There are lots of articles that explain the technical pros and cons of using www or not. There are even movements to abolish the www as depracated. I’m staying out of that argument for now. Regarding the technical side of things, suffice to say that if you redirect things correctly, it makes little or no difference which one you use (but you should use just one).

This article is not about the technical side of the question though, it’s about graphic design, typsetting and typography. If we’ve established that there’s no technical advantage or disadvantage, then it’s really just a question of style. So in those terms, should you triple dub dot or not?

It’s my opinion that designers should use the www subdomain when typesetting a website address (at least at this point in time). Why am I bucking the trend?

Here are some reasons why:

• Clarity: I think it is clearer for the reader, especially if you aren’t labeling the domain as a website (eg: website: domain.com).
• Differentiation: It distinguishes the website from other addresses like email and Twitter handles.
• Consistency: Others are likely to list the website with the www, whether you like it or not.
• Expectation: Readers are accustomed to the www and it provides a visual cue that they instantly recognize. Many users type the www, regardless of whether you list it or not.
• Continuity: I often see websites listed without the www (domain.com) but the actual website is redirecting to the www version (www.domain.com). If you are going to drop the www from your business card, make sure your site doesn’t use it either.

Sure, it’s unnecessary, I get that. Some argue that it just takes up space and if the domain is long, there’s strength to that argument.

I believe the most important factor in determining its use or not is the standard of the brand. If you are typestting the domain for a client and they consistently use the www, don’t drop if because it’s your preferred style. Follow their standard.

So, what do you think? Do you use the www or not? I’d love to hear some other opinions on the subject.

What do you do when you can’t find the right dinette table for your breakfast nook? You build one!

I spent weeks shopping for a table but everything I found was either the wrong style, size or color; or it was cheaply made; or it was super-expensive. While I was shopping, I started to get a vision for exactly what I wanted. I was looking for something retro but wth a modern twist. So I decided the best way to get exactly what I wanted was to build it myself.

I started with a piece of 13-ply, furniture-grade plywood (also called Baltic Birch) .75 inches thick. I chose this wood because I wanted to expose the edges. I cut down the board into two pieces slightly over my finished size, then glued and clamped them together to double the thickness to 1.5 inches. Next I trimmed the top to the finished size (30x42 inches), using a plywood blade to get a fairly smooth edge. I toyed with the idea of radiused corners but decided a bevel was easier. After it was cut to size, I used my router with a chamfer bit to create a relief under the table, making the top look thinner from above and it giving it a smoother edge. I filled any voids in the plywood with wood filler and sanded them smooth. I also sanded all the beveled corners to round them off slightly.

Then came the fun part, I ordered a piece of vintage-style laminate. It’s Formica brand and the color is Aqua Boomerang. Unfortunately, this color has been discontinued by Formica but it was still in stock at the Lowes warehouse. I used contact cement to mount the laminate, taking care to leave a little extra laminate around the edge. I retracted the chamfer bit on my router to about .25 inches and trimmed off the edge to create a slight relief on top. I masked off the laminate and applied three coats of polyurthane to the exposed plywood edge, sanding in-between coats. Last, I mounted the top to a sturdy restaurant table base using lag screws. I orded a new base but if you look around, you can find used bases from a restaurant supply. Mine has a powder coated flat bottom (I don’t like the ones with legs) and a retro chrome stem.

I bought a couple of chairs from Ikea and the set is complete. I think it came out really well and it cost me well below $200 (not including chairs or tools). Plus, this table is solid as a rock, it could easily stand up to commercial restaurant use and abuse.

Here’s a photo of the finished set.

Great breakfast muffins that are good for you too.

Ingredients

1 Granny Smith apple
1/3 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 tablspoons ground flax seed
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspooon cinnamon

2 large eggs, room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
1/3 cup vegetable oil (walnut preferred)

12 half walnuts (optional)
Coarse sugar (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease or spray 12-cup standard muffin tin.
2. Peel, core and coarsely chop the apple, set aside.
3. Whisk together the flours, flax seed, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl.
4. Add the apples and walnuts, stir to mix.
5. In a small bow, whisk together the eggs and brown sugar, add the buttermilk and oil, then whisk until well mixed.
6. Gently mix the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture until just combined. Do not overmix. It should be lumpy.
7. Divide batter evenly into twelve muffin cups. Add a half walnut to the top and sprinkle with coarse sugar (optional).
8. Bake at 400 degrees for 16-18 minutes.
9. Let muffins cool for about 5 minutes before turning onto a wire rack. These muffins will keep for 2 days at room tempurature. 3-4 days in the refrigerator.

