This post was originally posted on November 5, 2015 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 fascinated by stenciled type for a while. Stencils started as a practical necessity – an easy and utilitarian way to reproduce type. But the use of stencils has evolved and is now visually representative of industry and military.
A few weeks ago, I quietly rolled out my latest stencil typeface on Creative Market: Intermodal.
Intermodal started as an experiment. I wanted to create a design that had only vertical stencil cuts. I didn’t like how the cuts on other stencil designs didn’t line up cleanly. By only using vertical cuts, I didn’t have to worry about the horizontal alignment.*
Intermodal is an all cap design, but includes a wide range of foreign language characters, a set of Opentype tabular numerals and an alternate “9.” Intermodal doesn’t have traditional weights. Instead, there are five widths, from A to E. A is more narrow and E is wider. The different versions can be used together to create a utilitarian look. I’ve also got an oblique version of each width for a total of 10 fonts in the family.
Intermodal is one of my favorite creations. I hope you like it.
* After my first set of sketches, I noticed that it was structurally very similar to Power Grid. So I added a stencil version to Power Grid 2.0 and I continued to refine Intermodal. Different look, but similar design approach.
This post was originally posted on November 3, 2015 on Sketchbook B. It’s reposted here as part of a project to move some of my favorite writing to my new site.
When I was a kid, I loved magazines. I was curious about everything and in the 80s and 90s – before the internet — there was a magazine for everything. I got magazines about photography, sailing, model railroading, computers, science, cars, bicycling, comics, art, baseball cards and more. If you wanted to learn about a topic, magazines were a cheap and easy way to find out more. In fact, I read MacUser before I could ever afford my first Mac.
I’d read them cover to cover. And that often included the ads. Ads were an integral part of the experience because they were targeted directly at the magazine’s audience. The ads complimented and supplemented the editorial content.
Some of those magazines are still around*, but blogs and online content are much more efficient ways to gather information, especially for beginners.
Today, ads on blogs are more like billboards than the niche, targeted magazine ads. Many of these blogs serve ads that are from a network and most of those ads have no real connection to the blog’s topic.
Network buys allow advertisers to serve ads only to a target demographic. This seems like a dream situation for many advertisers, but reaching niche audiences is much more difficult. It’s hard to identify from demographics or browsing history who is interested in a topic like cameras or fountain pens.
I’ve been listening to podcasts lately. Podcasts about topics like fountain pens, pencils and space. The ads that run on these podcasts are like the old magazine ads — they support and complement the editorial content. And as a result, I’ve made purchases based on recommendations from ads on podcasts. I can’t say that I’ve ever made a purchasing decision based on a random banner ad.
Context matters. If I was a media buyer today, I’d look closely at podcasting and tightly curated ad networks. They might be the best fit for online advertising to niche markets.
* Still around, but much harder to find. Newsstands are gone in most parts of the country. Bookstores aren’t as common. Grocery stores have smaller and smaller selections of publications.
This post was originally posted on October 28, 2015 on Sketchbook B. It’s reposted here as part of a project to move some of my favorite writing to my new site.
NOTE: While this page may have useful insights, be aware that it was published more than 10 years ago and may not be relevant for current software versions.
Over the last two weeks, a 2010 post of mine on rounding corners has suddenly become very popular.* I wrote it for CS4 and posted an updated version for CS5. But I wanted to revisit the tip and update it for Creative Cloud 2015.
The process for rounding corners is actually more complicated than I expected and is different depending on what shape you are working with.
Rounding corners on a square or rectangle
Rounding the corners** on a rectangle is straightforward and there are actually a couple of ways to do it.
The yellow box method: When you click on a rectangle with the selection tool, a yellow box appears near the upper right hand corner. Click the yellow box and diamonds appear at the corners. Drag the corners inward to round the corners equally.
To round only one corner, click the yellow box and then, while holding down shift, click and drag on the corner you want to modify.
(1) Click the yellow box in the upper right hand corner to edit the corners. (2) Drag the diamonds to change the amount of the corner effect. (3) Hold the shift Key to change only one corner.
The dialog box method: If you prefer a little more precision, you can go to Object > Corner Options… and set the rounded corner to a specific value. And it’s easy to round one corner.
Set the amount and style of your corner effects with the corner options dialog box. Uncheck the chain icon to set corners independently.
The control palette method: You can set a rounded corner value for all four corners in the control palette.
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The corner controls are easy to find… It’s the only icon in the Control Palette with blue dots.
