Giles Hoover

Photography and design for print production

Author: Giles Hoover

  • Beautifully Briefed, Early March 2022: Monograph Impresses, Monotype Trends, and Media Waste

    Beautifully Briefed, Early March 2022: Monograph Impresses, Monotype Trends, and Media Waste

    Three diverse items in this round-up, from illustration to typography to whether or not ad-blockers are actually environmentally-friendly — along with a response that reminds us to look at the bigger picture.

    Malika Favre (Expanded Edition)

    CreativeBoom:

    French illustrator and graphic designer Malika Favre has been impressing audiences for years with her minimalist work for publications such as The New Yorker, Vogue, and Vanity Fair. Now over a decade’s worth of her work has been released in a new monograph from Counter-Print, which contains a suitably stripped-back aesthetic.

    Her style is distinctive; I’ve liked her New Yorker covers especially:

    Malika Favre (Expanded Edition) in English

    The book includes the illustrator’s own cover, and she had a big hand in designing the layout, too. CreativeBoom’s article is excellent — check it out.

    Monotype’s 2022 Trends

    It’s Nice That points us to the recently-released 2022 Type Trends Report from Monotype:

    Monotype’s 2022 Type Trends Report cover

    Throughout yet another “unprecedented year,” it’s safe to say that the macro trends influencing the type design community are nearly too long to list. Several socioeconomic, political, and cultural events continue to shape the way we approach creative work and how connect to each other online and offline.

    Biodiversity’s relationship to type, varying type styles in a single logo, and thin serifs — the one I’m likely to use somewhere — are in this year.

    New York’s Park Lane Hotel

    The above example, from New York’s Park Lane Hotel, is but one they cite (see that whole, very lovely project at Brand New). Check out the whole report, and get trendy.

    Perhaps we can convince Apple to go back to its also-lovely Garamond…?

    Media, Trackers, Blockers, and the Environment: There’s a Problem

    Did it ever occur that using an ad blocker in your browser is actually an environmentally-friendly move? No, I hadn’t put it together, either.1More from MIT on ecological impacts of cloud computing here.

    70% junk. Surprise and shock (not really).

    [U]p to 70% of the electricity consumption (and therefore carbon emissions) caused by visiting a French media site is triggered by advertisements and stats. Therefore, using an ad blocker even becomes an ecological gesture. But we also suggest actions web editors could take to reduce this impact.

    An interesting study, certainly, with information that many of us already use and some suggestions for action in case we don’t. But…:

    Another of Monotype’s 2022 Type Trends, appropriated for use here

    Nick Heer:

    I have qualms with this. The idea of a “carbon footprint” was invented by British Petroleum to direct focus away from environmental policies that would impact its business, instead blaming individuals for not recycling correctly or biking to work more. A “carbon footprint” is also a simplistic view of how anything contributes to global warming, and that it seems to be used here as a synonym for bandwidth and CPU consumption.

    I’m not sure whether I’ve called out the excellent Pixel Envy2A sort-of Daring Fireball with Canadian roots, but this is an example of why I should.

    That is where I think this well-intentioned study falters. Even so, it is absurd that up to 70% of a media website’s CPU and bandwidth consumption is dedicated to web bullshit. Remember: the whole point of web bullshit is that it is not just the ads, it is about an entire network of self justifying privacy hostile infrastructure constructed around them.

  • Updated Gallery: Franklin Delano Roosevelt State Park, Pine Mountain

    Updated Gallery: Franklin Delano Roosevelt State Park, Pine Mountain

    As I mentioned yesterday, Gerald and I enjoyed a lovely first-of-spring drive out of middle Georgia. Our destination was Pine Mountain, home of F. D. Roosevelt State Park. Needless to say, there were cameras involved.

    Starting on Dowdell Knob, FDR’s favorite picnic spot — with its amazing valley overlook:

    Roosevelt’s Grill With a View, Dowdell Knob

    Next was the park’s office and overlook complex:

    FDR State Park Office (B&W Study), Pine Mountain
    Stone, Shutters, and Stars and Stripes
    FDR State Park Overlook: Rocks

    Peruse the entire gallery here. And when you have some extra time, all of FDR State Park is worth a visit; it’s got everything from hiking trails to cabins to the Callaway Gardens Country Kitchen in its 9049 acres. Enjoy!

    Bonus: Georgia Public Broadcasting, at the premier of its film A President in Our Midst: Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Georgia, said:

    Franklin Delano Roosevelt had a very special relationship with the State of Georgia. This compelling documentary spotlights the mutual benefits that the friendship provided to both the president and the people of Georgia. The film is based on the book, A President in Our Midst: Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Georgia.

    It’s no Ken Burns, certainly, but if you’re not familiar with FDR’s extensive time spent in west Georgia, it might be worth your time. See it here.

    Bonus gallery: Callaway Gardens, from 2008.

