Check out my new editorial project - Miolo Mag

So I’ve got this (almost unhealthy) fixation with everything editorial and publishing, so I a few months ago I decided to start my own thing — Miolo Mag. For now that’s just a splash page to get the buzz started, but soon this baby will be printed and distributed. Can’t wait!

The newest GPS for independent foundries

— What do you need to chose a font?
— I need to use it first.”

This is the premiss behind Type Navigator: The Independent Foundries Handbook, the latest “GPS for fonts” from Gestalten — a collection of visual examples of dozens of typefaces at use. Check out the video below to know more about this new guide to modern typography.

I’ve always admired David Carson’s work - he truly revolutionized the editorial scene back in the days.

Apologies for the rough picture - I was (actually, I am…) outside drinking my afternoon latte while reading The Manual 2 (that’s a shot from Mark Boulton’s “Visual Design is Not a Thing”).

Design should not dominate things, it should not dominate people. It should help people.

— Dieter Rams

“It’s one thing to mock up an amazing design in CAD or Photoshop, but if it can’t be manufactured with current technology at a realistic price, it’s not really product design — it’s wishful thinking.”

Said by Yves Behar, taken from the short documentary from PBS’s Off Book web series. Couldn’t help but think that regardless of having technology that enables production at practicable costs, designer objects are still sold at incredibly high prices. Designing a functional tooth brush is just as important as producing a lemon squeezer. Where do we draw the line?

(My!) Bling Gift guide to Designer Gifts

A couple of weeks ago the guys down at Bling invited me to curate a gift list for designers. You can (and you should!) check it out here. Also, make sure you show them some love by joining the network - it’s fun down there AND you can check out my wishlist and send me something through the mail.

Think Quarterly’s “People” issue

Holy crack on a cracker!
Just saw this making of for the covers of the latest issue of Think Quarterly, Google’s magazine-like book.

When it comes to publishing and editorial design, the guys at Church of London totally rock the house, and this “People” issue doesn’t fall behind. Just look at it - it’s beautiful! And since the magazine isn’t for sale and is “hand-delivered as a gift to a *select list* of recipients”, I’d say Think Quarterly is kinda like the unicorn for designers and magazine aficionados.

I just wish I could get my hands on one of them…

Have a damn opinion and put it in the work.

— James Victore

Too many eggs in one basket

I’m a firm believer that you should work in order to become a T-shaped person, especially when your job involves creating things for people. There’s absolutely no doubt that knowing a thing or two outside your expertise area can make a huge difference to your work (and company) - a holistic approach is usually better and more sustainable than a rangebound one. However, I can’t help but to feel somehow bothered every time I see a company taking this approach way too literally when they clearly don’t have the skills and resources to do so.

Although I do agree that it is important to adapt to different functions and activities, I can easily see that (and I often do) just turning into a bunch of poorly executed tasks/works. The major problem with accepting all sorts of works is that you don’t get to specialize in anything because you don’t focus on stuff you could actually become better at. I see this happen all the time in my work field - design firms that believe that graphic design and web design are basically the same thing (because “communication is all the same”), or even small design studios that for some reason are organizing and managing events, or getting hired to do interior design, when they only have graphic designers as employees.

Don’t get the wrong idea, I think it’s excellent for a company to be skilled and valuable in multiple areas, with the key word being exactly that - valuable. If your company can accomplish that, then awesome, great job. But if you’re not delivering peerless, exceptional work at some point, then maybe it’s time to take it down a notch and concentrate on your groundwork - maybe you’re carrying too many eggs in that basket of yours. If you’re not really good at one thing and insist on performing a bunch of others, you’ll probably end up as another organization with a mediocre performance, when your goal should be to be the best at *at least* one thing. It’s better to excel in that one thing than to perform averagely in a number of them.

If you want a T shaped company, start by building a solid I and become an expert in a core skill. Otherwise, you’re nothing but an underscore (or an em dash, to say the least).