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Copyright of Michael Alexander Ventre 2012 | Tesla Technic merged from [weeshuttle.co.uk] [8billionbrand.com]
Good design is innovative | Good design makes a product useful | Good design is aesthetic | Good design makes a product understandable | Good design is unobtrusive | Good design is honest | Good design is long-lasting | Good design is thorough down to the last detail | Good design is environmentally friendly | Good design is as little design as possible.
Most people do not think much about typefaces (often referred to as "fonts") on a daily basis. They do not consider the differences between the different typefaces, let alone the reason for those differences or the history of how they came to be the way they are today. But for designers, these details are both interesting and informative. This article details a brief history of how typography has evolved into what it is today.
First we need to understand what typography is. Typography is the study of typefaces, and the history of printed letters. While most people think of typography as beginning with the invention of movable type, the truth is that it includes handwriting as well, as these letters are the basis of the type we know today. Letters are defined as a written symbol or character representing a speech sound and being a component of an alphabet. By this definition, Egyptian hieroglyphs are not considered letters, as they are pictures that represent ideas, and letters are abstract symbols. So what we consider letters did not appear until the development of Egyptian Hieratic around 3,000 BC. After that came Phoenician around 1,000 BC, and then Greek around 600 BC.
The roman capital alphabet had been perfected by 100 AD. This alphabet is what our modern alphabet is based on. As part of what is known as the Carolingian Renaissance, Charlemagne decreed that a standardized lowercase alphabet be developed. The style was known as Carolingian miniscule, became the official style of the Holy Roman Empire. The style was chosen because it was simple, clear, and easy to read and write. Many ancient manuscripts were rewritten using Carolingian Miniscule.
While most people think that movable type was invented by Johannes Gutenberg in the 1440s, the Chinese had been using moveable type for about 400 years before that. Bi Sheng invented wooden moveable type in 1040 AD which we know through the works of Shen Kuo, who was a Chinese scholar. The Chinese eventually began using clay instead of wood because wood would leave imprints of the wood grain in the ink. Clay was also preferred because it provided a more even surface and was less prone to swelling when dipped in ink.
While Johannes Gutenberg did not invent moveable type, he did perfect mechanical moveable type in the 1440s. His invention made it easier and faster to reset type, which brought the cost of printing down and made it more economical to mass produce books. This mass production of books is often marked as the beginning of the modern era.
Shortly after the printing press was invented, Bookhand and Human style typefaces were developed in Italy. These typefaces are very similar to our modern lowercase alphabet. Claude Garamond was also very influential in the typing world. Garamond developed typefaces based on Greek letters, and made them available to printers at affordable prices around 1541. In 1600, Aldus Manutius developed the Italic typeface. This typeface became very popular both as in print and in writing.
In 1932, Victor Lardent at the English branch of Monotype developed the Times Roman typeface because of criticism of the British newspaper The Times' antiquated typefaces. Lardent worked in the advertising department of The Times.
All of these developments of typefaces have led to where we are today. Now we have access to hundreds of typefaces on our computers without knowing the history or the context of how they got there.
The word 'Parallax' has been derived from a Greek word 'Parallaxis', which means 'alteration'. The parallax effect is an amazing effect in which different elements scroll along different lines on a website. It creates a fascinating faux-3D effect. This effect has been in use in web designing for quite some years now, but it is again being used a lot as it has again gained popularity. Some websites use this effect fully while others keep it to a minimal level, but it looks beautiful in both ways. It is a classy but tricky effect which when not used properly can result in a really messy and bad looking page. But parallax effect it used properly it can give a really rich and vibrant look to page; and make it look really impressive. So it is up to web designers as to how they will utilize it in an advantageous manner.
For a web designer it is really important to stay updated with all the latest trends and to know how to use them nicely. We have a list of 30 Awesome Parallax Scrolling Design Examples for inspiration. All these designs were especially handpicked and are totally amazing. So check them out and get inspired!
"Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is stripped down to its most fundamental features." Minimalist photography is basically an inspiration from the minimal form of art. In this type of art you deal with few subjects and making the one minimal object prominent in the whole piece of art explaining its most distinguishable features.
Minimal art seems boring but in reality it is very interesting because it requires a great deal of effort and hard work for its completion. Minimal photography is also very difficult and one of the unique kinds of photography, it allows you to highlight the little things as well and brings them into focus. It also enhances the creativity because from these photographs one can get the inspiration for colors, contrast, perspective, shadows and highlights, and it actually accentuates the subject and brings out it's beauty without taxing your attention span!
30 amazingly captured examples of minimal photographs are in front of you.
Complex design techniques are often time-consuming and, well, complex. Some of these advanced effects can add plenty of depth to designs, but when used in the wrong place, they do little more than distract viewers from the project's intended focus. These effects may be precisely what a design needs to have the impact it requires, but even in these cases, they should be complemented by simpler effects.
Simple effects and techniques are the building blocks of today's designs. For example, what good is a stellar lighting technique if you can't decide which colors to use or which text-based effects to use in conjunction with the effect?
With a "less is more" mentality, we've selected 10 very simple and impressive design techniques that can drastically improve the performance and appearance of your designs.