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practical typography for regular people

Posted on 26 Mar ’11 by Nate

A conversation with Doug Wilson, a master of the visual art and science of printed and pixelated text.

Please introduce us. What is typography?

Typography is the study of letterforms and text. It is strange, but I just love looking at letters all day long.

If there were three type-related mistakes you could magically keep everyone from making in their documents, presentations, and websites from now on, what would they be?

1 – THINK about the typeface (the correct term for a font) you are using. Don’t use the default typeface of 12 point Times New Roman or Arial just because you are lazy. Read more…

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doug wilson: old loves, new world

Posted on 19 Mar ’11 by Nate

Doug is walking in front of me with a stocky digital camera mounted on this frame kind of thing that sits on his shoulder when he’s shooting. He says the frame is so a little digital SLR that shoots beautiful high definition video can feel like the big, heavy, old-school video cameras it now replaces. He enjoys the irony.

He is not filming now and I am not recording sound. I am filling in because the two guys who make up the film crew with him could not make this trip. I have slung over my shoulder this heavy, grey box that wears its own backpack and shows me a lot of lights I do my best to ignore. In my hand is a microphone that looks like one of those things that people direct airplanes with, but black and covered with a foam sleeve.

As we stop to see which lot the auctioneer is taking bids for, an older gentleman asks Doug what we’re up to. Doug explains that he is making a film about the Linotype machine, and we’re here to see what happens to the three Linotypes that are being auctioned off today. Read more…

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christchurch: one week after

Posted on 12 Mar ’11 by Stacey

Back in September the city of Christchurch, New Zealand was hit by a devastating magnitude 7 earthquake that rocked the city while the world watched. On February 22nd it happened again. This time a 6.3 magnitude quake hit near the city causing more fatalities and destruction than the one in September. In fact the February quake is now the second deadliest earthquake in New Zealand history, 70 years to the month after the most deadly one, the Hawke’s Bay quake of 1931 (Stuff.co.nz).

Stacey, a native of Canada, has been a resident of Christchurch for four years. She sent this email to her friends and family on March 1st and generously allowed us to republish it.

Damage to Christ Church Cathedral in Christchurch CBD

New Zealand Defence Force (flickr.com/photos/nzdefenceforce/5469814540/)

It has now been seven days since Christchurch was hit with yet another earthquake, this one proving to be the most devastating one yet. Here’s an update from my perspective, and I emphasize that this is my perspective only – for more detailed coverage, check out www.stuff.co.nz. Read more…

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un-couch’d: maybe i am insane

Posted on 5 Mar ’11 by Geoff

‘Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.’
Henry David Thoreau

I first read this quote on a photograph that was given to me by my friend Julie Anna back in 2008. The photo was taken atop a hill overlooking the New Zealand countryside. It brought a rush of excitement that made me want to take dynamic inspirational photos and video of other countries and cultures. It reminded me of what I was really passionate about and what I really wanted to do. However, for the next year and a half that photo would hang on my wall while I played video games and watched countless movies.

Growing up I’d always wanted to be in the movie business. It started, of course, with watching films such as Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Back to the Future. The real desire came when I saw the movies FX and FX2. I knew that becoming a special effects artist was my calling. Little did I know as a kid, in order to achieve that goal I would need to learn a lot about chemistry, physics and be quite handy with tools. While I’m not completely mechanically inept, I wouldn’t say I’m a guy who can get things fixed. After all, that’s what money is for. Pay someone else to do it, right? So with this new information, I decided that maybe becoming a special effects artist wasn’t my calling. Read more…

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discover the photographer within

Posted on 26 Feb ’11 by Steve Evans

This article is adapted from a couple blog posts and an article on photography Steve wrote a while back. (-Nate)

Here are some tips on developing your Photographer’s Eye along with simple things you can do to take better photographs. Remember, it’s not the camera that takes great photos, it’s the person behind the lens!

1] The Basics

Simplify the Shot

Define your subject and avoid distractions. Oftentimes this just means moving in closer and filling the frame! This way you will be able to eliminate distracting backgrounds and draw attention to the subject. Read more…

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microloans: end poverty, microsave the world

Posted on 19 Feb ’11 by Christopher O'Neal

I got a letter from a woman in India the other day. An email, actually. Her written English was halting and grammatically atrocious, but her sincerity and gratitude were unmistakable. I had recently loaned her $50, and she had written to thank me.

No, I have not been caught up in a Nigerian-prince-style marketing scheme (I hope). I have just been introduced to the only-in-the-21st-century-would-this-be-possible idea of microloans.

Actually, I was introduced to the idea a few months ago while scholarship-hunting on the internet and it has been a bug in my ear since, so I finally decided to try it out. Part of the double-edged sword that is globalization is that we now know about problems such as the horrors in Darfur, or the poverty in India and Africa and much of southeast Asia, and we feel the need to do something about it. Read more…

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steve evans: citizen of the world

Posted on 12 Feb ’11 by Nate

When you meet him in person, Steve Evans is a little like Clark Kent or Peter Parker. Intelligent. Mild-mannered. Unassuming. A reporter. You probably wouldn’t notice him in a crowd. But, spend any amount of time with him and the facade quickly unravels.

I met Steve sixteen years ago in Africa on a family ‘vacation’ (my family, not his). We were on a two week outreach trip with a bunch of South Africans, or Afrikaaners, to some villages in Mozambique. Steve was one of the only Americans besides us, and he and my parents hit it off right away. They’ve been friends ever since, and for the past decade co-conspirators in teaching the world the value of storytelling in communicating more effectively with oral, non-literate cultures.

Steve is a cultural researcher, communications specialist, and world-class photographer. He has posted over 2,500 photos to Flickr, each one better than the last. He travels extensively and is currently based out of Johannesburg, South Africa. I interviewed him over Facebook, and he told me after spending three hours answering my questions he hit the wrong key and lost it all. Fortunately he was willing to start over. Read more…

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practical typography for regular people

A conversation with Doug Wilson, a master of the visual art and science of printed and pixelated text.

doug wilson: old loves, new world

christchurch: one week after

un-couch’d: maybe i am insane

discover the photographer within

1] The Basics

Simplify the Shot

microloans: end poverty, microsave the world

steve evans: citizen of the world

[TED Talks Tuesday] Relieving the pressure of creative success

What is ‘Adventure’?

School loans: The new indentured servitude

Grain & Gram: The New Gentleman’s Journal

[TED Talks Tuesday] An incredible school in Bali

A Kickstarter’s-Eye View of 2011

What is a ‘Moniker’?

welcome aboard ocsplorers

a quick-start guide to choosing a digital slr camera and lens

travels with tea

get going: lessons learned in a barber shop

bad luck and good times on the appalachian trail

a complete and unabridged introduction to coffee

friends, food, and pepsi throwback: friday night dinner

practical typography for regular people

doug wilson: old loves, new world

christchurch: one week after

un-couch’d: maybe i am insane

discover the photographer within

microloans: end poverty, microsave the world

steve evans: citizen of the world

deadhorse: travels of amateur point-&-click cinematographers

nyc: the modern urban pilgrimage

dan cloutier: folk hero

rescue you: x marks the spot

pilgrimage: a better way to go

cohousing: redefining neighbors

what bold restless extremes do you carry inside?

travailen

nate piekos: the science of blam