The book has many practical advantages: compactness, sturdiness, portability, random access, ease of reference, economical, self-contained versatility of use. As medium for information it has transmitted vast amounts of knowledge over the last 500 years, in all cultures, without a power source.

Beyond these attributes the book, as an object, embodies knowledge developed a thousand years before the printing press encompassing the art and craft of paper making, bindings, font design and content.

Ed Morrow, Northshire Bookstore

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Slow to hatch, as durable as a turtle, light and shapeless befits a descendant of the tree.

Closed, the objet d’book resembles a board.

Open, its pale wings brush the fingertips, the spore of fresh ink and pulp excites the nose, the spine lies easily in the hand. A handsome useful object begotten by the passion for the truth.

Ages before the loudspeaker and the camera came this lovely thing, this portable garden, which survives television, computers, censorship, lousy schools, and rotten authors.

Garrison Keilor, We are still Married: Stories & Letters

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I like to compile things in book format. But the accelerated speed of information technology has let to the foundation of more and more information formats. Under these circumstances, it may be time to consider the possibility that books have stepped down from their traditional role as an information medium.

When you think about books as a medium for stocking information, they may be inconvenient. They’re heavy and bulky. They get dirty and fade with time and they contain information that could be contained in a tiny digital memory.

But if we coolly observe the relationship between information and the individual what is important is how deeply that information is appreciated.

As a book designer I want people to enjoy information as letters printed on paper; to hand someone a book as an object with weight; and that after taking it from a bag on the train, or plane, to turn the pages at one’s own pace. And as a book fades with time, it becomes the reflection of it.

Kenya Hara,  Designing Design

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Books are an elegantly collaborative bodying forth of art and wisdom.

Surviving improbably into our electronic era, this fifteenth century technology hasn’t been surpassed.

Andy Laties, Rebel Bookseller

photo credit: John Sutton © 2011

Creating and uploading a small navigational and branding aid, the Favicon, can be troublesome so here are five easy steps that I hope will smooth the road for you.

1. In your version of Photoshop -or similar program, create a 500px x 500px graphic. If you’re a Photoshop user, as I am, save your image as a Photoshop (PSD) document.

2. Resize this PSD file image to 16px by 16px and save as a PNG file to your desktop.

3. Open a browser session and navigate to the Convertico website where we will convert the PNG file to an ICO file

4. On the home page of the Convertico site there are only two steps needed:

• Upload your PNG file in the proper field, and click “CONVERT”
• Click on the link ‘Click Here To Download’ saving the file directly to your desktop: If on a PC right click and “Save Target As…” If on a Mac, press option and click “Save Link As…” and pick the save destination for the file.

5. As required by your web application setup, upload your newly minted favicon.ico and presto, you’ve done it!

NOTES:
Keep your graphic simple using two or at most three graphic elements. As you know, or discovered, keeping the graphic statement bold and simple is only practical as most of the detail in a larger image is lost when reduced to the smaller 16 x 16 pixel format.

On LOGOS:
Designing logos are fun, but require patience, sensitivity, and more work than you might think. For some great guidelines I recommend you look at Before & After Page Design by John McWade. Sold at Amazon.

Please Note: If you click on the link and buy the book then I receive a commission from Amazon for the referral; but only if you buy. Thank you!

Here are a few simple tips that can make a qualitative difference when photographing small objects for a website or blog.

Images 1, 2 and 3:*
These two images show the setup. Note the piece of paper, the seamless background, on which the object sits when photographing small objects. Please note the following:

• The piece of paper the object rests on recedes back and curves upward.
• The paper is matte; the color a neutral mid-tone that’s neither too dark or too light.
• The object is near a window.

• The natural light illuminates the object on one side.
• The light is indirect, enhancing volume. Photographs taken in direct sunlight will create high-contrast shadow.
• An overcast day is ideal.
• Avoid using a flash.

Photograph 4:
This is a crop of the subject and the final image. While the object may be seen, the surrounding area has been left out of the photograph without further manipulation of the image.

* To see an enlarged view, click on the image.

Some Other Examples

This particular technique is one I learned from Leyla Torres at Origami Spirit. Here is an example on Leyla’s blog of Christmas Stars that can be folded as ornaments. And here’s another example of  modular boxes. Both the stars and the boxes were photographed using the same technique described above.

Have a suggestion?

Do you have any simple techniques for photographing small objects that you’d like to share? Please leave a comment, or share a link.

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“Alan wasn’t a child genius but Alan had a talent… and managed to exploit every ounce of potential [he was given].” Colin Forbes

“And he began to write and he started working on what I think is one of the most remarkable books which is ‘The Art of Looking Sideways’, which is a real serious contribution to [the graphic design profession].” Colin Forbes –podcast link source

Visual Philosophy

What is this book The Art of Looking Sideways all about? Alan Fletcher was interviewed in his studio shortly after publication and spoke of the book in general, the idea behind it, the sources, and the intended audience.

