Blog

20.05.2008 | Stuff Graphic Designers Like

1. Fonts in general

2. Office dogs

3. Thick-framed glasses

4. Espresso-based drinks

5. Macintosh computers (and of course, all things Apple)

6. Black clothes (maybe a cool dark grey at most)

7. Orange, lime green or magenta (but only one at a time)

8. Old posters

9. Movies

10. Sushi

11. Subversive poster activism

12. Drawing or painting (they are all frustrated artists)

13. Quaint stuff like bowling alleys and roadside diners that has not been gentrified

14. Photography (they are all frustrated photographers)

15. Talking Heads (with the ultimate designer-musician, David Byrne)

16. The B-52's

17. Andy Warhol (he was the first one to do 4-up on a page)

18. Colourful collectible sneakers

19. Looking as though they made no effort to dress

20. Art

21. Collecting anything

22. Writing tools

23. Stationery

24. Being agnostic

25. Comic strips

26. Ephemera anything

27. Patterns

28. Modernist furniture and architecture

29. Paul Rand

30. Wolfgang Weingart

31. Michael Beirut

32. Stefan Sagmeister

33. Show and tell

34. Design competitions

35. Books on design

36. Good clip art

37. Logos

38. Documentaries

39. Creating their own content (only works if you're a star designer)

40. InDesign (Photoshop would make it here too, but is too overused by lay people)

41. Funky old office buildings or offices converted from bowling alleys

42. Bowling shoes and bowling shirts

43. Messenger bags

44. Expensive haircuts

45. Purses and clothes with large graphics

46. Wallpaper magazine

47. Readymade magazine

48. Dwell magazine

49. Urbanism

50. Ligatures

51. Small caps

52. Web design

53. Negative space

54. Kerning

55. Helvetica specifically (definitely not Arial)

56. Obscure signage

57. Music CD covers

58. Indie bands

59. Designing for arts groups

60. Clients who "get" design

61. Going into business for themselves

62. Landing a new client

63. 6-colour printing

64. Special finishes (die-cutting, embossing, lamination)

65. Star designers

66. Design conferences

67. Reading about design in the newspaper, even if the reference is completely oblique

68. Bringing up the topic of design

69. Identifying fonts wherever they go

70. Creative ways to design the portfolio section of their websites

71. IKEA (decent design which can be afforded on a graphic designer salary)

72. American Apparel

73. Little plastic toys on their desks

74. Inspiration boards

75. Designing their own wedding invitations, birth and moving announcements

76. Self-promotion

77. Stuff that's so unhip it's hip

78. Tax advice

79. Books on colour combinations

80. Uppercase, flush left Helvetica or as long as it's a bold sans serif font

81. White 3/8" borders

82. Small format books

83. Squares and circles

84. Sending out desk calendars to clients for Christmas

85. Collaborating with printers on self-promotion items

86. Collaborating with other designers (only works if you're a star designer)

87. Analyzing pop culture

88. Analyzing design trends

89. Trying their hand at other areas of design, such as interiors

90. Leaving design behind and going 3-D (only works if you're a star designer)

91. Bandying about the word "branding", at least when talking to their clients

92. Using the word "business consultant" instead of "graphic designer"

93. Using the word "visual communications" or "communication design" instead of "graphic design"

94. Design manifestos (after Bruce Mau started it, these are now becoming part of the curriculum at design schools. Every student emerges with their own manifesto.)

95. Anything to do with communication in general

96. PeeWee Hermann (until he was busted for kiddie porn)

97. Movies directed by Tim Burton, and preferably starring Johnny Depp

98. Retro anything

99. Dutch design

100. Swiss design

101. Emigre magazine

102. Codes of ethics

103. Design organizations