Photography and design for print production

Category: Architecture

Posts that have substantial architecture content.

Beautifully Briefed 24.11: Thankful … for Click-Through

As we celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday here in the US, a reminder that there’s a ton of things to be thankful for. One of the things about which I’m grateful is that folks actually read these posts — not a ton of people, to be sure, but enough.

So, before we get to the sort of items I usually post in this series, a request: don’t forget to click through on the links. Indeed, most of what’s here are links, and the originals are interesting — great book design, typography, or photography worth the extra moment of your time. (And remember to click on the post titles if you’d prefer larger photos/illustrations.)

Thank you.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Photography

International Landscape Photographer of the Year 2024

As usual, the entries here are inspiration for professionals and aspiring photographers — folks have submitted some excellent work:

“Let Down,” Highlands of Iceland. Photograph by Jabi Sanz.

“Spiritual Grip,” Italian Dolomites. Photograph by Yuriy Garnaev.

“Poisoned Beauty,” Apuseni Mountains in Romania. Photograph by Gheorghe Popa.

“Striking,” Utah. Photograph by David Swindler.

Canadian Andrew Mielzynski repeats his overall win again this year. PetaPixel highlights some of his work along with their favorites. The contest website has a gallery of the 202 top-scoring photographs, along with more information.

Standard Chartered Weather Photographer of the Year 2024

Meanwhile, over in the UK, the Royal Meteorological Society has attracted some talent, as well

“Freezing Mist,” Barnweil Monument, UK. Photograph by Mark McColl.

“Fire and Ice,” Austin, Texas. Photograph by Lincoln Wheelwright.

Of course, given the nature of the contest (ahem), each photograph includes an explanation of the weather phenomenon. See the contest website for a few more. (Another hat tip to PetaPixel.)

Iceland Forces of Nature

This is Colossal highlights a series by Gary Wagner, whose “striking photos pare dramatic landscapes down to their essential shapes, lines, and tones.”

“Dream Falls.” Photograph by Gary Wagner.

“Skogafoss.” Photograph by Gary Wagner.

His work is all in black and white and similarly moody — dramatic, even — and absolutely worth the perusal. (Be sure to check his archives, too.)

Special Bonus #1: Coincidental Charisma

Photograph by Denis Cherim.

Nice. See more. (Via This is Colossal.)

Special Bonus #2: Soviet Brutalist Architecture

Palace of Ceremonies, Tbilisi, Georgia. (No photographer listed.)

More a (very) brief history than a stack of photographs, this Wallpaper* article nonetheless highlights some strangely wonderful buildings.

Typography and Design

Graphic Design for Television

Design by Leah Spencer.

As a Graphic Designer for Film & TV, I work in the art department and create anything that is seen on screen with text and or imagery, such as storefront signs, food packaging, patterned wallpaper, stacks of bills, newspapers, lost cat flyers, or even children’s drawings.
— Leah Spencer

While the piece is from last year, I’d not seen it — or the Alphabettes website — and appreciated its in-depth explanations, especially with respect to typography. Great for fans of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, of course, but demonstrates the level of detail required for getting any show design right. (Another gem from Jason Kottke, and be sure to check Leah’s web site, too — it’s excellent.)

Special Bonus #3: Emigre Type Specimens, 1986–2024

We are happy to partner with San Francisco-based Letterform Archive on a reissue of our first volume of type specimens, an ample tome first published in 2016. But this time, we nearly doubled its already impressive extent to more than 1,200 pages containing 40 type specimens and spanning 38 years. We also added new texts by Letterform Archive associate curator Stephen Coles and longtime Emigre collaborator Jeffery Keedy. In addition to specimens not included in the first volume, we also revisited our type design process files to create a special behind-the-scenes section, offering readers a look at photos, sketches, and hand-written correspondence.

This perhaps-ironically-sized book — letterhalf, natch — is awesome. Order while you can.

Cornucopia of Book Design

A huge variety of interesting book design items this month, starting with ShoutoutLA:

Meet Aarushi Menon.

Next, from CreativeBoom, meet Aino-Maija Metsola, the artist behind the cover of this year’s Booker Prize winner:

The article is interesting, highlighting her painting techniques. Even better, though, is over on the artist’s website: I found the Virginia Woolf series to be outstanding.

Finally, we have Debutful discussing Make Your Way Home‘s cover design:

Another great cover by Beth Steidle, but it’s the art from Uzo Njoko, a piece titled “Higher Calling,” that impresses. Read more.

