DTG News and Else
DT&G: Vol. 14, Number 10, October, 2004 ~ The eZine for Design, Typography, & Graphics   (since 1990)  

October: Fall Fonts Festival

October: Fonts & Typography

All through October the topic is once again about fonts and typography; as the Fall Fonts Festival continues! Read about the favorites from September and October's posts where DT&G readers talk about typography.

Fall Fonts Festival

... as we continue our quest for fonts and typography, I've updated the Festival pages and added a whole pile of new fonts and font links to the Loading Dock. (If you don't know the address, ask for it.)
* Join me now, as I visit new faces and new places on the typography trail... P22 Foundry Anniversary, and TypeCo Foundry... the fabulous sights of the Letterheads and Chank foundries ... in the Typography department.

Feature: Typography Masters

Read about the Bitstream OpenFonts collection featuring "Charter" font, then read our tribute to Charter's creator, and the creator of the very font you are now reading ... Matthew Carter

Field Trip: Urban Typography

Kenn Munk designs wonderfully different fonts and dingbats, some of which are inspired by urban typography. Travel to his neighbourhood, Frederiksbjerg Denmark, for an insightful visit with typography of bygone days; urban typography in ... My Type of Hood!

Fonts: "Rusting in the Rain"

P22 releases a nice new font set inspired by Rod McKuen's latest works, and throws in some fresh drawings (ding-bats) and even some MP3 tunes to sweeten the deal... P22 Stanyan Autumn

Fonts: Ancient Mexico, Durer, the '50s

Visit four new font sets, totalling more than 24 individual faces covering history from ancient Mexican relics, through Durer, into Art Deco and through to the '50s -- it's a fun romp with some rather unique twists and turns you don't want to miss... October Fonts

View: Design From the Edge

Gary Dickson from Epidemic Design provides some noteworthy observations regarding edge-designers, center-designers, their characteristics and their relationship to one another. He asks: "Would you rather Design from the Edge?"

OCTOBER FONTS FESTIVAL WINNERS

We had some wonderful input during September and October -- so many to chose from -- Melissa shares her favorite "Books to avoid 'bad' type"; Donna says "Type should enhance the sentiment"; Mike writes about "New opportunities for fonts under OS X"; Martha shares her favorites from the "Font Fairy" and four others land in the winners' circle! Read them all in the Creative Networking Department

Photoshop: Need a new face?

A reader from Florida, using Windows wrote in with:
      "I just had my picture taken with a celebrity. I told my friend to hold the button down when he took the picture. I was standing there for a few seconds with nothing happening, so I started to say "hold the button down", but mid sentence the camera went off. Now I have a picture with my lips extended completely outward that looks just terrible. Is there any way to replace my mouth in this terrible picture with one where I am smilling?
PS911: Ahhh, the old camera delay effect. Sure. Go out and stand in the same position and have your picture taken again. Now just use that 'face' and bring it in over the mistaken one. You could do just the mouth, but it's probably easier to do the whole face. Feather the edges of the face selection for a smooth transition, and don't forget to adjust the lighting to match the 'celebrity' shot!

Photoshop: Rounded Fading Mask

In this emergency, a Minnesota reader using Windows writes: "I want make the bottom of a pic fade out -- the pic is still a rectangle, but the bottom is rounded out in the pic w/ the corners and such fad out to black. Leaving a half elipitacal type look to the bottom of the pic.
Elementary, my friend: Use the elliptical Marquee and make a curved selection so the bottom cuts the photo where you want it rounded.
* Spread it: Now, use the square Marquee (M) with the shift-key (adding to the existing elliptical selection) and drag from the top corner of the photo, down, until it includes the top of the photo. Your resulting selection should be square at the top, elliptical at the bottom.
* Feather it: Now, choose menu Select > Inverse to make your mask, then choose Select > Feather and give it a blurred, fading edge. Tap the "Q" to enter QuickMask mode and fill the selection with BLACK. If that's not the fade you're looking for, exit QuickMask (Tap "Q" again) and select another Feathering setting... re-enter QuickMask and fill with Black.
* Save it: If you choose Select > Save Selection you create a standing mask which you can then modify by painting in white or black to reveal or mask more of the image. Voila!

Mailbag: Reaching Shareware Authors

A reader in Hamburg Germany writes:
      "I tried to get into contact with John Singer but the sending of my e-amil failed and an error was reported. Do you have any other mail-address?
* Unfortunately, shareware authors have a way of disappearing. John Singer's fonts are very nice, (In the Publishers' Warehouse) and I know people like to reward the designer. But once the links go dead, there's little you can do. We searched via a number of the search sites with no luck. Perhaps he'll read this and respond.

