donny nguyen.
donny nguyen.
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#print
the king's speech

while playing with a print set i just bought, the idea’s just came like flashes and this is the result. this is hand made with no digital mucking about aside from scanning it. i had a good laugh researching this one, i must say. i’m not completely set on the title and alternative title. i think it needs one or the other but i’m not sure which yet…both will have to suffice for now.

details here:

the king's speech detail 1

and here:

the king's speech detail 2

you can now get your “a blaffair to rememblack” and the more recent portrait of leslie nielsen through society 6. tell all your friends! thanks in advance!

ablaffairtorememblack leslie nielsen

 



the elements of typographic style

so i’ve been reading elements of typographic style by robert bringhurst. it’s quite technical and thorough and i’m really enjoying it. honestly i wasn’t sure if i should get it when i first came upon it in the bookstore but the endorsement in armin vit and bryony gomez-palacio’s book, graphic design referenced, along with a strong recommendation from a friend convinced me. check it out if you’ve any interest in typography.

i’m not completely through it but i came across a line that gives me hope for print. i love printed posters, illustration, design, etc. and it seems like there’s this huge forecasting of the death of print. in the case of wall hangings, it doesn’t make sense to me since people seem to love to have nice art on their walls but they say it’s too expensive. get a nice print! i think it’s great that there’s a contingent of people out there keeping it alive, especially since i feel like i’m joining the party (uninvited?) so late.
bringhurst’s words were:
“because the Web, like the subway, is not a destination. Printing is still what type is for.”
what’s funny / ironic to me is that this is the exact punctuation on the page (209). although, the text before this is:
“Now that type is principally a digital commodity, printed type specimens are quickly disappearing. Yet they remain an invaluable resource. because the Web, …”
perhaps the original quotation is not a complete thought then. either way, the grammatical error might’ve made this stand out but i like the statement. i should say that i don’t completely agree with his sentiment though. i’m sure many people would love to see proper typography on more, if not all, websites (which i do see as digital analogues to printed matter – the web is merely the ether) but i do like the encouragement to keep on printing. i would guess that because of the inaccessibility to use nice type and apply one’s preferences in support of it, bringhurst believed this to be true at the time he wrote this. maybe he still does. even apple still haven’t fully gotten type right (exhibit a) and maybe that’s a good thing.

i hadn’t checked the bad day magazine site in a while and it was kind of nice to find this video of my favourite issue (ha). my half second occurs at 1:15.



badday - sebastien grainger

so i went to the bad day issue #3 launch and picked up the mag. true to form, sebastien‘s ad is in it, complete with my little drawing. a lot of people piled into a relatively small space but it seemed like a success so kudos to the kids running that popsicle stand. the original drawing can be viewed here.
i’m thinking (and hoping!) that this could be the start of something for me. all along i thought more traditional fine art would’ve been my preferred route but for the time being, i think i like the way this illustration thing seems and sounds. i was asked to design a logo and flyer for an event (which i’ll definitely touch on later) and my experience with that seemed like a mini version of what this stuff might really be like (according to my graphic designer friend). if it doesn’t lead anywhere, at least i’ll have tried, ha ha. but you never know, right?!?! wish me luck!

so i’m pretty chuffed about this: who happened to stumble upon one of my drawings of sebastien grainger? sebastien grainger! he’ll be using my drawing in an upcoming ad that will run in the winter edition of bad day magazine. thanks sebastien!!!