|text block party|

Lines of text that fit into a fixed width seem to be all the rage right now. Or maybe I just want them to be. Regardless, I created such a type treatment for my latest wedding invitation design (you can see the full invite here).

It's funny how this kind of text block creates a dilemma for the reader: it deemphasizes the words (though I tried to make the couple's names important by centering them in the block and adding thick lines of the same color down the sides) by almost blending them together into a single shape, yet it invites you to take a closer look and perhaps is more effective than "normal" text at convincing you to read everything.

Yes, graphic designers want to get into your head. Is it working?

-J. Gibb

|a piece of world peace|

Another month, another T-shirt design, this time for Union's International Club. I worked with Bernice, who knew pretty much exactly what she wanted, except we struggled with what shade of gray and which brand of shirt. Thankfully, we were both quite pleased with the result, which ended up with the look and feel of a concert shirt. The words in the hand are all of the countries represented by the club's members, making the design more personal and special.

-J. Gibb

|reading your mind|

One of my most recent freelance projects, the Union College Psychology Club asked me to design their T-shirt this year. They gave me three design ideas, and I chose this one: "I know what you're thinking." The phrase was used on one of their past shirts, but only as white text on a black shirt, so I went in more colorful and fun direction. Thanks to their generous budget, I was able to print four colors on a shirt for the first time. The club officers loved my design and didn't ask for any changes, a welcome—and rare—occurrence!

-J. Gibb

|show them the money|

A T-shirt for scholarship recipients. Seriously? That was my thought when first discussing this project at work. How ironic that this would turn into one of my favorite T-shirt designs so far. After deciding on the concept, I started drawing the design and ended up ditching those sketches. Then I started placing lots and lots of money symbols in my Illustrator file, not sure if the effect would work visually. But once I finished, I loved the look. Finally, I added a short phrase to the design, hoping the audience would get it after a few seconds, and I think that little addition really completed the concept.

-J. Gibb

|typography for kids!|

OK... so maybe kids at heart will enjoy this book just as much, if not more. The Serif Fairy: Explorations in the World of Letters, written by Rene Siegfried, tells the story of a fairy who loses a wing and thus cannot perform magic. It may sound like a children's story, but as you likely gathered from the title, there's more to it. Siegfried uses four typefaces (Garamond, Zentenar Fraktur, Futura Book, and Shelley Andante Script) to literally create visual pictures of the fairy, trees, animals, and more.

Amazon calls The Serif Fairy "an amazing book for type aficionados and their children" (sounds like quite the niche market, huh?). I can't wait to check out this book soon! (You can see more of the book at Creative Review.)

-J. Gibb

P.S. :-O>>> Thanks to Hannah Adams for sharing this with me!