Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas dear readers,

Since starting this blog at the end of October, it's been a blast. 67 post, and a handful of subscribers, and some great feedback.

My plan for 2010 is to post more content, but a little less often. That way the commentary will be more considered, the insights a little sharper.

I must just give kudos to Posterous… if you've wanted to start a blog, but been put off because you worried about the technicalities, give Posterous a go. It's as simple as sending an email.

I'm not going to do a Top 10, (Maybe next year!) but here are my 3 most popular posts of 2009 (to date)! Check 'em out if you've missed anything.

No.3 What Matters Now – with Free PDF download

No.2 Festive Font of the Week – Aeronaut

No.1 Creating a memorable brand with creative juxtaposition (Caroline's Effluent Services)

Enjoy the festivities, see you at the other end.

Peace, love, and all that.

cj

Posted via email from CrocodileJock's Blog

The Evolution of the Apple Mouse

Ok, so I'm a bit obsessed with the Apple Mouse. I've written about it before. Sadly old enough to have used the original Desktop Bus Mouse (on a Mac Plus), I've always like the simplicity of design, and although I consider myself a bit of a 'Power User' (always loved that term!) I still appreciate the aesthetic purity of only having one button to press. I even liked the much maligned "puck" that came with the original iMac. The latest Mighty, and now Magic Mouses (yes, that is the correct plural) added multi-button functionality, while retaining simplicity and elegance of design, the Magic Mouse through a (world's first) multi-touch interface I've yet to experience. Have you? If so, please let me know how you got on in the comments.

Anyway, enough of the preamble, here's the meat. Flickr poster Rameko (apologies for the unimaginative bio, all I've been able to find out about him is he's male and 'taken' - sorry girls!)  has posted some images of how the Apple Mouse has evolved over the 25 years of it's existence.  And I think they're fantastic.

Link to the stream here. Via CultOfMac.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from CrocodileJock's Blog

Ten great fonts for under a tenner

You can get some pretty good fonts for free… (my favourite resource is French site daFont). If you need something quick and dirty for a one-off project, you can often get hold of something that will get the job done.

If you do go down the paid for route, you will get a more professional result, and you don't always have to pay top dollar. Here's a set of funky and decent quality fonts, all bursting with personality, that won't break the bank.

1. Earmark – A mega fatface – great for posters and t-shirts

Available here, $7.95

2. Stampete – A nice distressed rubber stamp font

Also from MyFonts… a snip at $9

3. Streitkraft – A rather funky stencil – with loads of options

Each cut will cost you a beastly  $6.66

4. Glengary - Pure 1950's brushscript!

Only $7.95 here.

5. Samegang - A different slant… one of the best graffiti style fonts I've seen.

Just sneaks in under the $10 at $9.99 here.

6. Silicone - For a cool, modernist look 

Available in every weight you'll ever need (14 of them!) at $8.95 a pop. here.

7. Mia Pets - Funky animals, robots and mythical creatures dingats. 62 of 'em.

$9.A worth-it bargain.

8,9,10. REM Collection - So I cheated… but these were co-created by Michael Stipe from the band, and the collection contains 3 fonts, each of which has been used by the band

£28 for the three… that works out at just over £9 each. from Veer, rather than MyFonts for a change.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from CrocodileJock's Blog

Creating a memorable brand with creative juxtaposition

When it comes to creating a brand, the accepted wisdom is to analyse the industry you are in and develop a brand identity that resonates with what you do. Your logotype, typography and colour palette should all support that. Well, Caroline (if she exists), has done the opposite, and come up with the following identity. The result… they get noticed and talked about. There's even a Flickr group snapping pictures of their tankers. If people remember you, you probably get more business.

Sometimes doing the opposite of what everybody expects (and everybody else does) just works.

Photo credits: Tom T and Withlouis

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from crocodilejock's posterous

Hack your stuff better

How can Sugru improve (or "hack") your life? Up to you really. Looks like a wonder product to me, can't wait to get my hands on some!

Keep up to date with Sugru hack at their blog.

Posted via email from crocodilejock's posterous

Retro PC

Looking like something out the Jetsons, I'm loving this retro PC concept from The SchultzeWORKS design studio.

Now if only it ran Mac OS X instead of Windows…

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from crocodilejock's posterous

Web services re-imagined as retro bookcovers

Theses are great – the latest work from French designer Stéphane Massa-Bidal. Available to buy as limited edition posters from his Rétrofuturs site.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from crocodilejock's posterous

Mac Motorcycles – Update

Syncronicity is a wonderful thing…

After posting my last article on Mac Motorcycle, virtually the next link I clicked in my Google Reader was about the said company… with a link to their (rather good) website. I'm just posting a few pictures to give you a flavour… there are some beautifully rendered concept drawings that are worth checking out.

Oh, and they've got a blog too. Hasn't everybody these days!

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from crocodilejock's posterous

Mac Cycles

I don't know much* about these concepts generated by Carefully Considered for "new motorcycle firm" Mac Cycles – other than they are pretty cool. A real retro-futuristic mash-up that wouldn't look out of place in the work of Stephane Halleux. If anybody has got any further info… I's love to know.

* anything, actually.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from crocodilejock's posterous

Comments please…

I really enjoy posting the items on this blog, and I've had some very positive feedback about it. What I'd love though is a few comments, so if something gets your goat, or floats your boat, please let me and the other readers know about it. Oh, and if you don't want to miss any future updates (I've got a ton of stuff planned), make sure you subscribe too!

Thanks!

Crocodile Jock

Posted via email from crocodilejock's posterous

Jessica Hische's new website

If you've visited my blog before, it won't come as a surprise that I'm a bit of a fan of Illustrator/Designer/Typographer Jessica Hische. Well, she's got a new website, which brings together all her work, including her blog, and the Daily Drop Cap site. It's well worth checking out. 

You can even buy (for the first time I think), limited editions of her work. What I'd really like though is a set of coffee mugs with an initial from Daily Drop Cap on each… how about it Jessica?

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from crocodilejock's posterous

Jessica Hische's new website

If you've visited my blog before, it won't come as a surprise that I'm a bit of a fan of Illustrator/Designer/Typographer Jessica Hische. Well, she's got a new website, which brings together all her work, including her blog, and the Daily Drop Cap site. It's well worth checking out. 

You can even buy (for the first time I think), limited editions of her work. What I'd really like though is a set of coffee mugs with an initial from Daily Drop Cap on each… how about it Jessica?

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from crocodilejock's posterous

Sushi Etiquette

If this was just written out, I wouldn't give it more than a cursory glance. Illustrated like this, it's fascinating. Nice work Toby. From The World's Best Ever site.

Posted via email from crocodilejock's posterous

Stephane Halleux

I don't quite know how to describe the work of Belgian artist Stephane Halleux… it's not quite Steampunk, although it certainly  has a  retro futuristic vibe it's maybe more akin to the dystopian future imagined in Terry Gilliam's masterpiece Brazil. So take a large dose of Gilliam, add in a bit of the dark side of Tim Burton, and an equally large  portion of Michael Bentine's Potty Time, along with a pinch of (the previously posted) Bennett's Robot Works, and you might start to get a flavour. 

Anyway, I love it.

Stephane's work can currently be seen at Oxford's Museum of History of Science's Steampunk Exhibition.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from crocodilejock's posterous