10 Design Thinkers To Follow On Twitter

Not Your Average Twitter Listicle

I was inspired recently by GrainEdit’s curated list of designers to follow on Twitter. I admire it because it not only includes the “Design Rock Stars” as one would expect (@ilovetypography, @DesignObserver, et al.), but also highlights some truly amazing designers who are currently doing some truly awesome work. So, for this week’s #followfriday phenom on Twitter (in which I do not usually participate, and when I do attempt to do so it seems, to me, to be entirely awkward and therefore inorganic), I thought I would put my own spin on recommending designer-ly types to follow on Twitter.

I employ the completely made-up term “designer-ly” because not all of the individuals on my list are graphic designers. But since, as a designer myself, I always gravitate toward those thinkers and designers who speak on a variety of topics (because, really, design inspiration can come from anywhere), I decided to highlight those individuals whose content inspires me. I also tried to select “designer-ly” Twitterers who maintain impressive blogs and / or websites, as well, and whose Twitter streams augment their excellent thoughts on design, art, or technology as presented in their forums that go well beyond Twitter’s 140 character confines. Lastly, I sought to focus on those thinkers who tend to be more engaging with their followers on Twitter, and not only follow / engage with the “Twitter Design Elite”; I am not criticizing those who do this, but I personally get more out of following design thinkers when they actively engage with their audiences.

With that, I give you my top choices for the “10 Design Thinkers To Follow On Twitter”.

@brainpicker

Maria Popova of Brain Pickings

I have been a huge fan of Maria’s for awhile, and have written of my admiration of her blog before in this space, but my love of her content bears repeating. Brain Pickings “picks culture’s collective brain” for innovation, inspiration, and brilliant ideas, and Maria’s Twitter stream follows this up with bite-sized bits of brilliance on art, culture, design, photography, sustainability, technology, and, of course, all things TED. She is an awesome resource for inspiring some very heavy “outside of the box” thinking about design, innovation, and the inter-connectedness of ideas.

@changeorder

David Sherwin of ChangeOrder

David Sherwin’s ChangeOrder is an amazing resource because it focuses on the business and process of design in a way that makes its content truly accessible to all designers, not only to Creative Directors or Principals. His articles never fail to inspire thought concerning the business side of design, and allow one to see the design process not only from the design side, but from the all-important client side, as well. All of this amazing insight is, of course, nicely supplemented by David’s Twitter stream, which is a resource I could not imagine being without.

@darrylohrt

Darryl Ohrt of Brandflakes For Breakfast

As the most recognizable online voice from the greatest agency in all of the land, Plaid, it would be an egregious error on my part if I did not include Darryl’s Twitter stream and Plaid’s blog in my list of most valuable Twitter design resources. With a sense of humor, frankness, and shockingly accurate eye for detail and all things branding, Darryl consistently delivers the best of what internet culture, pop culture, good design, and branding trends have to offer. Pair that with an amazing attention to how (and how well) companies are using social media to their (dis)advantages, and you have, well, one of the greatest Twitter streams in all of the land.

@hellyeahdude

Patrick Algrim of Hell Yeah Dude

I remain a longtime fan of Patrick’s Hell Yeah Dude, which was initially launched as a forum to which young authors trying to break into the design world could contribute their own thoughts, beliefs, and topics concerning design and the design process. Hell Yeah Dude has, through numerous incarnations, retained this contributory, collaborative focus, and it is one of my top go-to sites for fresh design ideas and perspectives. Patrick’s Twitter stream is an excellent supplement, focusing on design, art, Chicago, and the web with refreshing insight.

@jackcheng

Jack Cheng of JackCheng.com

I first began following Jack Cheng’s work and ideas back in October of 2008, when I read his article, “I am my own boss (and so can you!),” published on his site. A former copywriter and UX / web design lead, Jack has an amazing talent for conveying innovative ideas concerning design, writing, working, and living in a way that I find very engaging and useful in my own life and work as a designer and thinking visual artist. His Twitter stream also never fails to give one pause with its ideas and textual images painted in less than 140 characters.

@jomc

Joanne McNeil of Tomorrow Museum

The Tomorrow Museum is a collection of images and speculative essays exploring how technology, science, and economics are affecting the fine arts. Curated and written by science and technology writer Joanne McNeil, the original essays themselves, as well as the curated links in the blog’s “Asides” column, always inspire one with their observations of how technology, science, and the web inform the processes of creative thinking and artistic production. Additionally, Joanne’s Twitter stream augments the blog with a characteristic wit and keen eye, and should definitely not be missed.

@kitsunenoir

Bobby Solomon of Kitsune Noir

I discovered Bobby Solomon’s rather excellent blog collection of links to and ruminations on all imaginable goodness related to art, design, fashion, film, and music via the previously-referenced list of top Twitter designers compiled by GrainEdit, and I am so glad I did. Bobby has an amazing eye for all kinds of visual and aural awesomeness, and presents them with a wit and candor that make reading and seeing them all the more enjoyable. One should follow his equally engaging and informative Twitter stream to remain abreast of all of the action occurring on Kitsune Noir.