Special Bonus #4: It’s Nice That brings us a piece on Malou Messien, her obsession with display type, secondhand book covers and Estonian design. “This Paris-based graphic designer uses archival finds to inspire her alternative approach to typography and composition.”

Special Bonus #5: Hyperallergic highlights how the Women’s Studio Workshop, in the Hudson Valley, “Shakes up the art of bookmaking: what started as a small feminist arts collective has grown to host hundreds of residents and publish countless books under its own imprint.”

Special Bonus #6: “Read Between the Lines: Forget drop-shipping — America’s new favorite side hustle is … republishing classic literature?” Get this sad — bizarre? — item over at Slate.

Jaguar Relaunch

“A Jaguar should be a copy of nothing,” said company founder, Sir William Lyons. The 2024 version, “copy nothing,” includes marketing lines like “delete ordinary” and “live vivid” … well, just look at this header image:

The branding — which is all we have until December 2nd or 3rd, depending on the source — is designed to provoke, and it certainly accomplishes that goal, albeit with the typically-unfortunate-for-2024 levels of internet ~~reaction~~ vitriol.

Some of the details are nice:

Leaping cat.

You can sort of see what they’re going for here….

Here’s another look at the logo, against a metal background — note the matching “J” and “R”:

As for the new cars themselves … well, here’s their preview image of what is presumably the new sedan, designed to compete with the likes of Bentley or Maybach (as opposed to BMW, for instance):

Meant to invoke “space, grace, and pace” … ?

A couple of teasers have been posted. One of the (lack of) a rear window:

And one that’s just details:

Jaguar’s new lineup, all EVs, could be really interesting. Jaguar Land Rover’s design department does not slouch.

Debut is at Miami Art 2024. Until then, if you’d like more, Sophie Tolhurst’s design review at Dezeen is good; Wallpaper* has more from the branding campaign; and Motor1 — itself suffering from a recent redesign — has more on the actual car.

Back with more next month. In the meantime, please enjoy your holiday season.

November 30, 2024
Beautifully Briefed 24.8: Picture This

A trio of miscellany, a trio of space photography, more than a trio of great black and white photography, and a single, very serious photography question for you this time — let’s get right into it.

Summer of ~~Fun~~ Miscellany

Intermezzo, Explained

The UK cover for Intermezzo. Book design by Kishan Rajani. (The US cover doesn’t compare.)

GQ UK has an interview with Kishan Rajani, a senior designer at Faber, and Pete Adlington, the publisher’s art director, “about how the Intermezzo design came together, the role of social media in modern book design, and how to make books ‘as pickupable as possible.’”

The endpapers for Intermezzo (UK). I really like that they’ve sweated the little details.

We can discuss “pickupable” as a word another time — your time is better spent, for now, reading the interview.

WeTransfer Sold

“Some of Bending Spoons’ most successful products are tools that serve creativity, therefore we are confident that this milestone will complement both businesses, supercharge our growth, and help us create even more value for creative industries at large,” says WeTransfer CEO Alexander Vassilev of the acquisition.

I like and appreciate WeTransfer — unlike the corporatespeak above (but hey, we’re inventing words today … right?) — and hope that despite being corporatized, nothing substantive will change.

PetaPixel: “The companies did not say whether or not all staff or leadership at WeTransfer would be maintained after the conclusion of the acquisition. That may come into question since Bending Spoons does have a track record of buying completed products, training its internal staff on their upkeep, and then releasing the original development team.”

Crap.

Update, 9 September, 2024: “Bending Spoons acquired file-sharing platform WeTransfer in July and has now laid off 75% of WeTransfer’s staff,” PetaPixel reports. “The Italian app company Bending Spoons has confirmed the layoffs to TechCrunch, which comprise at least 260 people based on WeTransfer’s employee headcount of around 350 people.”

Adobe, Again

The Adobe “World Headquarters” buildings in San Jose, California. Image via PetaPixel.

Adobe (previously) recently sat down with PetaPixel to discuss ~~the shambles~~ where things stand — clearly, an attempt at damage control. PP published it … and got some feedback:

Adobe couldn’t explain why it let its once excellent relationship with photographers and media lapse, only that it is sorry that happened. I do believe [their explanation], at least when I hear it from the people responsible for making the software. There is a big divide between the folks who code Photoshop and the C-level executives who are so out of touch with the end users. The thing is, it doesn’t matter what those people down in the trenches of development say or even how good Adobe’s software happens to be, some photographers just don’t like the feeling of giving money to the company because of the people at the helm.
Jaron Schneider, PetaPixel

The thing is: it’s less photography, really, than design. If you’re a photographer, how you get to the point of printing or publishing the photographs offers options in software — whether iPhoto, Affinity, Photoshop, or the Pixel 9 Magic Editor — Instagram doesn’t care, Zenfolio takes multiple file formats, and so on.