Rounding all corners on polygons that are not squares or rectangles
So rounding corners on rectangles is easy, but what if you don’t have a rectangle. It’s still easy, but different.
The yellow box method: Doesn’t work. The yellow box appears only for rectangles. Triangle, trapezoid, hexagon… no yellow box.
The dialog box method: Works just like it does for the rectangle with one, major exception. You can’t round individual corners. All of the corners have to be exactly the same.
Try to change the corner size or shape on a shape other than a rectangle and all but one input field is faded out.
The control palette method: Exactly the same as the rectangle method, with no control over individual corners.
Rounding individual corners on a polygon
So let’s say I want to round selected corners on any polygon. None of the normal methods will work, but thankfully, Adobe provides a script for this.
The scripting panel (Window > Utilities > Scripts) contains an Application folder with sample scripts in Applescript and Javascript. Select the “CornerEffects.applescript” or “CornerEffects.jsx.”
The top part of the dialog box essentially provides the same options as the “Corner Options” dialog box. And the offset box allows you to adjust the size of the corner. The Pattern combo box defaults to “all points,” but take a look at the options available: first point, last point, second point, third point, odd points, even points and more…
When applied to a box, it gives you the ability to round or bevel selected corners. Sometimes, it takes a little trial and error to figure out which point the “first” point is. The first point usually seems to be point in the upper left and then selection moves counterclockwise.
Pretty much the only way to make these shapes in InDesign is with the Corner Effects Script.
You can also use the odd and even points patterns on a star shape. “Odd points” effect the inside points. “Even points” modify the outside points.
That should help you round any corner you need. As an aside, Adobe Illustrator has a completely different and superior corner rounding process. Personally, I hope that Adobe adopts the Illustrator method in InDesign.
This post was originally posted on October 22, 2015 on Sketchbook B. It’s reposted here as part of a project to move some of my favorite writing to my new site.
I’m a die hard Cubs fan and have been since I was little. My heart has been broken many, many times. And this year, my Cubbies ran into the buzzsaw that is the 2015 New York Mets and got swept in dominating fashion.
This team reminds me of another Chicago sports team — the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls — who couldn’t beat the Detroit Pistons for a number of years before winning six championships. In baseball and today’s sports environment, the window to win is so small. There’s a lot of pressure to win now because everyone else is getting better, too. But the Cubs will continue to improve with a ton of young talent. And that talent is only going to get better.
I enjoyed this season. It was fun to have my Cubs relevant again. And as much as I hate watching them swept out of the playoffs*, I’m confident that we are going to be good for years to come.
So, yes, I’ll give you the traditional Cubs fan refrain is always “Wait ’til next year!” But this year, it’s less lament and more warning. Next year, we’ll be even better.
Go Cubs!
* This year, we did beat the Pirates in a one game playoff and the Cardinals in the NLDS. And those wins were a lot of fun.
This post was originally posted on October 9, 2015 on Sketchbook B. It’s reposted here as part of a project to move some of my favorite writing to my new site.
Zero
About eight years ago, I discovered Merlin Mann’s Inbox Zero series at 43 Folders. At the time, I had no system for handling email and a corporate job that generated a lot of email. There was too much email volume and I had no idea how to manage it all.
Inbox Zero completely changed the way that I manage email. I’m not a hardcore Inbox Zero or GTD* user, but I’ve incorporated much of the Inbox Zero philosophy into my workflow.
I find that designers are particularly bad at managing email. They don’t want to spend time sorting and filing email when they can be sketching, coding or creating. For me, though, having a massive inbox hanging over my head completely stresses me out. A system for handling email helps me function better as both a creative director and a designer.
I’ve been talking with a bunch of folks lately about Inbox Zero. People with thousands of unread emails in their inbox. As we talked, I realized that I’ve never blogged about my personal email process.
First things first… If you haven’t read Inbox Zero, go read it now. It’s a series of blog posts written in 2006. I reread it recently and it’s dated, mentioning apps that no longer exist. It was written before the release of the iPhone, too, so you’ll see some references to Blackberry. (Remember those?) But even though the posts are old, the Inbox Zero philosophy is still as applicable as ever. (Especially pay attention to the section that tells you how to get from an thousands of messages to zero in a hurry.)
My list below is about my office email, which is Microsoft Exchange-based. My home email isn’t handled as rigidly, although I may change that.
Here’s my version:
My inbox stays at between 25-50 messages. Sometimes it gets to zero. Sometimes it gets to 100. But it rarely gets over 100. (I’m talking here about total messages, not unread messages.)
