Embracing the digital book
Book designers long ago established rigorous rules for laying out text blocks so they disappear to the reader. They took pride in turning the physicality of a book into a tool for efficiently and elegantly getting information into the mind of the reader. As any good typographer knows: the best typography goes unnoticed.
Our e-readers seem to have forgotten this heritage. They’ve forgotten that their core purpose is simply to present text as comfortably as possible; to gently pull the reader into the story. Every other aspect of experiencing a book is predicated on this notion.
(via Coudal)
I’m the sort of nerd who will notice a book’s lovely typeface, pop to the last page to see what it is, then get back to the business at hand (reading). But, y’know: typography nerd.
The Bueller…Bueller monotony of Caecilia on the Kindle/in the Kindle app can sometimes have the effect of dulling the shine on a story. As in, they sometimes sound the same in my head. More options would be nice, but how to execute that…I don’t know.
That said: Verdana? Seriously? Websites - yes, books? Hell no.
Record grooves under an electron microscope (via Coudal)
Those grooves look like dunes! That is so cool.
Reserve Window Design by John Downer (@ Reserve) (via Coudal)
I’ve been a John Downer fan for a long time; hand-painted, plate-glass windows are one of my most favorite things and there are too few people who do them, do them well, or better than Mr Downer. Rad.
Phantom Menace Reviewer Takes on Avatar
You see the ultimate irony with Avatar is that for all the time and money spent to make this movie in 3D, the story and characters were still stuck in one dimension.
(via Coudal)
It’s been awhile since I read or heard “irony” used correctly. Also: word.
Los Angeles Without Traffic by Tom Baker (via Coudal)
I like it!
Stacked ND filters + long exposure wouldn’t get you static and fluffy clouds, so I’m curious to know if the traffic’s just edited out, or what? (sigh. I miss the WDCH.)
I dig Baker’s Big Bend Nat’l Park set, too. Particularly… the silhouette, the scale, and the swimmin’ hole.
2001: A Space Odyssey Desktop Wallpapers 1680x1050 (via Coudal)
And while we’re on the subject: In praise of the sci-fi corridor.
Cover for one of the nature books published by Time Life Books in the ’60s, shot with Polaroids by Patrick Tobin.
The Polaroids are so so nice. I love the placement of the logos within the frame.
(via Coudal)