But in design — that is, desktop publishing or especially book design — Adobe has a monopoly over the software used by the industry, full stop. I used to love working with their software. Today, not so much. (And for the record, it’s more than their fees, it’s the quality of the software.) It’s extremely frustrating and, at the moment, there is no alternative even on the horizon.

Crap. (Again.)

Extraordinary Astrophotography

So, how many can place Kyrgyzstan on a map? It’s a former Soviet Republic in Central Asia, and, clearly, a great place to do some astrophotography.

Star Trails Above Tash Rabat by Soumyadeep Mukherjee.

PetaPixel highlights the work of Soumyadeep Mukherjee, who traveled there specifically for the purpose — and succeeded wildly. It’s awesome to see a country I’m not familiar with served so well. (My favorite, of course, is the short depth-of-field portrait — if you can call it that — of Yuri Gargarin, seen in the header image above.)

Alternatively, This is Colossal points us at “Bisected by the Milky Way, a Stellar Image Captures the Perseid Meteor Shower Raining Down on Stonehenge“:

Perseid Meteors over Stonehenge by Josh Dury.

“Josh Dury, aka ‘Starman,’ is an award-winning landscape astrophotographer, presenter, speaker and writer from The Mendip Hills ‘Super National Nature Reserve’ in Somerset, United Kingdom,” his web site trumpets.

The thing is … despite looking like he’s about 25, he’s earned it. Great stuff.

Meanwhile, back at PetaPixel, “Photographer Aaron Watson, who goes by Skies Alive Photography, has seen many incredible things in the night sky. His latest sighting is a rare double ‘moonbow,’ a rainbow created by bright moonlight in precise conditions.”

Double Moonbow by Aaron Watson.

All three of these folks need special thanks for their patience. I have trouble standing still long enough to set up a tripod, let alone do long exposures under rarely-encountered combinations of time, weather, equipment and location — plus lots of good luck — in the middle of the night. Well done, all.

“Majesty of Monochrome”

The winners of the third annual Black and White Photo Awards have been unveiled, showcasing the best in monochrome photography across multiple categories.

Monochrome Majesty: Marie-Elisabeth-Lüders-Haus, by Robert Fulop. Bronze Mention from the Black and White Photo Awards 2024.

Naturally, I gravitate towards architecture — and the winners (of the nearly 5000 entrants) demonstrate serious talent.

Bench, by Colin Page. Finalist from the Black and White Photo Awards 2024.

The Double Helix, by Md Tanveer Rohan. Finalist from the Black and White Photo Awards 2024.

Windows by Manfred Gruber. Finalist from the Black and White Photo Awards 2024.

See the winners — and especially, take in the finalists, many of which I’d personally judge to be winners in their own right — at the contest’s web site.

Special Bonus #1: It’s time once again for the annual iPhone Awards, “a powerful testament to the art of storytelling through photography.” I especially liked this one:

Bicycle Forest by James Kittendorf. 3rd place in the Cityscape category, 2024 IPPAwards.

It’s a great photograph, certainly, but it was taken by a now-quite-elderly iPhone X — proof, once again, that it’s the camera you have with you. See all the 2024 winning photographs, in multiple categories and taken worldwide, here. (Via PetaPixel.)

So … What’s Next for Photography?

The Verge: “Anyone who buys a Pixel 9 — the latest model of Google’s flagship phone, available starting this week — will have access to the easiest, breeziest user interface for top-tier lies, built right into their mobile device.”

A montage from The Verge, thankfully clearly labeled.

Life-changing moments have long been captured using photography, from Moonrise to George Floyd. But, generally, fakes were the exception, not the rule. We’re, unfortunately, arming the folks who cry foul.

Another montage from The Verge. Note the woods filled in behind the helicopter less convincingly than the accident, above — but how many are going to notice?

It does this article disrespect to summarize. Just go read: “No one’s ready for this.”

Special Bonus #2: Nick Heer, at Pixel Envy, articulates what needs to be said: “anyone can now radically and realistically alter an entire scene within minutes of taking a photo. [O]ur expectations need to change.”

