Proposition 4

Now that it is successfully concluded, here is an I.D. design I did for a local Special Tax initiative.

Word count in InDesign CS3

While working on an annual report, we wanted to blockout copy for the copywriter so he knew how much to write. We put in greek text as a placeholder and fit the copy into the layout. Then used the info feature to count the words in each story. As usual, I went to Google for a quick working explanation and found this helpful link, Word count in InDesign CS3.

Watch that wireless

What do I have to do with homeomorphism and face recognition? Not a lot really. But it came spitting out of my wireless printer last night. Spooky. I believe that one of my neighbors accidentally found my wireless printer on their printer que and hit the button to "print" without looking. That means my printer has a range of more than fifty yards. Impressive. The only relevance this has to do with graphic design is that we print a lot and should be aware of flukes in this wireless environment. Ta ta. (By the way, I use "ta ta" as a signoff or saying "good bye" but when I looked it up it said it was a greeting.)

Some logo samples

The Emily files

Emily, my post-graduate graphic design student, is working for me. She did a series of ads for the Teton County Fair and several for a ballot issue campaign that goes along with the 2010 primaries. I will post some samples when the panic mode is off.

Update

Wow, two comments that weren't family. Emily is now a Graphic Design Graduate and living with us in Jackson prior to moving to Seattle.

I'm still designing and rather busy. Doing a free-lance gig too. Helping my tenant and printshop friend stay in business so she can keep paying rent. That's not the only reason. She does great work and I think she is an asset to the local design community.

More later.

Annual Report Crash

Something happened that I have never experienced before—an indesign document got damaged and started crashing the entire application. Every time I tried to execute a command, set type, add or delete something, the document crashed, taking InDesign with it. This was a large document with sections and thus would be difficult to rebuild. Also, I did not have a comp with all the latest changes.

Luckily, I was able to open the document and drag all the content into a new duplicate document. I feel very fortunate to have that much access to the damaged document. So far, the dupe is working fine.

Anyone else have crash/fix stories they would like to share?

InDesign tricks

I would be lost without the internet. I was trying to print an annual report comp out paginated, so I could simply stitch it together just as it would be printed at the printer. several sources pointed me n the right direction to accomplish what I wanted to do.

Under the "File" menu, at the bottom is a "Print Booklet" command. Check it out if you are trying to make a comp or create booklets for a project.

A trick for making your page numbers appear on top of your page layout elements is to create a new layer and copy and paste the auto page number on your master page into the top layer. After that they will appear on top of screened backgrounds, bleed photos or other page elements that occupy the same space as the page number.

It pays to spend some time field testing InDesign to see what features you can incorporate into your workflow. Keyboard shortcuts are another set of tools for making your projects go more smoothly as you maneuver your layouts.

Orange won

Re: "Will Orange Survive" the project is complete and orange indeed won out. The backgrounds of the directory signs are orange as well as the large letters identifying the building. WIll post photos soon—although it is snowy and nasty here right now and I am not inclined to go out and get pictures of anything.

Social Networking, et al

During my long, three-month absence, I took up Twitter and Facebook. While I think they are both huge time wasters, they provide a new dimension of communication at arm's length. Now with re-tweets I can share some of the creative sources I have found. Otherwise the only "Push" is to friends and relatives I don't get to see very much.

For instance, I connected with a classmate from design school who is on top of a lot of creative sources and organizations.

You are probably more up on Stumbleupon than I am but choosing graphic design as a topic led me to some useful sites. Some great Photoshop tutorials, an interesting typographic Flash® video and a photography site that reminded me of how much I don't know.

I met an author, yes, a real author with published novels and everything. He uses a little application called "Freedom" to keep him from wandering into the online wonderland while he is trying to write. Enforced discipline. All of this can eat up time and/or provide a series of counter themes when you are trying to come up with a creative solution.

In my stumbles, I found this list of classic web sites you should see.