If it does get over 100 messages, I look to schedule some time to sort.
I sort all my mail into a number of folders. The most important is “action required.” I also have buckets for “future reference” and some specific project related folders. Set up a folder structure that makes sense for the type of email you get. These folders reside on the server so they still sync to my iPhone and iPad.
If something ends up in “action required,” it also ends up in Wunderlist. Wunderlist*** syncs a to do list between my home and office Macs, iPad and iPhone. That way, an “action required” item also ends up on my master to do list.
As projects are completed, I check them off Wunderlist and trash the corresponding email.
My “future reference” folder is where information goes that I don’t need to act on, but may need to refer to later. The bonus is that it’s easily searchable.
My inbox is always at zero when I leave for vacation.
I typically do most email work in the morning and late afternoon. I also do quick email sprints if I get a few minutes before a meeting.
I find that I sort email really quickly on my iPhone or iPad. But I prefer typing longer responses on my Mac. So I use all my devices in managing my email.
I don’t allow for email notifications on my phone, except for those people that I’ve tagged as VIPs. No beeps or buzzes. No pop-up windows.
I don’t subscribe to email newsletters or mailing lists that I don’t find absolutely critical.**
And that’s it. It’s not perfect. There are plenty of times that email gets away from me. (I get a lot of email.) But having a basic structure keeps me from drowning in electronic correspondence.
I’m always looking to adjust the system. I’m thinking about changing up my folder structure to better mirror the email I get. I’d love to find a way to automate copying a task from “action required” to Wunderlist. (I know I can forward the email to Wunderlist, but I don’t like the way it sets up the item on the to do list.) And I need to be more intentional about setting more rigid times for checking email and ignoring it the rest of the day.
There are newer email clients that try to make it easier to manage email.**** And while I’m interested in trying some of them like Mailbox or Inbox, they primarily work with Gmail or IMAP. Since most of my email volume is in Outlook/Exchange, they don’t work for me.
The hardest thing about Inbox Zero is finding balance and not obsessing about it. The sun will rise and the sun will set and you will get more email.
Remember that Newton’s Third Law applies to email, too. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. If you send a lot of messages, you get a lot of messages. It’s really frustrating when you get caught up on email, send a bunch of responses, and within hours, you have a full inbox. Don’t get discouraged, that’s just the way things go sometimes.
Got any thoughts on my email process and how to improve it?
* GTD = Getting Things Done. It’s a wonderful system for staying organized and… well… getting things done. I suppose I use some GTD tactics, but I’m hardly a GTD fanatic.
** I do subscribe to mailing lists on my personal accounts, but I’m starting to be ruthless. I do have an Unroll Me account that I use on my main personal account and it does a great job of keeping junk mail under control.
*** I really like Wunderlist, but it could be any to do list or project management app. I’m a little nervous about Microsoft’s acquisition of Wunderlist, but maybe it will mean an easier connection between Outlook and Wunderlist.
**** The iOS version of Outlook is impressive, but it doesn’t support VIP notifications. Notifications are either all on or all off. That’s a deal breaker for me so I went back to using Apple’s default Mail app on my phone.
This post was originally posted on October 7, 2015 on Sketchbook B. It’s reposted here as part of a project to move some of my favorite writing to my new site.
NOTE: While this page may have useful insights, be aware that it was published more than 10 years ago and may not be relevant for current software versions.
If you’re like me, your clients have all sorts of brand names, executive names, cities and URLs that give InDesign’s spell check fits. But you don’t have to just click “skip” repeatedly during a spell check. Add these to the user dictionary.
Pull up the user dictionary by going to Edit > Spelling > User Dictionary… and add your terms here. If you want a name or URL to be case sensitive, check the case sensitive box.
This is particularly helpful for URLs with creative capitalization. If I want “sketchbookb.com” to always be “SketchbookB.com,” I add “SketchbookB.com” to the dictionary and check the case sensitive box. Now if I type “sketchbookb.com” somewhere, spell check will recommend “SketchbookB.com” instead.
Bonus tip: Using the import and export buttons, you can share your user dictionaries with your coworkers.
This post was originally posted on October 6, 2015 on Sketchbook B. It’s reposted here as part of a project to move some of my favorite writing to my new site.
Bridge closed
My hometown of Columbia, South Carolina was pummeled by a once-in-a-lifetime storm this weekend. Over a foot of rain in less than 24 hours. Creeks, rivers and ponds overflowed. Dams gave way. Interstates were flooded and closed. Neighborhoods were evacuated.
