EagerEyes Shorts

Musings on visualization, photography, programming, etc. that are too long for Twitter but too short for (or don't fit) my visualization website, EagerEyes.org. Part of my vanity website, kosara.net, which is most notable for hosting my list of publications. If you still want to know more, see my university page at UNC Charlotte, and/or follow me on Twitter.

August 18th 2009

What is the best app for designing logos, etc?

I’m working on a redesign of EagerEyes, and while I have some reasonable tools, things still take way too long. I know that designers like PhotoShop, but I don’t have that, and it’s out of my price range. PhotoShop Elements is too limited in the functions I’d need (I have an older version of that that I never use).

My main tool right now is Acorn, which has most of the features I need, but it also lacks a lot of convenience. There is no way to group layers, making it hard to keep an overview when trying out lots of things. It also requires a few additional steps for inner shadows (which I may or may not use in my redesign ;), etc.

The tool that would be perfect for my purposes in theory is DrawIt, which is a vector-oriented tool that can also do pixel-stuff like apply CoreImage filters. It takes some getting used to, but it’s really powerful and has some incredible workflow features. The main downside is that its text rendering is really ugly, and it doesn’t look like there’s a fix in sight.

I also have a license for VectorDesigner, but there are some issues with getting that to really do what I want it to. I need to play with that a bit more, though.

Is there some other tool that’s used by designers, runs on a Mac, and is affordable? I need mostly pixel-oriented stuff, but a hybrid like DrawIt would be great, too. Any suggestions?

Posted at 2:27pm and tagged with: design, software,.

April 18th 2009

In Defense of Comic Sans

The Wall Street Journal has an interesting article on Comic Sans, its creator, history, and the “movement” to ban it. It also discusses its popularity for use in almost any kind of document.

While I don’t like the font, either, I don’t think that it’s such an abomination that it has to be banned. It also seems to be used for titles (the article has an image of what looks like a fax cover) and single words (the “Australia” towel), where people want something that is big and stand out.

Comic Sans is like writing with a Sharpie, and I think a lot of people can relate to that. What it has going for it is weight: when you want to put something in big type so that it will be visible and readable, Comic Sans’s wide spacing, thick lines, and lack of serifs will seem like an obvious choice. Just try putting a few words in 72pt or 96pt Arial and Comic Sans (or, even, the ever popular Times New Roman), which is stronger? Which shouts louder?

I’m all for good type and stuff, but a lot of people just want to put text somewhere that will be seen. It may not be classy or satisfy a designer’s sensibilities – but it works.

Posted at 7:01pm and tagged with: design, typography,.