Hello! Welcome to Show & Tell | November edition. Thank you so much for being here. I hope your October was full of spooky Fall-time things. Isn’t October just the best month of the year? And here we are now bopping into November and I’m ready for round 2 of Fall time. It rained in LA last week and I swear everyone was making soup.
This month’s newsletter is all about design research. In my opinion, this is one of the BEST phases of a design project. Let’s jump in, shall we?
This is the beginning phase of the project where curiosity comes into play. What’s the time period? What fonts were popular? What sort of materials were used during this era? This is also a prime opportunity to discover something new about the world. For example, I once designed a fake commercial for my hometown bowling alley that no longer exists. Through research, I learned that a man named Buzz, with one thumb, really knew how to work the grill at Anna-Jo Bowl.
Let’s use my recent redesign of Catch Me If You Can ephemera as a jumping off point into some behind the scenes design research tips & tricks
Set in 1963, Catch Me If You Can portray a teenager named Frank Abigale, Jr. who whisks around the world as a master forger of documents, careers, and lives. With this baseline of information, we can start to research the design trends of 1963.
My #1 Resource for Historical Documents: ebay!
eBay is a gold mine for finding era-specific documents and ephemera. Using it as an image bank tool, one can quickly pull together mood boards for any project.
#2 Resource for Historical Documents: Past Brand Guidelines
We know that Frank Abigale, Jr. forged his way into working for the airline Pan Am. Through some quick googling, I found all of the Pan Am logos throughout the ages here. Finding and using past brand guidelines creates authenticity to designs which is always the goal.
Typefaces can make or break a project when you’re designing for a specific era. Luckily, there are some secret weapons to help one choose the most appropriate fonts for your project.
Secret Weapon #1: Whatthefont.com
Secret Weapon #2: fontsinuse.com
See below how some historical research using eBay and font research using whatthefont.com can break down:
I hope this sparks some curiosity within you for your next upcoming design project! I would love to hear about additional resources you’ve found to be helpful or tips and tricks up your sleeves if you’ve got them!
Maddison Cunningham sings the most beautiful song about her grandmother’s passing during Covid. Hold on to your hearts.
The barbershop club-houses of South Africa via Messy Nessy.
I launched a shop on Spoonflower this past month for all of your nostalgic fabric needs.
A new documentary about Val Kilmer.
Thank you again for being here! I hope your first day of November is off to a beautiful start. I’ll see you back here in December!
Love!
Beth