A Passion For Paper
Written by Jacob Cass on Thursday, July 3, 2008 – 10:00 pm -
In this guest article, Alex Charchar from RetinArt discusses the benefits and his true passion of paper. It is a very well written article providing many reasons to make you stop and think next time you start a design. If you don’t have time now, print it out for the weekend or the ride home… I guarantee after reading this you will see a new light on paper and design.
The idea of paper facing it’s demise is one of the dumbest ever. As is the idea of digital ink being used as a substitute for the real thing and the magazine, novel and all other published matters becoming objects of the past, pushed aside to make room for their digital counter-parts.
Why? Because paper is perfect. Paper has a feel, a smell, a look and a vibe that cannot be reproduced, no matter how many pixels you cram into a display. It has attributes that cannot be bestowed upon any other medium. It is something that enriches our lives and minds in ways most of us don’t even realise or notice. Paper is beautiful.
Paper can be Warm & Soft
Paper can be warm. Paper can be cold. If the paper you choose is of good quality and you make it work for your project, it can help set a mood and feeling in your audience before a single word is read or a fraction of an image absorbed. A good example of a high quality publication using paper in a beautiful way is Dumbo Feather, Pass It On. If you have the chance to, it is well worth picking it up as it shows how warm paper can be. It is a beautiful little publication that has developed a loving following, which I’m sure is helped by the feel of the magazine as you make your way through the pages. The beauty of Dumbo Feather begins the second you hold it in your hands. The heavy, soft, recycled stock of the front cover makes you feel comfortable. It helps set the mood for the rest of the document—you just know that what you’re about to digest was crafted by love, with the audience firmly in mind. The stock that makes the pages is also a recycled one – a beautiful uncoated paper, with soy inks used to help round off the mood. It feels like a warm blanket for the stories it tells, like a gentle embrace. It just feels good, feel right.
Paper can be Cold & Sharp
Just as strong is the power paper can have when it’s cold and sharp. This is what should be avoided if you care about your content. Think of the trashy gossip mags the plague the shelves of newsagents and supermarkets. The cold, glossy, thin stock is like the popular group in high school. On the surface it’s awfully pretty and gets attention easily, but spend more than five minutes near this overly superficial gang and you want to blow your brains out. There is no substance to be found and you feel kind of dirty if you hang around it too much. There are of course beautiful glossy papers, mostly semi-gloss stocks with a slight weight to them. These feel like the kind of papers that are that soft mix of good looks and intelligence that are often used by publications, in which a high density and depth of colour is needed, such as art publications and, back to them, those gossip magazines that need to be saturated with colour in order to be noticed.
Paper Is Perfect
Paper is, above all, one of the closest-to-perfect surfaces on which to place your design. As graphic designers, we still look at the design of posters and magazines from 30, 40, 50 years ago in awe as their beauty and elegance bounce off the page. Paper is afforded this quality by not being a platform that is engaged in a constant evolution like that of computers, televisions and all other multimedia platforms. Of course, this is probably exactly why a lot of multimedia designers love their digital mediums – they can make things move and dance. Plus, there is always something new around the corner to wow us.
Digital Lack of Control
But for me, it’s the quietness of paper in its self that makes it special. It lets your words and your images live. It gives them a home, a couch upon which to sit, rather than a cage which is forever changing shape to be jailed within. A cage of glass, metal and plastic that it cannot escape. Digitally housed design is almost never going to work the same for the entire audience. Different monitors sizes, resolutions, internet connections, home-theater setups insure that the design process is a little more complicated when the whole audience is considered thoroughly. It is harder to give this entire audience the same experience—to view the content the same. Unless you’ve got the biggest screen in town, there is always someone experiencing what you are looking at better, which isn’t the way creative outputs should be experienced. It is the creator, the designer, who should be in control of how their work is seen, so the audience can give it it’s own life, instead of worrying about having the biggest monitor or loudest sound system. You shouldn’t have to do everything you can to squeeze the quality out of the work, especially with gadgets you have to fork out large sums of money for. With paper, we’re all on a level playing field.