August 31, 2024
Beautifully Briefed 24.7: Generated

This time, another automaker logo, some automotive and architecture photography, and the special bonuses that have all become a regular part of the Beautifully Briefed standard. But we’re going to start with some generated content.

AI Book “Design”

From the “We knew this was going to happen” category, we have the first — that I’ve seen, anyway — “let AI do the work” research paper suggesting that book design is something that can be automated.

We have presented a novel approach to computationally design books. The presented system implements a generative design process which takes advantage of the scripting capabilities of Adobe InDesign to procedurally typeset books from content provided by the user. We have shown the ability of the system to (i) create book designs that consistently comply with a series of typographic rules, styles and principles identified in the literature; (ii) produce visually diversified books from the same input content; and (iii) produce visually coherent books with different contents.

Design by “AI.”

Let’s please remember that “AI” as the term is currently used is actually “applied machine learning;” in this case, specific rules within specific containers in a specific application. It’s a first step towards something, as most “AI” is in 2024.

But it’s absolutely not the only step. It’s inevitable that the necessary subsequent steps will be taken, probably sooner than later.

As usual where someone is seriously discussing replacing a human worker with a computer, there’s a pitch for the upside:

The work presented in the paper may challenge the typical roles of both the tool and the designer. First, by automatically creating and suggesting design alternatives, the tool ends up playing a more active role in the design process. Then, by modifying and developing custom tools, the designer is no longer a mere tool user and becomes the author of tools tailored to specific needs. We believe this shift can be fruitful since it enables the exploration and discovery of new technical and creative possibilities.

In other words, the designer is now responsible for creatively writing the rules then policing the output — like so many things in the machine-learning, or “AI” space — rather than the actual drudgery of directly designing the output. “Design great rules, get great design.”

And there is room for this. Amazon, especially, is going to jump on book design generated this way; never mind those folks in China or India earning (a paltry few) dollars a day, the computer can do it better for less . . . . Poof! With no human interaction whatsoever, your book is ready to publish. Indeed, for some, the bar to publish has just been ~~lowered~~ made easier. Perhaps even Adobe, who trumpets “AI” at every turn these days, they may choose to take this up. (Probably for a surcharge to the already-high subscription pricing.)

Let’s not even speculate about the major publishing houses for now.

But like AI-generated anything, getting actual art requires hand-tuning the input by an artist. For what amounts to “slop” — see this fantastic PixelEnvy discussion — the generated approach to book design might even be appropriate. But for book design that’s artistic, cared-for, or even “just” thoughtful, you’re going to need a human for a long time yet to come.

The paper is available on Cornell University’s arxiv under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 DEED license. (Via Hackernoon.)

The excellent Odd Apples, which I’m sure I’ve highlighted before — but in a very human way, can’t find.

Special Bonus #1: I had the occasion to recently flip through Pentagram’s book design section. Some seriously interesting, seriously artistic work. (See the Odd Apples listing specifically.)

It could probably be argued that computers took book design jobs away, but….

Special Bonus #2: CreativeBoom links to three free archives on Victorian illustration to inspire — or perhaps use creatively in a book.

Untitled (Fiddleheads), 1928. Photo by Karl Blossfeldt.

Special Bonus #3: The ever-great Kottke.org. points us at Public Work, “an image search engine that boasts 100,000 “copyright-free” images from institutions like the NYPL, the Met, etc. It’s fast with a relatively simple interface and uses AI to auto-categorize and suggest possibly related images (both visually and content-wise).” As Jason Kottke points out, not great in the attribution department, but good stuff nonetheless.

Mazda’s New Logo

Mazda’s logo as of 2023, seen on one of its cars.

From the automotive logo thread (previously), we have to note Mazda’s new look, reduced from the current 3D-style grayscale to flat and black and white. This one gets some criticism from me: it lacks grace, pace, or space. (Hmph. That might be someone else.)

Angry Bird, anyone? (Pardon the artifacts — this image is enlarged from a Japanese trademark post.)

Then again, Mazda has not always been successful with logos. Anyone remember the 1991–1997 version?

Mazda’s complete logo history.

The 1931–1934 version lays the name over Mitsubishi’s logo, which was responsible for sales. The 1975–1991 version is the one I remember best, but that’s likely a youth/rose-colored glasses sort of thing. See Wiki for more information.