“The references for The Art of Looking Sideways come from many sources: ancient Greek philosophers, renaissance printers, pop stars, a man in the pub or street, different cultures –Japanese, Indonesian, American, Scottsman, different periods and so on. The book is divided into 72 sections or chapters. There are 72 slices of life, or 72 slices of the brain.

The Art of Looking Sideways is a cross between collage and a box of goodies. It’s for visually curious people who don’t like to walk around with blinkers on. It’s about what we weren’t taught in school but it’s not a book for a particular age. It’s a book for bright people of all ages.

The Art of Looking Sideways can be read on many different levels. By someone giving an after dinner speech or the one who needs to design the cover of the parish bulletin or someone who’s too busy to read but needs ideas. The Art of Looking Sideways can be read in bits and pieces even while drinking coffee, even by people who don’t necessarily like to read. It’s a condensation of so many things that have been arranged in a way that has never been done before and has many uses like propping open a door. It’s quite thick and heavy, you know!”

Excerpted from: Alan Fletcher, The Art of Looking Sideways video interview.

Books by Alan Fletcher:
Beware Wet Paint
Alan Fletcher: Picturing and Poeting
The Art of Looking Sideways

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FTC Disclosure: The above book links are Amazon affiliate listings. If you click and buy a book then I receive a small commission. Thank you very much for your support and encouragement! And I do mean it… Thank You!

In his autobiographical book  Come and Gone: A True Story of Blue-Collar Bike Racing in America, author Joe Parkin describes how the great Belgian bike racer, Eddy Merckx, was so obsessed with adjusting his seat position to improve performance, that team mechanics were asked to keep tools out of his reach. Many racers at one time or another share this habit of being overly concerned about bicycle setup. A rider in peak form though doesn’t bother with finicky adjustments and can comfortably ride almost any bike. Having reached that elevated state of physical and emotional fitness where pain, suffering, and equipment hindrances cease to register, a rider in form can crash, then get up and back into the chase with undiminished focus, strength and endurance. A racer without form though will worry over torn handlebar tape.*

A Website That’s Out of Form

A website publisher tasked with developing and maintaining a web presence that is not in peak form, shares similar traits of a bike racer who hasn’t acheived peak fitness form. With such a site, the focus is turned to endlessly tweaking superficial details: the background image; or font choice, color, or size. Ultimately focusing on such refinement distracts from fulfilling the main purpose of a site: to efficiently deliver high-value, high-quality content to a targeted audience. Some of the main characteristics of an out-of-form site are the following:

• Lack of an established and clearly defined purpose
• Not understanding the needs of a target audience
• Design elements that draw attention away from content
• Overuse of flashy attention-diverting functionality
• Site focus on broadcasting a message instead of engagement and interaction

A Website in Peak Form

A website that performs at a high level has an entirely different feel. Without ignoring the important support role that design performs for the user experience, a well-tuned site provides a visitor with relevant, easily found, high-value and pertinent information. Here are some of the traits of a website in good form.

• The site purpose is clearly defined.
• The site targets a specific user profile.
• High-value content has a higher priority than graphic design.
• Functionality plays a secondary support role to content delivery
• Engaging with visitors is a high priority.

I need to make one thing clear: I love graphic design. Who doesn’t? I know there are many examples of great design where the design is the message and the high-value content. Not to belabor the point but in my experience people too often try to find expressive satisfaction in styling a web presence to their unique vision. This is a trap. Within a development team this can rapidly become a power struggle that culminates in a lose/lose situation.

Unless a particular site is meant to be a personal creative outlet, toning down visual statements and distractions will do more to guide visitors to important information simply  by staying out of the way. As is often true in other situations, less is more.

* Joe Parkin, ‘Come and Gone: A True Story of Blue Color Bike Racing in America’,  Velo Press 2010  AVAILABLE AT AMAZON

Photo Credit: Christian Klempp

Reyner Banham, A Critic Writes: Selected Essays, University of California Press 1999

Michael Beirut, Steven Heller, Jessica Helfand, Rick Poynor (eds), Looking Closer 3, vol 3, Classic Writings on Graphic Design, Allworth Press 1999

Robert Bringhurst, The Elements of Typographic Style, Hartley and Marks, 1992

Mark Holt and Hamish Muir, 8vo: On the outside, Lars Müller Publishers, 2005

Tibor Kalman, Perverse Optimist, Princeton Architectural Press, 2000

Robin Kinross, Unjustified Texts: Perspectives on Typography, Hyphen Press, 2008

Lars Müeller, Josef Müeller Brockman: Pioneer of Swiss Graphic Design, Lars Müller Publishers, 4th Edition, 2001

Rick Poyner, Jan Van Toorn: Critical Pratice, 010 Publishers, 2008

Stefan Sagmeister, Things I Have Learned In My Life So Far, Harry N Abrams, 2008

Gerald Woods, Phillip THompson, John Williams, Art Without Bounderies 1950-1970, Thames & Hudson, 1972

Adrian Shaughnessy, Graphic Design: A User’s Manual, Laurence King Publishers, 2009