The Difference of Paper
Print a magazine, it is always seen the same. Typeset a book, it’ll always be read the same. Read, study or flick through a publication in your favorite chair, on the toilet, on the train, at your desk, at the gym or at the library and, yup, you guessed it, it’ll be the same. This is an amazing insurance when you’re a designer. It means you know exactly how your work will be seen and you can control the way it is absorbed and processed by the audience to a much higher degree. Just because you can browse the internet on your iPhone doesn’t mean it’s going to be as enjoyable as reading the paper. Think about your audience and how they read. It is an awfully satisfying thing to crack the glue that binds a hardcover book or to crease the spine on a softcover novel. To get to the end of the newspaper and have it split by several cross-hatching folds. Paper remembers what it has been through, it leaves tracks that almost make you proud to see on your bookshelf, desk or bed-side table, rather than having hit up the same site on the 13th, 14th, 19th, 21st and 28th of March, as your internet history will tell you.
What you put on a page, stays on a page
An argument against our precious paper is that the elements that you put on a page, stay on a page. They don’t move, they don’t animate and they don’t make sounds—they aren’t interactive. Well yeah, of course that’s true. But most of the time, we turn off the audio and block the ads. And TV? The television does all our thinking for us. A good book that gets us to think is far more valuable to our minds than a box emitting light and sounds that tell us how to think, when to laugh, when to cry. Paper doesn’t need a source of power to do what it does. Once the pigments hit the fibers it is complete. Nothing more needs to be done. No power cables, no recharging, no monitors or keyboards. All you need is a little light and you got yourself all you need to enjoy your experience. And really, who says paper isn’t interactive? You pick it up, move it, fold it, smell it and, if something worth while is printed on it, it moves your mind around.
Remember
I do hope that you understand I’m being a little over the top here. Of course paper isn’t the be all and end all of delivering information and design. This is why radio, TV, the computer and the internet are what they are. They do things that could never be possible with paper. They give us continuously updated content at break-neck speeds, which is an even bigger step forward in our culture than that which Gutenberg gave us. But sometimes it’s nice to go a little slower. To spend a few hours here and there, enjoying the printed word over a couple of days, weeks or months. We can take our time with paper. If it’s on paper, it means someone thought it was worth designing, printing and shipping, which means it just might be worth looking at, might be worth spending a bit of time with. Not always, not even most of the time, but a nice portion of what is printed and designed with care, that ends up on paper, is something special in its own right. Remember that the next time you commit something to paper that it should be worth reading, worth taking note of and worth keeping. Otherwise you’re just creating more junk. Pick the right stock and don’t just use what your printer has in bulk. Pick something special. Something welcoming. Something perfect. Don’t cover it in inks, varnishes and cellos. Just pick a paper that already sings the tune you’re after and let those special inks be a rose in the pocket and nothing more.
Save The Earth Campaign - 100% of all proceeds go to charity
Written by Jacob Cass on Thursday, April 10, 2008 – 12:41 am -
I am trying to raise money for Greenpeace and WWF to help ‘save the earth‘ and I am doing this through the ‘Save The Earth Campaign‘ however this is only going to be possible, with the help of YOU.
I also hope to raise awareness of Earth Day being held on April 22nd.
How are we going to raise the money?
I have set up a shop in CafePress that features the save the earth illustration (which can be seen above and below) on a large variety of products, some of which are shown below. 100% of all proceeds will go straight to the charities mentioned. 50% to Greenpeace and 50% to WWF. Why not get something you need and give money to charity at the same time!?
Please check out the shop and buy a product!
As you can see above there is a wide range of goods to choose from including Apparel (Clothing), Baby Goods, Housewares, Hats & Bags, Stickers, Buttons & Magnets, Posters, Prints and much more! There is something for everyone. I have got a t-shirt on the way 
About The Charities
Greenpeace is an independent campaigning organisation that uses non-violent direct action to expose global environmental problems and to force solutions which are essential to a green and peaceful future.
WWF works to conserve Australia’s plants and animals by ending land clearing and degradation, addressing climate change, and preserving and protecting fresh water, marine and land environments.
Spread This
Please spread this campaign around the blogosphere and anywhere else you can. A blog post would be appreciated or you could just email it to a few friends… Anything at all you do to promote this campaign will be greatly appreciated!
Please stumble the shop page.
Please check out the shop and buy a product!
Graphic Design Group Writing Project still going ahead!
Written by Jacob Cass on Wednesday, February 13, 2008 – 2:15 pm -
Update: Click the actual $5000+ graphic design group writing project here.
Ten days ago I called for sponsorship for a Massive Graphic Design Group Writing Project that I am holding and I am just letting you know that even after my problems, the project is still going ahead.
Please check out my call for sponsorship post.