Early Sunday — before I really understood the magnitude of what was going on — I walked down to check on the creek at the entrance to my neighborhood. As I walked down the hill, I could hear the roar of rushing water. The bridge was closed and the creek was massively overflowing. People were stopping and taking pictures. I stopped and took photos, too.
Normal people are documenting the terrible things happening around them and sharing them with friends and news outlets. Every person with a cellphone is a reporter.
As the day progressed, I got a constant stream of updates from Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. What roads are flooding? How much longer is it going to rain? Videos and pictures of roads underwater, bridges failing and daring rescues. It was a very personal and terrifying way to experience a natural disaster.
I remember Hurricane Hugo in 1989, which was the biggest natural disaster I had experienced personally. We followed the TV news and got updates from morning and afternoon papers. Without the internet, it was challenging to get much detail on what was going on.
Now, in 2015, I watched a little bit of storm coverage on the Columbia NBC affiliate, WIS, but most of my news came from Twitter. Getting information wasn’t a problem at all. Information was coming from all directions.
In a crisis, this flood of information from social media is disorienting. Immediate. Powerful. Raw. Intense. There is an overwhelming sense of anxiety. It’s also unfiltered. Serious news, alerts, hoax and rumors are mixed with NFL banter, cat videos, tech talk, ads and more.
As communicators in a social media environment, we need to accept this complex environment and figure out ways to help our audiences process what is happening around them. The goal should no longer be about simply adding more stories, pictures and videos to a vast virtual stream. Anyone with a iPhone can do that. Our value is in structuring and organizing information and in presenting clear, relevant messaging when our community needs it.
Bridge closed.
Bridge at front of neighborhood was under water this morning. Shockingly, this is improvement.
This post was originally posted on September 29, 2015 on Sketchbook B. It’s reposted here as part of a project to move some of my favorite writing to my new site.
A few years ago, I stopped at a fast food restaurant in rural, upstate South Carolina where a car was circling the drive thru over and over and over. She’d drive up to the ordering station and wait a second. Then the car would drive to the window, pause, and then drive around again. This happened a couple of times. It was very strange.
When I walked in, I nodded toward the car at the window and asked what was going on. The woman shrugged, obviously embarrassed, and said “Just improving the drive thru wait times…”
Lots of people wonder how something like the Volkswagen 1 emissions test scandal can happen. It’s actually very simple:
Set a specific goal.
Figure out a test to measure it: a survey, a timer, a standardized test, etc.
Make sure everyone knows how important the test is.
Provide rewards for people who achieve the test objectives. And penalize people who don’t meet the test objectives.
Smart people will eventually figure out how to do well on the test, even if it now has nothing to do with the original goal.
Management pats themselves on the back for great test results.
The test no longer reflects reality.
This cycle is everywhere in business today and manifests itself in different ways. Most of the time, it doesn’t involve fraud and cheating. But this process is why:
Engineers design products (cars, cell phones, etc.) that meet specific test objectives, but not real life usage.
Customer service reps in banks, car dealerships and retail stores remind you over and over to answer “highly satisfied” on a random survey.
Teachers teach to the test.
Managers make short sighted decisions to stay under budget.
Advertisers make really annoying online ads to improve click through rates.
Fast food workers fake drive thru response times.
If you connect success on a metric to an employee’s financial well being, that employee will change their behavior to meet the test objectives. And yes, sometimes, if the pressure is great enough, they cheat.
I’m sure those fast food workers wanted to have good drive thru response times to make their boss happy. I doubt there was a financial incentive. Maybe if the boss was happy, their life would be easier. Or perhaps they were afraid of being fired. Whatever the reason, they cheated to meet their test objectives. They lost sight of — or more likely, were never told — the reason for the test.
The test itself isn’t the problem. Testing and evaluation is a key part of management in a corporate environment. But today, it’s really easy to test and measure everything. Over reliance on metrics in management makes the test more important than the goal. And that never ends well.
You’ll simply get what you test for.
Bob Wertz is a creative director, type designer, Ph.D. student and researcher living in Columbia, South Carolina. He’s been blogging since 2008.
I’m a VW owner. My car is not a diesel, but I doubt that I’ll buy another Volkswagen even though I’ve been happy with my car… ↩︎
Trump and Paul are on campus today, but so is the Bernie Sanders Tesla! #bernmachinechallenge