  • New and Updated Galleries: Woodland, Thomaston, and Yatesville

    New and Updated Galleries: Woodland, Thomaston, and Yatesville

    The end of winter here in Georgia means beautifully warm days, flowers and trees budding, and photography. Gerald and I took a road trip this weekend, enjoying almost 200 miles of driving — and four photostrolls.

    We’ll cover three today, heading west from Middle Georgia:

    Yatesville Peach Blossoms #1

    See everything from Yatesville, pop. 408, here.

    Next is an update from Thomaston, whose downtown square is typical of Georgia:

    Upson County Courthouse (B&W Study #2), 2022

    That gallery is available here.

    Lastly today is a new stop: Woodland, in west-central Georgia, near Pine Mountain and Warm Springs, northeast of Columbus.

    Woodland Antiques
    Postal Angel (Awning to be Free)

    Woodland, whose population also happens to be 408, has a gallery here.

    Many thanks to Gerald for the company and good day. Next up: FDR State Park, likely tomorrow.

  • Where You At? A Bioregional Quiz

    Where You At? A Bioregional Quiz

    A few days ago, Jason Kottke posted an item that raised an important enough question — well, twenty of them — that I wanted to repeat it here. The questions stem from a 1981 quiz1Developed by Leonard Charles, Jim Dodge, Lynn Milliman, and Victoria Stockley, originally published in Coevolution Quarterly 32, from winter 1981, asking how well you know your local natural environment. They are:

    1. Trace the water you drink from precipitation to tap.
    2. How many days til the moon is full? (Slack of 2 days allowed.)
    3. What soil series are you standing on?
    4. What was the total rainfall in your area last year (July-June)? (Slack: 1 inch for every 20 inches.)
    5. When was the last time a fire burned in your area?
    6. What were the primary subsistence techniques of the culture that lived in your area before you?
    7. Name 5 edible plants in your region and their season(s) of availability.
    8. From what direction do winter storms generally come in your region?
    9. Where does your garbage go?
    10. How long is the growing season where you live?
    11. On what day of the year are the shadows the shortest where you live?
    12. When do the deer rut in your region, and when are the young born?
    13. Name five grasses in your area. Are any of them native?
    14. Name five resident and five migratory birds in your area.
    15. What is the land use history of where you live?
    16. What primary ecological event/process influenced the land form where you live? (Bonus special: what’s the evidence?)
    17. What species have become extinct in your area?
    18. What are the major plant associations in your region?
    19. From where you’re reading this, point north.
    20. What spring wildflower is consistently among the first to bloom where you live?

    I did poorly. (In the words of the authors, “It’s hard to be in two places at once when you’re not anywhere at all.”) In fact, I did so poorly that I decided to not only follow up on the questions but put my camera where my mouth is.

    In answer to the first question, Macon and a good chunk of Middle Georgia get their drinking water from the Ocmulgee River:

    Ocmulgee (River) Origin

    In fact, this past weekend’s trip to Monticello and Barnesville were merely extensions of the trip to Jackson Lake and Dam, so I could see where the Ocmulgee starts. Next up is to trace the Yellow, Alcovy and South Rivers, which feed Jackson Lake. (See the rest of the photographs from the Jackson area.)

    Jackson Dam #1

    But I’d ask everyone reading this to ask yourselves the same questions. As Kottke points out, most of the people living here years ago would have known more of the answers than those of us who live in the built environment do. He passes on an idea from Rob Walker:

    Pick one of the questions you don’t know the answer to – and make it a point to learn what that answer is. After you’ve mastered that, move on to a new question.

    Go!

    • 1
      Developed by Leonard Charles, Jim Dodge, Lynn Milliman, and Victoria Stockley, originally published in Coevolution Quarterly 32, from winter 1981 ↩︎
  • New Gallery: Jackson, Georgia

    New Gallery: Jackson, Georgia

    This past weekend’s road trip included five stops, including Monticello and Barnesville, which I covered in the last post. However, there were three more stops in the middle.

    Jackson Dam, which forms the headwaters of the Ocmulgee River — and which has a fishing area with this neat scene:

    Walk and Deck, Jackson Dam

    Jackson Lake, formed by the Yellow, Alcovy, and South Rivers:

    Jackson Lake (Wideangle)

    And Jackson proper, which has a traditional (for Georgia, at least) town square with a courthouse:

    Butts County Courthouse #5, Jackson

    Also, this — with perhaps too cute a title:

    Downtown Door During Reconstruction, Jackson

    All of these have been added to a new gallery. Check it out.

  • Monticello and Barnesville Galleries Updated

    Monticello and Barnesville Galleries Updated

    February has been beautiful here in Georgia, with spring just beginning to show — which means the Leica and I are out and about again.

    Let’s start in Monticello. (Although named for Jefferson’s estate of the same name, it’s actually pronounced “Monti-sello.”) The tractor’s still there:

    Monticello Tractor (Pinhole)

    And my chase of architectural details continues anew:

    Cornice and Corbel, Collected

    More to see in the updated gallery. (A reminder: once there, click on any photo to start a slideshow.)