What do prize sponsors get in return for sponsorship?
- 80 Photoshop Brushes – I have a huge collection of 80 royalty free photoshop brush sets that I will be giving to ALL sponsors. I will provide the link at the prize draw.
- More Subscriptions – You will get more subscriptions as people will subscribe to your blogs to gain extra entries into the prize draw.
- Blog Roll Adds – You will get onto peoples blogrolls as people will add you to gain extra entries into the prize draw.
- Link Love – The most valuable prize of all… blogs will link to your website to gain more entries into the draw. By writing an article you will also gain more exposure.
- 2 or more Links – I will give 2 links to your blog with the appropriate anchor text on the main blog writing article and also on the final prize draw post. These will be getting a huge amount of traffic.
- 9x Free 2 Months Advertisement on JCD –I will be giving away 9 free 16×16 advertisements to 9 random lucky people to be displayed on Just Creative Design.
- A chance to win all the other prizes that people put up for sponsorship.
Prizes Already Put Up For Sponsorship
- Electric Guitar - Yes! An Electric Guitar with all the equipment needed!! This was a sacrifice from Rafie from mohdrafie.co.uk, so he could focus more on design. A VERY generous sponsorship prize. More details will be included in the next post, but at this time I am still calling for sponsorship.
- 55 iStock Credits - PJ from WP-Premiums has offered this kind donation for a prize.
- Plus more but I’ll keep them a secret for now
Prizes Sponsored by myself.
- Logo design or blog header design by myself. If you are unaware of my designs, you can check out my portfolio)
- Go Media Vector Packs - Ultimate Vector Collection 1 - 597 Vectors royalty free. (Worth $523)
- Adobe Photoshop Brush Pack - A collection 80 royalty free photoshop brushes. View preview here.
- 2 Months Free Advertising - Nine 16×16 pixel squares on Just Creative Design. Check out my advertising page for more details.
Please check out my call for sponsorship page for more information on sponsoring this massive graphic design group writing project.
Call For Sponsorship - lots of FREE stuff for you!
Written by Jacob Cass on Saturday, February 2, 2008 – 11:57 pm -
Update: Click for the actual $5000+ graphic design group writing project here.
Today I am calling for sponsorship for a MASSIVE graphic design group writing project that I am going to be running next week. I am single-handingly going around to all the graphic design blogs (and lots of other blogs) to gain sponsorship for this project as well as this blog post. This is going to be huge.
The Project
I’ll tell you a bit about the project… Next week I will be calling all bloggers and readers out there who are interested in design to post an article on the subject of graphic design, By ‘Graphic Design’ I mean some sort of a post that gives advice, tips, resources lists or a tutorial on how to do something related to the field.
One post submission will gain you 10 points into the draw and there are many other ways to gain bonus entries as outlined below. I will go into this into more length when I actually post the project.
Link to Sponsors (THIS COULD BE YOU) - For every 4 sponsors a blogger links to in any post they get 1 entry.- Subscribe to blogs that have written an article - Gain 3 entries per blog.
- Write a blog post about the competition - Gains you 3 entries.
- Add sites to your blog roll - Add any of sponsors or author’s sites to your blog roll. 2 Entries per site added.
Update: Some people have been warning me of the dangers of running a competition as David Airey was penalised by Google for black hat seo however this was due to him asking for specific anchor text linking back to his site. I am not asking for any link backs at all, I am just saying that it would be nice to link back.
By having these bonus entry points, this will ensure that the link love will be spread around the graphic design world and blogosphere. And who doesn’t want link love?
During the project I will be adding all the links to one post and this is where we can view each others articles, make new friends and enjoy the link love. At the end of the project I will be drawing the prizes using a random number generator and this is where you come into the equation.
Sponsorship
I have put a lot of effort into organizing this project and I am asking for your support.
If you have anything you can put up for sponsorship this would be appreciated. If you are stuck for ideas: offer your services, vouchers, istock credits, magazine subscription, cash, anything at all that would appeal as a prize. Be creative. Or you could check out some prize ideas that were offered on David Aireys $4000 blog draw last September.
I am sponsoring hundreds of dollars worth of prizes… I am offering a free logo design or blog header design (check my portfolio here), The Ultimate Vector Collection 1 Pack from GoMedia* (597 vector pieces worth $523) and 2 months of free advertising.
What do you get in return for sponsorship?