Mailbag: Photoshop 10 Book?

This reader in Millville, NJ laments...
      "I am looking for an Illustrator 10.0 book for the MAC that is more than just introductory, but will cover more advanced techniques. I design ads for print in the yellow pages and need information to help me. Is Classroom in a Book the best thing to get?
* Actually not. If you're already familiar with how Illustrator works, you'll want Joanne Saliger's " Adobe Illustrator Step by Step Approach" book -- it's 750 pages, spiral bound and oh, soooo nice to use at your desk - or Deke McClelland's Real World Illustrator 10. And don't forget Sharron Steuer's Illustrator WOW book -- a home run. All will serve you nicely. Or, see: The Design Bookshelf

Contact: Relaxing Design Job Available

Russell Charno, New york writes: "My company is looking for a great graphic designer to design CD packages, and packages that will hold spa kits...(CD, aromatherapy, candle, etc)...are there any resources associated with your organization where can get help??
* Done: Russell, I believe you just did. agogcreative.com

Resource: CDs, DVDs and game discs repair service

Arun Singh writes in with a tip and a link to a site that helps remove scratches, scuffs and scrapes from DVDs, Playstation, Playstation2, XBox, software CDs and music CDs. They also repair 3 inch mini CDs -- full satisfaction guarantee -- they restore your disc or you don't pay! www.ohmydisc.com

(WIN) Photo Help: Anti Red Eye Shareware

Victor Sazhin writes in to tip us on some new software that solves common digital photo problems including the evil Red-Eye... it's a Photoshop plug-in that uses an advanced technology, able to detect a red pupil from a rectangular selection. Works with Photoshop, Jasc Paint Shop Pro, VicMan's Photo Editor, Fireworks and other Photoshop plug-in supporting hosts. $19.95 See a Screenshot; or click to download. More info at ... www.vicman.net

(WIN) Batch Converting Images

In another post, Nick Macarenko tells us about the Advanced Batch Converter. So, before you waste your time converting, cropping or resizing a folder of images one by one, try this shareware program that can take virtually any number of images in any format (over 90 file formats supported) and convert them within seconds to any of the twenty most popular formats. Screen shot; Download: abc.zip or visit www.gold-software.com

(Mac) GraphicConverter Gets Better

Speaking of "batch converting" GraphicConverter views, edits, converts most image formats to most other image formats! I call it the Swiss Army Knife for Mac graphics. It's the longest established and most popular image manipulation shareware program in the history of the Macintosh. The original developer, Thorsten Lemke (Germany), has continued to improve and add so many features over the years that the program comes close to rivalling even Photoshop. And, now it's been upgraded once again ... read more.

Biz: How to implement e-business solutions

Nowshade Kabir, Ph. D. in Information Technology brings has posted a good article in the UGN last week. In column in his series on e-business, he says: "When a massive e-business solution installation goes wrong, the management of the business is to blame." Read more...

Final Question: Bequeathing a Website

I visited a favorite web site the other day only to find it was completely empty except for a single GIF image announcing that the owner had passed away. My first reaction was "Oh no! How can they do that to me!" But then I was overwhelmed with a feeling of sorrow. It's not about 'me'. Although I had never really known the author of such a wealth of great information, I was saddened that his teachings were gone from the web. My question for the month is "What will you do with your web site when you die?" It's a hard question that needs hard answers. You can send your replies to: Me.

NOVEMBER: "Designing the Holidays"

How do YOU design for the holidays? Have you seen any Fantastic Folds for Greeting Cards? Can you share any Unique and creative holiday promotions? What's the most memorable greeting card you've received? Answer any of those questions at our PRIZE REGISTRATION PAGE and you could get your comments published and be a lucky prize winner!

Have a great October

Don't forget, in addition to all those juicy fonts, the Publishers' Warehouse also has a slew of new Photoshop tutorials, links, and tips for everyone. And, best of all it goes on next month too! And if you put a slash after graphic-design.com and the word "fest" you'll be whisked there immediately.

Don't forget to enter your own resources so we can include them in the next issue.
      Come on in and enjoy.

Thanks for reading... go forth and be creative!

Fred Showker
Editor / Publisher, DT&G Magazine

Parting words...

"Good ideas realized in a mediocre way...
      are still better than mundane ideas
      executed with technical skill!"
            Paul Rand

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