Proud of my kid(s)

Not that I favor one over the other but to each their own. Emily Thompson, my daughter who is studying graphic design at MSU in Bozeman, MT has had two pieces submitted for Addy award consideration. I will be ecstatic if she wins but am just as happy she was recognized even this much.

Blogcatalog.com

For grins I searched Finegan Thompson and the number two item that came up in Google was my blog—as cataloged on this handy site.

I was skeptical about doing this but though, "Can't hurt" and now there I am. Better than Linkedin.

A nice surprise

Forgot to mention that I got a gallery show of my artwork. I haven't received the contract yet but the tentative dates are April 19-May 26. As I get ready I will post pics of the work I will be exhibiting, and of course, the show notice.

Charlotte, liking it more and more

I recently set up a logo icon with Rotis sans. Despite the unconventional ampersand, it looks good in this particular application. I would have preferred a font with a deeper set of variations but, as I said, Rotis was the most complimentary font for this icon.

I am teaming it with the Charlotte family. The chiseled serifs are contemporary and go nicely with the Rotis in the logo.

Try it. I think I got mine from fonts.com.

Will orange survive?

Not so sure the new client is going to go for the orange. Some concerns about competing with a tenant's sign that has a big patch of tomato red. This is where the client wins out for the sake of expediency.

They want a thicker panel than the powder-coated steel I wanted. Budget concerns. Not that they can't afford it. It's a nice building—they are just cost averse.

I suggested this substrate the signbuilders use. Handles like wood but holds up better in weather, lasts longer and has no grain. It take finishes well. I don't know the name of it but I am sure any medium scale sign builder can help with it.

Finegan Thompson's new project

Had a very successful meeting with a client yesterday, regarding signage for their new office building. In Jackson, buildings are big if they are about 100' x 200' so this one accommodates about six tenants.

The signs include the outside upper level guide, inside guide and the address lettering on the main building.

I used orange, a color I love and have trouble getting much response to. We'll see how they like it after considering the design and font choices.

I put the sketches, both pencil and digital, on heavy black board so they would be easier to manage on site. Earlier, I took photos of the building then superimposed the designs on the images in Photoshop®. The images I used and the presentation took place exactly the same time of day so the presentation had that much more impact as it had a "What you see is what you get" element.

Baby Teeth, font of the 70s

While helping my daughter think through a design she was doing, I, out of the blue, thought of a font from my past, Babyteeth. This was back in the days of Letraset rub-down lettering. Take a look at Babyteeth here and let me know your thoughts.

The project is for a consignment store specializing in sporting goods. It includes sporting stuff as in Sports Authority or similar stores but is dedicated to the high-end Patagonia, Mountain hardware-like equipment.

The name is 2nd wind and it occurred to me that using something entirely un-windy might spur some ideas about pos-neg or superimposing images or designs.

Unfortunately, the font us not readily available under that name and the Typophile site lists another font as a substitute.

On a roll

Check out marikas_art on Twitter. He was following me for some reason so I checked him out, after I blocked him I added him as a friend. He seems just to post links to art, graphic design, galleries, Youtube videos and music. I have only clicked on a few links but I find them interesting and see a common link of the sublime to the ridiculous. Judge for yourselves.

The state of fonts

Interesting bit of flotsam on the best-selling fonts at Fontshop. It was comforting to see some standards, Neue helvetica et al. And interesting to see Bank Gothic, V.A.G. rounded and Sinaloa—stuff around when I was just discovering typography. Google reviews of Avant Garde and see the various takes on it's appropriateness. I like Meridien which waasn't listed in the best-selling but I always thought was a nice face. My brother is a type designer. Check out his sight and fonts at nobodoni. Keep learning about type—it is central to graphic design.

the Designer as a person

Of course few (the few who actually visit this blog—yes, I am fishing for comments and reassurances) of you might have noticed I have been steadily slacking off on posts. I have struggled with bipolar disorder most of my life and in the past months it has been nearly intolerable. I am swinging into mania as I type and at least it feels good to have some energy. A little later I will expound a bit on the emotional state of designers and the process—the good, the bad, the positively ugly.

Thanks for your patience.