@michaelSurtees

Michael Surtees of DesignNotes

I cannot imagine anyone remotely related to design being unfamiliar with Michael Surtees’ DesignNotes, but if for some unexplainable reason one is, one should rectify that immediately. Michael writes widely on graphic design and all things visual with a candor and frankness that I find refreshing in the arena of design writing. He has a unique eye for finding interesting sites, projects, and events online and in New York City (and chronicles them in his impressive weekly Link Drops), and can always be counted on for unique, innovative content, both on his blog and in his Twitter stream.

@rbtlshow

Aaron Heth (@aaronheth) and Matt McInerney (@mattmc) of Read Between The Leading

One of the great new resources that I recently began following is Read Between The Leading, a podcast that focuses on graphic design and typography, and produced by two extremely passionate design students at the Savannah College of Art & Design. The two designers have produced some amazing episodes thus far, including interviews with Glenn Garriock of FormFiftyFive and John Boardley of ILoveTypography, and never fail to direct thought-provoking questions toward their interviewees or other design topics. Their show’s Twitter stream is a must-follow resource for anyone interested in design on any level.

@serial_consign

Greg J. Smith of Serial Consign

Greg’s truly amazing site and more casual yet still truly amazing Twitter stream are in my top list of immediate go-tos for design brain candy. A designer and researcher interested in media theory and digital culture, Greg’s work focuses on how “contemporary information paradigms affect representational and spatial systems”. What this means is that one can always be inspired to think about design in vastly different ways once one reads Greg’s take on design as manifested in illustration, information design, visualization, and writing. Another definite must-follow.

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There are many, many other impressive designer-ly thinkers on Twitter, to be sure, and I follow a lot (but by no means all) of them. Do you follow anyone on Twitter (“designer-ly” or not) who you consider to be a “must-follow”? If so, leave some tips in a comment so that I and others can check them out!

Filed under: Art, Blogging, Design, Net Culture, Technology, Typography, Web Design, Writing , 31 days, a-list, being servicey, follow friday, linkage, listicles, lists, twitter

Remember, Remember, The Fifth Of November

From this day forward, for as long as I continue to breathe, Guy Fawkes will not be the only man I remember on the fifth of November.

Election 2008 is over, and a deserving President Elect has been chosen. Journalists have filed their final stories of the seemingly endless campaign season, people danced on top of city buses in New York City like a scene straight out of “Fame”, and bloggers everywhere slumped at their laptops, wondering, “What do I write about now?! Somehow those articles on snark on the web and friend poaching on social networking sites do not seem at all as interesting nor as important as what just ended!”

As I sifted through the virtual mountains of unread items in my RSS feed this evening, I thought I would curate a few of the more memorable visual images and stories from this most recent election season, and evening, and post them here. For posterity. For reflection.

And for remembering this very special fifth of November.

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DesignNotes by Michael Surtees:
The Empire State Building Is Blue Tonight.

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Done 11.04.08, by Devon Day, New York, NY, from The Polling Place Photo Project, a joint effort of The New York Times and AIGA, the professional association for design, at Design Observer.

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Hope Poster, by Paula Scher and Drea Zlanabitnig of Pentagram New York.

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The Next President Of The United States at The Big Picture.

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Designer Prescott Perez-Fox on the reasons Obama won: consistent, effective, flawless visual branding.

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We shall return to our regularly-scheduled programming of snark on the web and friend poaching on social networking sites here at Curious Affairs tomorrow…the sixth of November.

Filed under: Art, Blogging, Design, Net Culture, New York, Photography, Politics, Typography, Web Design , being servicey, defining moments, linkage, love each day, memories, needful reminders, remainders, washington dc

All Hallows’ Even Greeting 2008: From Tippi To Type

In honor of my favorite holiday of the entire year, I thought I would revive a long-dead blog tradition of mine: The Designed Holiday e-Greeting. However, I also decided to mix the tradition up a bit in this most recent incarnation by adding actual informational content to accompany the image, which will hopefully be interesting to at least a few other people besides myself.

This year, since my avian friends have for many months now been a fixture in my daily life as well as a minor consumerist obsession, I thought I would begin with the classic film poster artwork of Tippi Hedren’s terror in Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds”. Satisfied with the artwork I “acquired”, but not at all with its accompanying typography (which was neither as ominous nor as “Halloween-y” as I desired), I began researching the typographical elements of other Hitchcock films, as well, and suddenly stumbled across perhaps one of the best life stories ever of “Graphic Designer Meets Film Industry”: that of Saul Bass.

Saul Bass (1920-1996) was not only one of the great graphic designers of the mid-20th century but the undisputed master of film title design thanks to his collaborations with Alfred Hitchcock, Otto Preminger, and Martin Scorsese.

When the reels of film for Otto Preminger’s controversial new drugs movie, “The Man With The Golden Arm”, arrived at US movie theatres in 1955, a note was stuck on the cans: “Projectionists: Pull curtain before titles”.

Until then, the lists of cast and crew members which passed for movie titles were so dull that projectionists only pulled back the curtains to reveal the screen once they’d finished. But Preminger wanted his audience to see “The Man With The Golden Arm’s” titles as an integral part of the film.