The question I have is, are these design clichés really a cliché to the target audience? Isn’t the audience the important thing?

For example, I was tasked to design a logo for the local chapter of the American Marketing Association (AMA). After toiling over the content for the logo, I eventually decided to include a sun in the logo. Is it cliché to have a sun in something relating to Phoenix? Heck ya! But I decided to use the motif because the logo will be seen by other chapters in other cities and the logo should have some visual reference to Phoenix. I resisted it. I tried to come up with alternatives but ultimately decided it was better to have a cliché that people understood than to break convention and have people confused. Ironically the client then asked me to use a graphical treatment which I felt was cliché. I resisted that one as well but ultimately gave the client what they requested and I think the end result came out pretty well.

Why do some designers embrace standards yet feel like they’re cheating if they don’t reinvent the wheel every time?

You know what I mean? Like, you should always put a search box in the upper-right corner of a website. Or a form field label should always be below the field. Or your home button should always be in the top left corner of a website. Aren’t those all design clichés? They are…but with good reasoning behind them.

To quote a lyric by Lloyd Cole, “the reason it’s a cliché is because it’s true”.

This also came up with another designer friend who was designing a marketing campaign for Arizona Tourism. He was told by the client, “we’re tired of the Grand Canyon”. Sure, they were tired of seeing the Grand Canyon in all their marketing materials but when your target audience hasn’t seen all those materials and your target audience is VERY interested in the Grand Canyon, maybe the Grand Canyon isn’t such a bad idea.

So, what do you think? Should we as designers always avoid any possibility of clichés or is there a balance between a good cliché and a bad cliché? Lemme know your thoughts…

Here’s that Lloyd Cole song for you to enjoy…

I just love them. Check out the little bit of debossing on the front. I’ve got the forte symbol on the back, which is appropriate since I am a musician too (it means loud or strong in musical terms).

The cards were printed on a letterpress, thanks to my friend, the super-talented Jon Arvizu (Trapdoor Studio). We printed them at his studio on his antique treadle letterpress…that’s right, human-powered printing. Now that’s green. I chose a 2 inch circle for a few reasons: First, it’s small and doesn’t use much paper. Second, it’s distinctive but still fits in a business card sleeve, in case someone wants to keep it. Third, it’s just darn cute.

The card prints 2/1 (that’s two colors on one side and one color on the other for not printing folk). It’s a one-color press, so we did three press runs, on three separate days. Once they were printed, I had my friends at Southwest Foil and Embossing handle the die-cutting for me and voila, cards.

I have heard comparisons to a coaster for a shot glass, a poker chip, Pogs and even pasties (which caused my mind to wander about a possible promotional photo…but I digress). Of course, those pasties are not to be confused with one of my favorite snacks, the delicious pasty, which looks nothing like my card. If you are interested in the edible type, I recommend the Cornish Pasty Company in Tempe and Mesa, AZ but once again, I digress.

Here’s some video of Jon and I running the letterpress. Some of the clips were shot on my iPhone and some on my Flip.

Letterpress Printing of Bravoforté Business Cards from Marvin Forte on Vimeo.

Let me know your thoughts. Are you a letterpress fan? Do you hate odd-shaped cards? Do you like pasties?

I uploaded some artwork that I created for a skateboard deck (see All Decks on Hand) to their site, which gave me the option to resize the artwork and position it on the case using some very cool AJAX JavaScript goodness. Really well done site with some interesting user interface design.

Here’s the back of the new case:

And here’s the front, with custom wallpaper to match:

The case is made of a hard, glossy plastic. Very good quality. It features cutouts for the vibrate switch, headphone jack, camera and data port. It has small buttons to transfer power and volume settings. The printing quality is exceptional and very high resolution. There’s no discernible dot pattern or screen, even with a loupe. It took about a week for me to get mine, with shipping. Cost is $39.95 plus shipping.

I highly recommend this product, if you’re interested in a case that’s unique and one-of-a-kind, check out www.getuncommon.com.

On March 30, 2010, I spoke at Ignite Phoenix 6 at the Mesa Arts Center in Mesa, AZ. The subject of my talk was “Trust Your Gut”, a subject I am pretty passionate about. ]]>http://www.marvinforte.com/blog/rss-comments-entry-7180384.xmlGrammarWorkdesktop publishinggraphic designtypographyMarvin ForteTue, 16 Mar 2010 23:03:07 +0000http://www.marvinforte.com/blog/2010/3/16/hyphens-en-dashes-and-em-dashes-dont-let-friends-dash-incorr.html391267:4241092:7037715Hyphens, em dashes and en dashes, what’s the difference and which one should I use? Follow these basic grammatical guidelines and your copy will be the better for it.