Weekly Design Reading List #9: Art of Calligraphy, Font Pairing, Trust in Design, Growth & Corruption

In a recent release by the Trump administration, the FCC has come up with a plan to break the legs of the internet and create a tiered one run by money and power. Net neutrality as a topic is being discussed now more than ever.

Calling the net neutrality rules a mistake, Mr. Ajit Pai states that utility-style regulations are hurting broadband deployment while the facts and numbers that he presents are false and flawed. I believe that the internet has solved a lot of problems in the area of information literacy, education and much more. Internet has driven the most of the beginning of the 21st century to new heights. Dividing it will only help dishonest authorities conquer it. Lets take a stand on not letting this happen.

While you make up your mind, remember this reading list is also possible because the internet is free and education and information should be too. Please read through :)

Graphic Design

1. For every film there’s a colourist behind the scenes, controlling the hues in each shot. And they’re not just trying to make the footage look pretty — they’re also using colour to influence what we think and feel. Annie Sneed provides evidence on the secrets used by colourist’s secret in Inside The Manipulative World of Colour Correction.
2. Typography is a primary element of composition. Being a designer, I pay a lot of attention to its quality. Anastasia Shevchuk says that operating Photoshop is easy for her; however, to level up her skills, she is always learning to work with letters, using her hands, without any computer programs. She shares some of her knowledge in The Art Of Calligraphy: Getting Started And Lessons Learned.

Picture Credit: Smashing Magazine

UI Design

1. Erik Kennedy says there’s a technique for improving one’s user interface design skills. He believes that copying is the most efficient way that he knows of to expand one’s visual vocabulary. Read more in Copy If You Can: Improving Your UI Design Skills With Copywork.
2. The act of choosing two typefaces is probably the first (and often most difficult) task you do when creating a new design. Many people get stuck here. Zell Liew shares a simple method to pair typefaces effectively in How To Choose And Pair Typefaces.

UX Design

1. The first set of screens with which users interact, set the expectations of the app. To make sure your users don’t delete your app after the first use, you should teach them how to complete key tasks and make them want to come back for more. Nick Babich emphasises on how we need to successfully onboard and engage users during those first interactions in The Role Of Empty States In User Onboarding.
2. Juan J. Ramirez talks about a type of user experience pattern (usually frustrating or not optimal) that indirectly controls a user flow and impacts a decision making process. This pattern is what he calls Designed Inconvenience and are created to favour a business rule or business-centric goal.
3. Sites must meet users’ basic trust needs before they demand that visitors enter information or engage with them. The trust pyramid has 5 distinct levels of user commitment, each with separate design requirements before users will give a website what it wants from them. Katie Sherwin writes about the Hierarchy of Trust: The 5 Experiential Levels of Commitment.

Picture Credit: NN Group

News

1. Sketch 43 will introduce a new file format, designed to allow better integration with third party services and external tools. It will allow developers to access document information in an easier way, without having to use SketchTool. This opens new possibilities for inspecting Sketch documents in non-macOS platforms.
2. Mozilla Acquires Pocket. Pocket will join Mozilla’s product portfolio as a new product line alongside the Firefox web browsers with a focus on promoting the discovery and accessibility of high quality web content.

Life & Beyond

1. Hiring brilliant, creative people has been key to Ogilvy & Mather’s success, but that’s WAY easier said than done. Creativity at times can feel like a black box — we’re not sure what it looks like, but we know it when we see it. But when it’s your job to find and evaluate creative talent, simply waiting around and hoping it shows up will rarely ever cut it. See How Ogilvy & Mather Finds Creative Talent.
2. We run our client service businesses just like door-to-door salespeople hawking vacuum cleaners. That may seem unfair, but it’s exactly how we sell design. We’re focused on short-term wins — but we’re teaching clients to see our work as disposable. Jarrod Drysdale shares his views on Long-Term Design: Rewriting the Design Sales Pitch.
3. We need a new operating system for startups. The current one will keep producing the same extractive and monopolistic empires we’ve gotten so far. No, what we need is a new crop of companies that are institutionally comfortable with leaving money on the table. Leaving growth on the table. Leaving some conveniences and some progress on the board, in order to lead the world into a better direction. DHH talks about how Exponential Growth Devours And Corrupts.

Picture Credit: Medium

And with that, I will close for the week. Also Hey, if you like what you just read, please support me with a donation via Paypal.me or share this resource by hitting the green “Recommend” icon so that other people may also stumble upon this reading list.

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