The movie’s theme was the struggle of its hero — a jazz musician played by Frank Sinatra — to overcome his heroin addiction. Designed by the graphic designer Saul Bass, the titles featured an animated black paper-cut-out of a heroin addict’s arm. Knowing that the arm was a powerful image of addiction, Bass had chosen it — rather than Frank Sinatra’s famous face — as the symbol of both the movie’s titles and its promotional poster.

That cut-out arm caused a sensation, and Saul Bass reinvented the movie title as an art form.

— Design Museum London

I love this story not only because Bass remains a permanent fixture in Atherton Bartelby’s Pantheon Of Graphic Designers, nor because truly stunningly designed film titles are not at all dissimilar to aphrodisiacs for me, but because Bass’ design style and influence are still felt to this very day, on a media platform even more modern than that of film when Bass first started his career: the internet.

In September of 2007, the online typography journal Typographica published a piece describing the history of saulbass.net, which was for a long time “the most popular online destination for devotees of the great designer and film title director”, and heralding the site’s relaunch (again by original creator Brendan Dawes) at saulbass.tv. The same article also thankfully hosts downloads of designer Matt Terich’s “Hitchcock: A Saul Bass Font”. Of the typeface, Typographica noted, “We hope he’ll add alternates to help it better emulate hand lettering. In the meantime, this version will suffice for the hobbyist when used with care and at smaller sizes.” And suffice it did, for this particular Designer/Writer’s All Hallows’ Even Greeting Of 2008.

So read up on designer Saul Bass’ life, work, and influence via the links provided below, if you are interested, visit Typographica to try out Matt Terich’s Hitchcock font, and, if you happen to find that you still cannot get enough of The Bass Effect, you may even treat yourself to the free Vertigo Tumblr Theme designed by Matthew Buchanan. It’s pretty stunning. I’m sure Bass would be pleased.

And I do hope you are dressed up today! I am: as an employed writer!

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Author’s Recommended Links:

• Saul Bass: Graphic Designer [Design Museum London]
• Saul Bass Website And “Hitchcock” Font Are Back [Typographica]
• Saul Bass On The Web [Brendan Dawes]
• Vertigo Tumblr Theme [Matthew Buchanan]

Filed under: Art, Blogging, Design, Film, Net Culture, Typography, Web Design , celebrities, egreetings, humor, linkage, lists

Design Is A Good Idea

Filed under: Design, Photography, Typography , being servicey, love each day, memories, needful reminders

Photoshop Wars

My dear friend The Painter surprised me on Thursday with a mobile phone call announcing that he had arrived in The HNL from The SFO for an extended weekend on Oahu in order to treat me to a celebration of my thirty-fifth birthday a week early, as he will be away in London for [alleged] client meetings when my birthday weekend is actually occurring. One of the mutual pleasures in which we have indulged so far over the holiday has been a walk down the proverbial memory lane, reminiscing about all of the online design forums in which we first “met” and used to play around way back in The Old Y2K-ish Days.

Something we both always enjoyed were “Photoshop Wars” in which we used to participate on Dreamless and, later, the early Yayhooray. The “Wars” were always fun, creative, and inspiring, taking an image or a theme and batting it about between other forum members as we each added our own layers and visions to the projects. (Curious non-design-geeks who have absolutely no idea what I am writing about may see two of my very early examples here and here.)

Although both The Painter and I maintain profiles on the current incarnation of Yayhooray, neither of us have the time or inclination to hang out or be involved there nearly as much as we used to, so between a leisurely breakfast and horseback riding on a Turtle Bay Resort beach yesterday (yet another stroll down memory lane: I got to ride “Willie” again, oh joy!), I stopped by Yay to see if I could find any interesting project threads. And I did! Despite the project’s suspiciously meme-ish-sounding parameters, neither The Painter nor myself, as two people who cannot seem to get enough of, as an ex-boyfriend of mine once not-too-kindly referred to my craft as, “pushing words and images and fonts around on a computer screen,” could resist.

As it turns out, the project, “Your Album Cover,” was highly addictive.

1. The title of the first article on Wikipedia’s Random Article page is the name of your band.
2. The last four words of the very last quotation on Wikiquote’s Random Quotation page is the title of your album.
3. The third picture on Flickr’s Interesting Photos From The Last 7 Days page will be your album cover.
4. Use your graphics program of choice to throw them together, and post the result.

And, because we are design geeks and insomniacs, that is what we have been up doing most of the night.

I have posted smaller versions of mine below; larger versions of 500×500 pixels are viewable on click-through of each, and also credit the Flickr user names of the photographers, as well as the DaFont.com typeface names and designers employed for each cover.

It felt exceedingly nice to feel the old creative design “juices” flowing again. (Even if none of the finished pieces actually showcase my “true” design skills.)

Now, if I am lucky I can just squeeze in an hour nap before snorkeling later this morning.

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Filed under: Design, Music, Photography, Typography , a-list, humor, linkage, memes are beneath me, memories, needful reminders, painter