Meanwhile, Mazda is trying to move upmarket right now, and the new “look” isn’t really in keeping with that. Curious to see where this goes. (Via The Autopian.)

Mazda’s new electric concept, the Errata, sporting an interim, flattened version of the current logo. Wait, might have gotten something wrong there, too….

Special Bonus #3: BrandNew points us at the 2024 Logo Trends report, the annual fun item from Logo Lounge that looks at what’s hot in this year’s crop of — you guessed it!

Freely (Smiley category) and Droplet (Elliptic category), left, and Olá and Backcountry Wanderer, right, from the Sticker category. (Olá could be in the Smiley category, too.)

Some of my favorites are above, but the whole report is worth a look. (Spoiler: more than flattening is on trend.)

Auto, Auto+Arch, Arch

Auto Photo Manual

Via Wallpaper*, we have Auto Photo Manual, a new monograph from Benedict Redgrove that “explores the art and science of photographing the world’s most striking cars:”

A very orange Lambo. Photo by Benedict Redgrove.

Always a sucker for a Saab, especially this concept:

The 2006 Saab Aero-X concept. Photo by Benedict Redgrove.

Auto Photo Manual is a Kickstarter item that could use some love — stop by if you can. Wallpaper* has the full story.

A Time • A Place (Vol. 1)

Also via Wallpaper*, we have a “celebration of the European Car of the Year and changing perceptions of modern design, pairing the best buildings of the age with their automotive contemporaries:”

London’s Camberwell Subamarine and the Mercedes W116. Photo by Daniel Hopkinson.

“Through the lens of time, both [cars and buildings] have become highly symbolic of their eras and hindsight will allow us to trace the roots of each design to determine how it is viewed from a 21st century perspective,” says Holroyd, noting that over this period architecture underwent a stylistic retreat, just as car design became emboldened and more avant-garde.

Great stuff in this new title, available now from The Modernist. Read more at Wallpaper*.

World Architecture Festival 2024 Shortlist

Via The Guardian, we have The World Architecture Festival’s 2024 shortlist, revealing projects from around the world spanning categories such as childcare, energy, transport and science. A couple of faves:

The Chodge by DCA Architects of Transformation — interesting name(s), surely — in Whakamaru, New Zealand. Photograph by Simon Devitt.

The live awards event will take place in Singapore from November 6-8. This year’s finalists represent 71 countries.

Woven Passage to Cloudy Peaks by line+ studio in Shaoxing, China. Photograph by line+studio.

See more at The Guardian, or the complete shortlist at The World Architect Festival.

Special Bonus #4: This is Colossal brings us the drone photography of Eric Waider, shot in Iceland:

As glaciers expand and recede, they have the capacity to grind rock so fine that geologists refer to the pulverized material as glacial flour. It slips down rivers and into lakes, carrying the otherworldly turquoise hue through a unique and resilient ecosystem. In Iceland, the blue-green color is complemented by rivers that flow yellow, thanks to sulfur from nearby volcanoes, or red from dissolved ferrous iron—also known as bog iron. Coursing over rock and black sand, the streams take on dazzling, rhythmic patterns.

Photograph by Erik Waider.

Brilliant. See his website (“Abstract Landscapes of the distant North”) and enjoy that series and more — including faves such as Ocean Blues and Glacial Macro.

July 31, 2024
Beautifully Briefed 24.6: Summer of Win (Mostly)

In this installment of Beautifully Briefed, let’s take a look at some great posters, great print items, and great photography. Plus, an update from Adobe’s continued campaign to lose friends and attract government attention. Fun stuff!

GET LECTURED (ON ARCHITECTURE)

Back in September, I mentioned Archinect’s Get Lectured poster series. They’re back with the Spring 2024 winners, including these two faves:

ELAC lecture poster design by Tashfiah Ahmed.

Lecture poster from the University of British Columbia; designer not listed.

Great examples of design in a often difficult category. See the rest.

Architecture Photographs by Hélène Binet

While we’re discussing architecture, let’s talk about a Dezeen post that caught my eye: photographer Hélène Binet has a new book out, adding to her long career capturing the old-school way — using film.

“A Sentimental Topography by Dimitris Pikionis, landscaping of the Acropolis, Athens, Greece.”

This series captures shadows and light with exceptional talent, including the above, where she’s praised for “captur[ing] in a single image the tactile and textured presence of tectonic form, both in built and natural environments.”

“Staircases in Sperlonga, Latina, Italy.”

