Foggy morning on the Horseshoe.
InShow 21, the cube
This post was originally posted on December 20, 2016 on Sketchbook B. It’s reposted here as part of a project to move some of my favorite writing to my new site.
‘Sticking’ with tradition.
InShow is AIGA South Carolina’s annual awards program that honors the best work in the state of South Carolina. And each year, the award is in the shape of a cube.
It’s the 21st InShow, but the 14th cube. The original cube design and current InShow logo were created by Vince McCall back when InShow was run by The Columbia Communicating Arts Society. AIGA South Carolina took over with InShow 10… We’ve kept the tradition going, and each year, the InShow cube is made from a different material or reflects a theme. So far, we’ve had:
Aluminum. Concrete. Cardboard. Fauxquarium. Ceramic. Toy Block. Junction Boxes. Fake Cheese. Present. Pillow. Lumber. Paper. Chalkboard.
And now Firewood.
A pile of cubes about to be awarded.
This year’s cube is a bundle of kindling, tied together with twine. The logo is spray painted over the twine and the winners’ names were printed on labels and tied to the sticks. The special judges awards used red twine. I won’t bore you with the details, but building 42 “firewood” cubes was time consuming.
It’s one of my favorite designs, although I really do love them all. I’ve had a hand in a bunch of cubes over the years, but I’m going to hand off responsibility for next year’s cube. It really is a great project and it’s time to let someone else have some fun. Plus, I think I’ve used up almost* all the ideas floating around my garage.
Almost final prototypes… I decided not to hand letter the tags on the final cubes.
* I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried — and failed — to make an affordable candle cube. It’s the one that got away…
Bob Wertz writes about design, technology and pop culture at Sketchbook B. Bob is a Columbia, South Carolina-based designer, creative director, college instructor, husband and dad. He’s particularly obsessed with typography, the creative process and the tools we use to create. In his spare time, he thinks about new cube concepts.
My first ever Sketchbook B “retreat.” Yes, there’s only one of me, but time alone to think about what I want to do with all my side projects is sorely needed. Oh, and I’m totally going to see Rogue One.
Braved the weather and ready for @aiga_sc ’s monthly coffee chat, AIGA@8.
Passenger seat.
Columbia.
Letters. #uofsc
What I love about Draplin...
This post was originally posted on November 19, 2016 on Sketchbook B. It’s reposted here as part of a project to move some of my favorite writing to my new site.
This man loves to create.
I saw Aaron Draplin for the fourth time on Thursday night when he came to the Half and Half in Columbia. Over the last years 15 years or so, between CCAS, AIGA South Carolina and Converge SE, we’ve had a bunch of awesome designers come through Columbia… DJ Stout, David Carson, Chip Kidd, James Victore, Seymour Chwast, Michael Beirut, Sean Adams, Sagmeister… and that’s a really incomplete, partial list.
But Draplin is one of my favorites.
What I love about Draplin is how much he loves to make things. Other designers are passionate about solving business problems. Or challenging convention. Or tackling large international clients. But Draplin loves to create things. Sure, he solves problems for clients, he challenges conventional thinking, he has some large international clients. But the thing that really seems to drive Draplin is putting things out into the world, which I really do feel makes him unique among the big names in design.
(It’s also the reason why Draplin’s work is known beyond the design world. Field Notes is loved by people all over the world and they love Draplin, too.)
If he comes to a town near you, see him. You won’t be disappointed.
Bob Wertz is a creative director, type designer, Ph.D. student and researcher living in Columbia, South Carolina. His blogging journey started in 2008 with a Squarespace hosted blog.
Draplin.
Formatting a really long web address
This post was originally posted on November 15, 2016 on Sketchbook B. It’s reposted here as part of a project to move some of my favorite writing to my new site.
4 steps to simplifying URLs
I was behind a truck in traffic yesterday with an URL boldly printed across the back. And since traffic was moving slowly, I got a nice long look at it:
www.reallylongwebaddress.com/home
Okay. I may have changed the address to protect the innocent. But it was a really long address. And it looked really awkward.
I see addresses like this all the time and I’m not sure why designers don’t instinctively take steps to make these addresses more readable and easier to remember. I’m guessing that designers are simply using the addresses that are provided to them by copywriters and clients, but it really is easy to clean up.
Step one, get rid of the protocol.
You really don’t need to put ““ at the beginning of a URL. It’s called the protocol identifier and if you type the address into a web browser without it, the browser will add it for you. So all it adds is clutter.
So drop the protocol and it’s already better:
www.reallylongwebaddress.com/home
But don’t stop there…
Step two, dump the www.
Most websites don’t need the “www” to take you to the proper address. Again, unnecessary clutter. If your web site does require the www for the URL to resolve properly, you have two options: leave the www. in the address; or contact the person who set it up and have them fix it.
reallylongwebaddress.com/home
Definitely better. But can we make it easier to read?
Step three, do you really need that specific page?
Sometimes, you need to direct someone to a specific page on a site — a landing page or specific bit of content. But if it’s just “/home” or “/index” you can usually drop it:
reallylongwebaddress.com
Just make sure the shortened address takes you to the desired location.
And finally, can you improve it with intercapping or some other design treatment?
Web addresses sometimes have hidden words. And that’s not always good. For example, a reader may not see “Really Long Web Address,” but may instead see “ Really Long We Bad Dress.” Same letters, but completely different. Sometimes, you can insert capital letters into the middle of the URL to help the viewer read the address as intended. Or use color and type weight to make the address read correctly. For example:
ReallyLongWebAddress.com
URLs are not typically case sensitive so the capitalization doesn’t alter the address in any way. It’s just easier to read. The bottom line: Use the shortest URL possible that takes the viewer where you want them to go.