    Next, Barnesville:

    Red Southern Caboose Against Blue Sky

    Across Main Street is this:

    Whitewalls of Thine Increase

    Enjoy that updated gallery, too.

    Bonus Update: Gave the 235 some exercise, too — which means a couple of photographs.

  • Beautifully Briefed, Late February 2022: Photography, Font, and Furniture

    Beautifully Briefed, Late February 2022: Photography, Font, and Furniture

    A three-fer as we wind through this February: Peter Stewart, a really talented architecture photographer from Australia; VAG Rounded, Apple’s keyboard font and how it relates to Volkswagen; and a new site called The Apple Store Glossary leads to an interesting review of furniture in Apple Stores.

    Peter Stewart

    November’s Beautifully Briefed covered the 2021 Architecture Photography Awards shortlist, and one of the photographers is Peter Stewart, a self-taught Australian who wanders around Asia. Gotta say: he’s better than great.

    “Hanshins Web” Osaka, Japan. 2019, by Peter Stewart

    His eye for pattern and color is spot-on:

    “Four Columns” Tokyo, Japan. 2019, by Peter Stewart

    Archinect’s In Focus feature has a great 2019 interview that not only discusses the how and where, but also the why — including his thoughts on use of Photoshop and, perhaps most insightfully, how to thrive as a photographer in this crowded age:

    The hardest part of being a photographer today is finding a way to stand out among the crowd. In just the past few years Instagram has changed everything and given rise to a sizable number of highly talented new photographers. We are inherently influenced by the work we see from others, and as such has given rise to a lot of popular trends and styles of photography which has brought about a bit of a copycat culture. The point is, I think it’s important to find your own themes and ideas in order to progress, and not to simply emulate.

    Peter Stewart, Archinect Interview

    Check it out.

    VAG Rounded and Apple

    Daring Fireball is a daily stop for Apple geeks like me, but rarely does it cross into graphic design territory — except when it links to a Jalopnik article discussing how a Volkswagen font wound up on Apple’s keyboards.

    Good stuff. (Bonus ’80s Dasher brochure siting, too.) Enjoy.

    Apple Store’s Boardroom Furniture

    Some Apple Stores have additional, not-usually-open-to-the-public spaces called boardrooms. And, as you might imagine, they’re filled with interesting stuff.

    A new (to me, at least) site called The Apple Store Glossary has information and photographs of all aspects of Apple Stores, from the new Pickup area to the behind-the-scenes Boardrooms.

    The latter started out as something called Briefing Rooms, intended for business customers and special events. However, they’ve evolved: more casual, more comfortable. And more interesting:

    Apple Boardroom (Passeig de Gràcia store, Barcelona, Spain)

    9to5Mac has a great roundup of these rooms we don’t see, from the accessories (bonus Eames Bird sightings) to the books, and perhaps most interestingly, the furniture.

    Grab a seat, get comfortable, and get info.

  • Two Photography Contents with Results Worth It

    Two Photography Contents with Results Worth It

    Let’s face it: photography contests are often more about promoting the contest or the publisher than the photographer. “Read the fine print before entering” is more than good advice, as little details like reassigned copyright can wind up being big details indeed. With the disclaimer out of the way, here are some results absolutely worth highlighting.

    First up, two of my favorites from the 8th Annual International Landscape Photographer of the Year competition:

    “Comet NeoWise Setting,” Tanmay Sapkal, Mt. Tamalpais, Marin, CA, USA

    Spectacular, from the location to the fog to, of course, the comet. More than right place, right time, it’s just right. Well done.

    “Fire,” Marcin Zajac, Yosemite National Park, USA

    This one combines beauty with something frightening, a not-so-subtle reminder that the future we face is about more than just wielding a camera.

    See the rest of the Landscape Photographer winners here. (Via DPReview.)

    Next, let’s look at something less well-known: the UK’s International Garden Photographer of the Year, starting with this:

    “The Stardust,” Magdalena Wasiczek, Trzebinia, Poland

    Wow. Everything about that shot is just perfect. Congrats to Magdalena Wasiczek.

    “Bamford Beauty,” Lee Howdle, Derbyshire, England, UK

    Recognize the bridge? (Never mind.) Quintessentially English and beautifully done.

    “Seedheads, Re-imagined,” Ingrid Popplewell, UK

    This is one of six, called Portfolio shots, by Ingrid Popplewell. Re-imagined, indeed.

    “Arrangement for Crete,” Laurie Peek, Rockland County, New York, US

    This one’s filed in the abstract category, and something that could be envisioned as a book cover. Nicely done.

    See more the the BBC’s roundup, or visit the competition’s website.

    Bonus update: DPReview brings you the Travel Photographer of the Year, too.

    Bonus update 2: The BBC covers the Underwater Photographer of the Year. (Because there aren’t enough of these contests to go around.)