For your kind sponsorship of course you will get something in return…
- 80 Photoshop Brushes – I have a huge collection of 80 royalty free photoshop brush sets that I will be giving to ALL sponsors. I will provide the link at the prize draw.
- More Subscriptions – You will get more subscriptions as people will subscribe to your blogs to gain extra entries into the prize draw.
- Blog Roll Adds – You will get onto peoples blogrolls as people will add you to gain extra entries into the prize draw.
- Link Love – The most valuable prize of all… blogs will link to your website to gain more entries into the draw. By writing an article you will also gain more exposure.
- 2 Links – I will give 2 links to your blog on the main blog writing article and also on the final prize draw post. These will be getting a huge amount of traffic.
- 9x Free 2 Months Advertisement on JCD –I will be giving away 9 free 16×16 advertisements to 9 random lucky people to be displayed on Just Creative Design.
- A chance to win all the other prizes that people put up for sponsorship.
If you are interested and have a prize for sponsorship for this huge project please don’t hesitate, give me a yell by email or leave a comment on my blog. If suitable, another good idea would be to request for sponsorship on your blog.
Lastly, if there is anything you need at all, at any time, please just ask, I would be happy to help.
I look forward to this project being a huge success for all!
Happy Blogging and all the best.
*Affiliate Link
Australia Day! - Test Your Aussie Slang
Written by Jacob Cass on Saturday, January 26, 2008 – 9:06 am -
Today, is Australia Day! - our national day. Quoting the Australia Day website “January 26th, is the biggest day of celebration in the country and is observed as a public holiday in all states and territories.
On Australia Day we come together as a nation to celebrate what’s great about Australia and being Australian. It’s the day to reflect on what we have achieved and what we can be proud of in our great nation.”
In otherwords, its an excuse for everyone to come together, have a bbq and have a few drinks. Anyway this is a fun post to test your Aussie slang, something we are kinda infamous for down here in Oz. Try not to scroll down for the answers as it just ruins the fun!
Match these Aussie Slang terms with their meanings.
1. Matilda
- a. Wife
- b. Swag
- c. BBQ
- d. Cat
2. Sanger
- a. Sausage
- b. Sandpit
- c. Sandwich
- d. Fire
3. Boomer
- a. Thunder
- b. Kangaroo
- c. Tin roof
- d. Gun
4. Willy willy
- a. Brother
- b. Milkshake
- c. Card Game
- d. Mini tornado
5. Togs
- a. Swimming trunks
- b. Long trousers
- c. Short trousers
- d. Underwear
6. Tinny
- a. Boat
- b. Cola
- c. Frying pan
- d. Pie
7. Jackeroo
- a. Marsupial
- b. Husband
- c. Station worker
- d. Machinery tool
8. Grog
- a. Sticky puddle
- b. Dog
- c. Bull
- d. Alcohol
9. Wedgie
- a. Painful
- b. Eagle
- c. Seasoned potato chip
- d. Pizza
10. Bonzer
- a. Suntan
- b. Coin
- c. Mate
- d. Good
Answers
1 - B, Matilda A Matilda is a swag, a roll of blankets and used as a bed when travelling. This name came about because The original Swagmen (they were always men) Treated the Swag as a wife, taking it everywhere, and it was their only companion most of the time. Thus came the saying “Waltzing Matilda” which simply meant Swagging, or “Roving”.
2 - C, Sanger - Sandwich, not much explanation here
3 - B, Boomer - Kangaroo, or specifically a large male, usually a red.
4- D, Willy Willy - A small tornado (though they turn in the opposite direction here) and are generally easily visible by the dust they carry.
5 - A, Togs - Swimming trunks, though in Australia they are more commonly known as “bathers” or “swimmers”.
6 - A, Tinny - A Boat, specifically a small aluminum vessel, usually with a small outboard motor. Tinny is also the term most commonly used for a can of beer.
7- C, Jackeroo Station Worker, most likely originating from a combination of “Kangaroo” and “Jack of all trades” . A female station worker is known as a Jilleroo.
8- D, Grog - Grog is the term for Alcoholic substances. ‘Booze’ and ‘Piss’ are also common terms.
9- B, Wedgie - being short for “Wedge-tailed Eagle” the most common eagle in Australia, and the largest.
10 - D, Bonzer - Bonzer is just really good! eg. That ute is bonza mate!
If you are interested in the million other phrases that us Aussies have, check out Aussie Slang. You’ll have a good laugh at some of them.
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