Frank Piacitelli

I saw an ad in a magazine for a brand of running shoes named “Gravity Defyer”. They appear to have actual springs in the heels.

But what really caught my eye is the mark placed predominantly on the side of the shoe. It bears a striking resemblance to, well, human male reproductive cells.

Sophomorically, I thought that this must be some sort of joke. But apparently Gravity Defyer, Inc., claims that their “…logo is delibrate” and that they are “not embarrassed by it, nor are [their] customers”. They even call it out as “slick” and “cool”.

Really? There’s a press release on their website that states the pride the take in this logo (http://gravitydefyer.com/Gravity-Defyer-Logo-Causes-Pull-Out), but I’m skeptical. I think maybe this mark was grafted onto hundreds of shoes before they realized what it looked like. Maybe it was deliberate, but if that’s the case, at risk of sounding prudish, it doesn’t seem like a very wise choice.

I love you Ikea, but are you really emailing me about the swedish meatballs in your in-store restaurant? With type rendered in graphics using Verdana. Did you lose your license for Futura or something? Brand erosion hurts.

Read this complete but concise list of User Interface Fundamentals on ThinkVitamin. To break the list down even further:

1. Know your user
2. Pay attention to patterns
3. Stay consistent
4. Use visual hierarchy
5. Provide feedback
6. Be forgiving
7. Empower your user
8. Speak their language
9. Keep it simple
10. Keep moving forward

Designer Hillman Curtis produced this short film on one of graphic design’s living legends, Milton Glaser. It’s titled “Art is Work”, and offers a peek at Glaser’s thoughts on why designers do what they do, and why he teaches design. “… the life of a designer is a life that is very much between two sensibilities, that of the businessman and that of the artist” “ art performs this pacifying function in culture, … its practitioners create commonalities … they create things to gather about” http://www.hillmancurtis.com/03/films/artist_series/milton.php

When I was a kid, my parents always had Time Magazine around the house. I’ve always liked Time, and I feel that its clear and accessible presentation of information (including big, bold headlines, smartly written subtitles, and information graphics by Nigel Holmes) influenced me to become a graphic designer. Time (the printed magazine, as opposed to their web presence) recently went under a bit of a facelift, which they noted within their pages. They publicly featured their editorial graphic design team, along with (I believe) designers from Pentagram that worked on the magazine’s redesign, which I found gratifying — it’s always nice to see graphic designers get some public props.

While I generally like what’s been done to evolve the look of Time, I’ve noticed some kerning problems, in the small-size Franklin Gothic captions throughout the magazine. I’d be willing to bet that this is due to some font-substitution or other font-file-related problem somewhere in the magazine’s workflow. The lack of attention to detail here (for me, at least) sullies what is otherwise a clean, clear layout. I hope the design and production team at Time is able to remedy this situation soon, so they can continue to set a good example for today’s budding designers, like they did for me years ago.

Participate in A List Apart’s first annual survey to increase knowledge of web design and boost respect for the profession. I did.