I’m not much for gimmicky fonts. Sure, I like them, but I wouldn’t consider using them for anything beyond the family Christmas newsletter. But photo fonts are a different story. If done well, they can be creative, professional, and might be the cure for the creative cold-spell. 
HandMadeFonts is just what the doctor ordered. The site features over 100 photographic fonts. While some are cheesy at best, many are quite stunning, and might just fit in to your next project. Everything from lego pieces, baloons, and water drops to stitched leather, grass and animal fur. When you purchase these fonts, you’re actually not getting a font, you’re getting PSD files. Single fonts can be purchased using PayPal for as little as $13 each.
Category: General
Redesign vs. Realign – which do you do?
Like a kid in a candy store, we creatives redesign like it’s the new black. Why do we possess such an insatiable desire to refresh and remake? Why do we thrive on renewal? 
“Good Designers Redesign, Great Designers Realign,” by Cameron Moll at AListApart, won’t analyze the psychological ambitions of right-brained elites and their innate desire to recreate, it will attempt to describe the difference between redesigning and realigning, as well the advantages of one over the other. While the article is old (published in 2005), I thought it was still quite interesting, and so true. How many times have you redesigned your own logo/identity kit? Hmmmm…
HDR photography tutorial
Photo by Suck In Customs @ Flickr
Technorati Tags: High Dynamic Range, Photography, Tutorials
Rant: OSX menubar madness
It’s been a while since I’ve gone off on a rant, but I couldn’t hold this one in any longer because it’s driving me absolutely freakin’ crazy! What the hell is with the OSX menubar? Why does it suck so badly?
I have a host of apps that I use on a regular basis, and they offer menubar apps/icons to make it easier to work with. The problem is, the damn things are ugly, and I can’t configure the order in which they appear. Adding to my frustration is the fact that the load order appears to change on a whim every time I log-in or restart. Thus, my menubar madness rant… (more…)
Business card design inspiration
Card Observer is a new site that showcases business card designs for your inspiration. Much like LogoPond, a site that showcases logo designs, Card Observer offers readers the ability to view, comment on, and even submit their own card designs for the world to see.
A look at 25 years of Macintosh computers
Webdesigner Depot has a great look at the past 25 years of Apple design. The visual list of famous Apple products, both good and bad, can take old-timers back with fond memories, and provide a bit of a history lesson to Mac users who’ve just recently jumped on board. The article is loaded with large images (some used above) from Wikipedia, and covers All-In-Ones, laptops, desktops, monitors, keyboards, mice, and of course, the iPod.
Fontcase: Elegant font management
I am assuming readers of The Graphic Mac are aware of Apple’s Font Book that ships with OS X (and is pretty robust in 10.5), and are also aware of the limitations of Font Book, as well as the need for a graphics professional to use a third-party font management application. And I know what you’re thinking: “Don’t we already have enough pro font management apps?”. Suitcase Fusion 2, FontAgent Pro 4 and of course the formerly free FontExplorer X Pro have been around for some time and each is pretty well established. So why a new font manager? (more…)
BrightQube and the future of stock photography
Guest post by Lee Corkran, Founder and CEO, BrightQube After more than 20 years of observation, former photojournalist and photo industry veteran Lee Corkran envisioned the future of the stock photo industry in an online marketplace with an innovative visual search engine. From that “aha” moment, BrightQube was born. Corkran, nearly three years ago, after going through his own experiences selling stock photos, knew there had to be a better way to make transactions. He appreciated that stock photographers didn’t want their work buried on, say, page 27 of lengthy list of search results. And, he understood buyers didn’t want to click through to get to that page 27, or to check dozens of different Web sites to find just the right photo to fit their design and budget. (more…)
You need to get paid for your work!
Harlan Ellison, writer for the original series of both The Outer Limits and Star Trek, as well as creative consultant for the Babylon 5 TV series, has an interesting video rant about getting paid for his work. While the video covers writers in particular, I think it pretty much sums-up the situation for designers as well. I must warn you, the video contains foul language.
Tips for good print typography
Typography is a huge part of design and design is a huge part of type. You can’t just throw text on a page, it has to be laid out and organized in a clean way that adds to the information being presented. Spoonfed Design offers 11 tips for good typography to help you convey information in print the right way.