I love the softer shades of gray than shown in the previous image, and both this and the image below demonstrate a deep understanding of architectural expression.

“Kolumba Museum, Cologne, Germany, by Peter Zumthor.”

Read the post from Dezeen, see more examples of outstanding work on her website, or buy the book with 170 photographs, essays, and more.

2024 Audubon Photography Winners

This is Colossal posted about this a day before my Audubon magazine showed up with these prominently featured, and they’re all winners.

Wild Turkey, Female Bird Prize Winner, by Travis Potter.

Bird photography is a difficult skill requiring patience, perseverance, and specialized gear; those who excel at it deserve recognition. Plus, there’s this:

Audubon’s climate science report Survival by Degrees reveals that two-thirds of North American birds are threatened by extinction from climate change, including species featured in this year’s Audubon Photography Awards like the Blackburnian Warbler, California Quail, and Sedge Wren.

Forster’s Tern, Professional Honorable Mention, by Kevin Lohman.

Check out the Colossal post, or see the full story at the Audubon website.

Special Bonus #1: Kottke points us towards the Siena 2024 Drone Photography Awards. “Look! Up in the sky! It’s … another contest!” Good stuff nonetheless:

“Jiashao Bridge” by Sheng Jiang, China.

PRINT 2024 Awards

The annual PRINT awards are out, featuring — natch — great items in print, including items like the Smithsonian’s annual report and a Naked Trails brochure. Here are a couple of items from the book design category:

Jacket design by Robin Bilardello.

Author sketch and lettering by the author. Also, let’s get the . . . :

Cover design by Milan Bozic, with illustration and typography by Lauren Tamaki.

Fantastic.

Special Bonus #2: Hoefler & Co. brings us Typographic Doubletakes: “While good typefaces have prodigious families of carefully related styles, some of the best typography builds unexpected relationships between unrelated fonts.”

Left: Chronicle Hairline + Landmark. Right: Vitesse + Gotham.

Their blog refreshes as you scroll in more ways than one — enjoy.

Left: Mercury Text + Ideal Sans SSm. Right: Whitney + Operator and Operator Mono.

Special Bonus #3: Kottke points us to a LitHub post arguing for adding full credit pages to books acknowledging everyone who worked on them. “How lovely it is to be seen and appreciated.”

Adobe “Too Easy to Hate,” Say Users, Employees

Adobe continues to score big with the public — in the best Boeing style, a formerly-great company has put profits before users and employees. While successful from the shareholders’ point of view (record profits, again), some are . . . upset. PetaPixel:

Just over a month ago, an Adobe exec called AI the “new digital camera.” Simultaneously, an Adobe marketing campaign chucked photographers under the bus, and not for the first time, which caught the attention of the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP). At the very top of Adobe, there is a concerning and frustrating lack of understanding about art and the people who make it.

Even “exasperated employees implored leadership to not let it be the “evil” company customers think it is;” while that might be a stretch — “ignorant greed” is a better description — either is not a winning look.

The latest was a terms-of-service update that many saw as a rights grab, allowing the company to use users’ work to train its AI services. While those have been amended, the seemingly clear language — “We’ve never trained generative AI on customer content, taken ownership of a customer’s work, or allowed access to customer content beyond legal requirements” — comes from a company that has lost the trust of users, making those words just that — words. Time will tell if they are truth.

But there’s more: Adobe’s just been sued by the FTC (via PetaPixel, Pixel Envy) for hidden fees and difficult cancellations:

“For years, Adobe has harmed consumers by enrolling them in its default, most lucrative subscription plan without clearly disclosing important plan terms,” the lawsuit alleges. “Adobe fails to adequately disclose to consumers that by signing up for the ‘Annual, Paid Monthly’ subscription plan, they are agreeing to a yearlong commitment and a hefty early termination fee that can amount to hundreds of dollars. Adobe clearly discloses the early termination fee only when subscribers attempt to cancel, turning the stealth early termination fee into a powerful retention too that [redacted] by trapping consumers in subscriptions they no longer want.”

I’m actually glad for this, as I wasn’t aware that my $60+ monthly fee is a payment on an annual plan. (Ug.) Not too big an issue — I actually feel like there’s decent value in the plan and will continue to subscribe for the foreseeable future.

But I’d also be lying if I said I’m completely satisfied with our business arrangement: alternatives are few and far between. While Adobe does not have a monopoly legally or technically, in the publishing industry at least, they are, for all intents and purposes, the only game in town. It would be nice if they would at least demonstrate a modicum of respect for their users.

