i paid 220 ish for the basic creative suite full version on a teacher discount (5.5). couldn't have been much more than that.

[Ellie]

CS6 student version is running $420 on Amazon (I can't figure out how to buy it on the Adobe website). Sounds like they make you jump through a lot of hoops to prove you're really a student. I will have to comb through my friends and find somebody bribe-able.

[dhex]

be warned that the whole cloud activation thing totally fucking sucks so just fyi on that. adobe tech support level 1 is complete fucking shit.

anyway the process is usually a copy of the student id and some kind of mail from the attached edu account iirc.

[Mo]

On the opposite side of, "Ooh, pretty," is NBC News. It's like someone said, "Everyone loves Windows 8 Metro, let's make everything look like that.

[GinSlinger]

cheat sheet:

1) pick one sans serif for your headlines, paragraph headers, etc
2) pick one serif font for your body copy
3) done

so long as you don't pick something really, really bad you'll be fine.

There is never a reason to sans serif!

Times New Roman always and forever.

If you really don't like TNR, Georgia is grudgingly acceptable. Garamond is also allowed

[Ellie]

There is never a reason to sans serif!

Times New Roman always and forever.

I need to find some pearls so I can clutch them!