Because it’s easier to read ReallyLongWebAddress.com on the back of a truck than www.reallylongwebaddress.com/home.
Bob Wertz is a creative director, type designer, Ph.D. student and researcher living in Columbia, South Carolina. His blogging journey started in 2008 with a Squarespace hosted blog.
Buildings #glass #skyscrapers #atlanta
Elevator #typography #stencil
Twitterless
What would happen if Twitter disappeared tomorrow?
This post was originally posted on November 9, 2016 on Sketchbook B. It’s reposted here as part of a project to move some of my favorite writing to my new site.
I’ve been on Twitter since 2007. It’s part of my daily routine and probably my most vital social media channel for finding and sharing news. But Twitter has had some lingering financial issues and when they recently tried to sell the company, no one stepped up to make an appropriate offer.1
Also, a couple of social media experiments have crashed and burned lately. Twitter announced that they were closing Vine.2 Talkshow had a bunch of potential but didn’t make it six months. And while Twitter is much larger, it’s not immune from financial reality.
Which got me thinking, what if we woke up one morning and Twitter was gone. Or more likely, what if Twitter changed so radically, that it was unusable? How would that change the way I get things done?
I’d lose a bunch of contacts. I follow a large number of designers, brands and local experts on Twitter — and no where else. If Twitter disappeared, I’d lose all those contacts and have to try and reconstruct the network on another channel. Not an easy task.
I’d change how I watch live events. During the World Series, I kept an eye on Twitter. During the presidential debates, I followed along on Twitter. During the University of South Carolina’s football game last weekend, I kept up with the score on Twitter. During election night coverage, sigh. Twitter is the perfect companion to a live event and I’d miss seeing what my friends and family think in real time.
I’d have to rethink how I find articles and stories. I find lots of inspirational links and content on Twitter. If Twitter goes away, I’m using RSS and Feedly much more aggressively.
I’d have to rethink how I share content. I share most of my blog posts through Twitter. If Twitter were gone, I’d have to share them somewhere else like Facebook or Medium.
I’d change the way I use Facebook. I use Facebook for family pictures and connecting with people I know and have met. If Twitter disappeared, I’d probably use Facebook more to connect with a wider audience. Maybe I’d invest more time into building the Sketchbook B page on Facebook. Post more links to articles on my Facebook feed. If Twitter goes away, my Facebook experience changes radically.
I’d spend more time on Instagram. Because I love Instagram, almost as much as I love Twitter. And I’m going to have some free time if there is no Twitter.
I’d try to find a replacement. If Twitter disappeared, I imagine several companies would rush to unveil a replacement. Or modify their social product to attract Twitter refugees. You know Google would retool and rebrand Google Plus, Linked In might try to be less of a train wreck. Even Snapchat might try to appeal to former Twitter users. Startups would start, and fail. Someone would try to resurrect App.net. I’d try them all, but I’m not sure there can truly be a replacement for Twitter.
But… reality.
So I don’t think Twitter will just shut down. At some point, the price to purchase the company gets so low, that someone will take a chance on them. I’m more concerned that Twitter, or a company that buys Twitter, will change it so completely, that it becomes useless.
This exercise had forced me, though, to start evaluating areas where I am too reliant on Twitter. I’m going to start connecting to designers and thought leaders on other channels. I’m looking for new avenues to find and share content. I’ll evaluate how I use channels like Facebook, Instagram, Dribbble, YouTube and Medium.
Twitter might not disappear, but it’s still best not to keep your eggs in one basket.
Bob Wertz is a creative director, type designer, Ph.D. student and researcher living in Columbia, South Carolina. He’s been blogging since 2008.
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This was compounded by the fact that few established companies — like Disney — wanted to take on Twitter while abusive rhetoric is rampant. Let’s face it, Twitter has been a dumpster fire during this election season. ↩︎
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Although maybe Vine is getting a reprieve. ↩︎
Team Wertz. Voted. 25 minutes.
Team Wertz in line to vote.
Type stamped on light pole.
Martin Luther, content strategist
This post was originally posted on October 31, 2016 on Sketchbook B. It’s reposted here as part of a project to move some of my favorite writing to my new site.
95 reasons to reform the church! (#15 changes everything!)
Almost 500 years ago today, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of a church in Wittenburg in Germany. This act, intended to provoke discussion and debate, sparked the Reformation and fragmented the Christian church.
Over the next few decades, Luther spread his message through a variety of methods, taking advantage of the latest technology, the printing press. He wrote letters, books and sermons. He translated the bible into German to better reach his target audience. He created devotional materials for families. He composed hymns to reach the masses. He gathered his followers together to have discussions which they then shared with other Protestant reformers. His message of reform spread through Europe, inspired followers and provoked discussion.
Martin Luther was the first content strategist.
It’s not hard to imagine Luther using today’s technology to spread his carefully crafted content. Tweeting to his followers.* Retweeting fellow reformers. People live tweeting his sermons. Blogging on the latest topics. Sharing posts on Facebook — “95 reasons to reform the church! #15 changes everything!” Putting music and videos on YouTube. Authoring free ebooks. Sending email newsletters. Podcasting.
Martin Luther used content to change the world — almost five centuries before the creation of the internet. And his lasting impact, 499 years later, is a testament to the power and longevity of powerful and effective messaging.
* I can imagine Martin Luther complaining about how hard it is to get verified on Twitter.
Bob Wertz writes about design, technology and pop culture. Bob is a Columbia, South Carolina-based designer, creative director, college instructor, husband and dad. He’s particularly obsessed with typography, the creative process and the tools we use to create. In his spare time, he geeks out about all things historical.
“Jake” looks out across the Neverland Sea…
Carved. #pumpkin #jackolantern #halloween
Pirate, wizard, fairy.