Update, 25 July 2024: “Adobe Exec Says Early Termination Fees Are ‘Like Heroin’ for the Company,” according to PetaPixel. Hmph.

June 26, 2024
Beautifully Briefed 24.3: Bloomin’ Breadth
The end of March here in Middle Georgia means flowers aplenty, and usually with that, some photography — but I’ve not yet had a chance. (Stay tuned.) I have, however, been saving up links o’ interest: fonts, books, photography, and new(ish) car logos. Let’s go!

Kottke Meets 2024

Starting with one of the very few places that is still around from Foreword’s old days, the always-interesting Jason Kottke:

2024 marks Kottke.org’s 26th year on the ’net.

Great new looks for great content, with better Quick Links — the previews are ace — and incredibly-appreciated gift links to places like The New York Times and The Atlantic. If you haven’t been in a while, click and enjoy.

Fab Spring Type

With “a plethora of captivating new typefaces,” CreativeBoom celebrates spring with 11 new faces to tempt, inspire, and bring joy:

Arillatype.Studio brings us a thousand glyphs of greatness.

Zanco, with its bell-bottom style; Seabirds, inspired by 1930s book covers; Module, a “fluke side hustle;” and Graffeur, improvised from gaffer tape and glimpsed in this post’s header image, are all great. My far-and-away favorite, though, is At Briega, “inspired by the concept of hybridisation” and shown above.

See ’em all here.

Literary Three-Fer

M.C. Escher’s Lesser-Known Works

“The Drowned Cathedral,” a 1929 woodcut.

“Unique perspective” never does justice to someone whose name defines the term. See some never-before-seen images alongside old favorites in a new Escher book highlighted at Hyperallergic.

Multidimensional Libri

“Experimental books are flourishing, [a]nd the evidence is seen” in this Daily Heller from PRINT: a traveling exhibition on three-dimensional books, all published titles.

Oh, those Italians. Read on.

Book Design Snobbery

Hoover vs. Atwood — no joke.

“Don’t get held back from the simple pleasures of reading,” argues Natalie Fear at CreativeBloq, “not everything needs to be minimalist.” Justification for commercialism or a common-sense explanation for the bookshelves’ current look? You decide.

Photography Three-Fer

Winners of Monochromatic Minimalism

“Black Pearl” by Sascha Kohne. An honorable mention for the magazine, but a winner for me.

Some incredibly good stuff here — but perhaps more importantly, did you know of Black & White Minimalism Magazine? There’s no end to today’s continued diversification, methinks.

“Traveling through Costa da Morte, Galicia. 600m above sea level where the mountains separate the Cantabria sea from the Atlantic Ocean,” explains third-place winner Alexandre Caetano.

Aging Facades of France

“Shuttered blinds, peeling paint, and aging doors don’t usually indicate an invitation, but for French photographer Thibaut Derien, the fading facades of long-closed shops are well worth a stop,” This is Colossal says.

Sony Photography Awards: Architecture

The Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias (City of Arts and Sciences) in Valencia, Spain: “Hemispheric,” by Eng Tong Tan, Malaysia.

ArchDaily‘s coverage of the annual Sony awards shortlist announcement was an insta-click.

New Bull: Now Flat. (And a BMW.)

Lamborghini practically defines flamboyant. So it’s worth a link when their logo gets less interesting:

Old logo, left, new, right.

Late at following the industry trend of flat-is-better, because, well, Volkswagen. (Okay, I undersell. Perhaps.) Read the lack of news at Motor1¹ or The Drive, where they manage to convey the brand’s use of the phrase “digital touchpoints.”

I don’t know whether this will make any more sense in a few or even many months — which is relevant because of BMW. Four years ago, one of the industry’s design leaders expressed strong this new style, and I didn’t get it. But it’s worn better than most, and superlatively on occasion — check out the logo’s use on the Vision Neue Klasse X:

Rather than a standalone, plastic part sitting on the paint, it’s etched into the finish. Man, I hope that makes it into production.

Neue Klasse: do like. Bull? No so much.

Update, 2 April: BrandNew, itself sporting a new look, has weighed in on the new Lambo style, calling it “not good.” (FYI, BrandNew is a subscription, quite possibly the best $20/year someone interested in design can spend.)
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  Motor1 also has a decent roundup of new car logos, from 2016-present, which underscores the “flatness” trend. ↩︎
March 29, 2024
Gallery Update: Helen, Georgia

This is my second try at a fall photostroll in Helen, a German-themed town in the Georgia mountains north of Athens, and I’ve got to tell you: Helen and I are not getting along.

Technically, it’s my fault. But I feel the relationship may have soured; I just might neglect to make a third attempt.

Unicoi Bridge into Helen, Georgia

In late October, 2019, I was there with an unfamiliar lens and although I took a stack of photographs, the vast majority of them were junk. I got eight — eight! — worth putting up. Again, my fault. But not at all the results I’d wanted.

This week, I was back. I had two beautiful fall days to make up the deficit.

Flags and (Brew) Decor

Love Lock Bridge (Railing #1)

Day one saw 68 photographs taken with my favorite 35mm, but I could tell almost immediately that it wasn’t going the way I wanted. It was flooded with tourists — expected and okay, frankly, but not built for wider shots. “No problem,” I said to myself. I’ll enjoy some schnitzel, have a good night’s sleep, and clean up with the detail shots in the morning.

Bling Bling Blink Tourist Blind

Christoff’s 76, Munich St.

Alas, not only did I get out of the wrong side of the bed, my back somehow got out of the other side — I wasn’t walking anywhere. Crap.

Bridge Lights, Main St.

River Overlook, Eidelweiss St.

Worse, upon examination back in front of the big computer, I wound up with less than superlative results: only 30 of those 68 got posted.

Have a look at the Helen gallery when you have a moment, with my wishes that your fall attempts at leafing don’t leave you behind.

Willie, The Friendly German Black Bear

October 21, 2023
New Gallery Bonus: Deepstep, Georgia. (Also, a New Georgia Gallery Setup.)

A while back, on the road from Milledgeville to Sandersville, I spied a sign:

Giles Cross Roads, 11917 Deepstep Rd.

That little town — more a hamlet, really — is called Deepstep, and I’ve marked it for a stop since. On the way home from Augusta (part 1, part 2), I finally had the opportunity.

Alonzo G. Veal & Son (What We Don’t Have, We Can Get), 9665 Deepstep Rd.

Veal & Son Building Detail #1, 9665 Deepstep Rd.

What a great little spot.

Gate and Field, 9665 Deepstep Rd.

Outbuilding and Pine, 9731 Deepstep Rd.

The gallery’s only eighteen photographs, but absolutely a worthy addition to the newly revised Middle Georgia group. Those galleries cover everything from Pine Mountain in the west to Sandersville in the east, Madison in the north to Dublin in the south.

Indeed, I’ve rearranged pretty much all of the Georgia galleries:

The new Georgia gallery group: five items instead of three, all featuring rearranged contents.

Atlanta gets its own (to be expanded soon, I hope); the cities of Augusta, Columbus and Savannah another; Macon, my home base, a third; the aforementioned Middle Georgia, a fourth; and finally North and South Georgia (Helen, St. Simon’s, etc.).

As always, thanks for taking the time to stop by.

September 28, 2023
New Gallery: Augusta, Georgia (Part Two)

As mentioned yesterday, I’ve been meaning to get to downtown Augusta with a camera for years. Actually, that not correct: I’ve been meaning to get to downtown Augusta . . . period. I’d never been there, despite living 130 miles away for almost two decades, despite having been nearby, despite — well, you get the idea.

Statue at James Brown Plaza, Broad St. and Augusta Common

So it was a pleasure to get to the home of Woodrow Wilson, James Brown, Jessye Norman, and countless others — and see a city a lot like so many others in the American South, a city that’s struggling with identity, history, vacancy, gentrification, and so many other issues prevalent in the 2020s.

The Confederates and the Albion, Broad St.

One of them is the continued presence of a huge Confederate memorial, a shame in a majority-Black city — and just in front of the Lamar Building, soon to be luxury apartments. What message are Augusta, and its new luxury residents, sending?

Miller and Lamar, Broad St.

Nonetheless, the day’s efforts resulted in some satisfying images, from architecture to neat details:

Augusta Cotton Exchange Building #1, 32 8th St.

Miller Theater (Entry Detail), 708 Broad St.

Edgar’s Above Broad (Logo) Sign, 699 Broad St.

Augusta is a riverfront city I’m looking forward to returning to. In the meantime, please enjoy a total of 128 photographs in the newly-posted gallery.

Augusta Riverwalk Marina (with Freedom Bridge)

September 28, 2023