Notes

The Craft of Words - Part 1

We were delighted to be invited late last year by the fine folks at Five Simple Steps to contribute to their new Pocket Guide series. We’ve been quietly working away, like the elves in the shoemaker’s, and are happy to announce that the first of our books for the Pocket Guide series is now available.

The first in a two part series that cover macrocopy and microcopy, The Craft of Words - Part 1 focuses on words at a macro level, exploring how words - when considered as a design element - can help shape and improve a design, whilst focusing a brand and its user experience. As we put it for the book’s summary:

Look carefully and you’ll notice that many of the most successful designs are built around words. Apple tantalise us with the ability to hold, “1,000 songs in your pocket.” MailChimp has created a wonderfully engaging brand, heavily focused around language.

Words lie at the heart of what we create as designers and an understanding of how they might be used will make you better at your craft. Just like an understanding of grid systems, colour theory and typography are essential for the practicing designer, we must take responsibility for the words that make up the content we shape.

We’re delighted with how the book turned out and we owe a debt of gratitude to the team at Five Simple Steps - in particular Emma Boulton, who leads up the Five Simple Steps team, and our editor Owen Gregory - for their support in helping to realise what we’re sure you’ll find a useful book.

The book is very reasonably priced – you can pick it up for less than the price of a single espresso - and we’re sure it will provide just the shot of inspiration you need. Naturally, we’d encourage you to get your copy now.

1361307240 · Christopher Murphy · Follow Us on Twitter

The Periodical

The most recent entries in the Periodical and Reviews sections:

• Ethan Marcotte is a designer, developer, writer and speaker who, amongst his many and considerable achievements, is perhaps best known for coining the term Responsive Web Design. He lives and works in Boston. We asked Mr Marcotte a dozen questions…
• Cameron Koczon builds things, organises things and writes things (and, of particular appeal to our passion for gentlemanly pursuits, smokes an impressive variety of pipes). He lives and works in Brooklyn. We asked Mr Koczon a dozen questions…
• Josh Brewer is Design Lead at Twitter, and an accomplished author and speaker who, "Spends his time thinking about, designing and building things that live at the intersection of form, function and aesthetic." He lives and works in San Francisco. We asked Mr Brewer a dozen questions…

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HTML and CSS Web Standards Solutions

Learn how to build hand-crafted web pages using well-structured XHTML and lean and efficient CSS. By embracing a web standards approach, HTML and CSS Web Standards Solutions enables you to create web sites that not only look great in all modern browsers, but are also accessible to a wide variety of audiences across a range of platforms - from those browsing on everyday computers, to those accessing the web on the latest, emerging mobile devices.

Get it at Amazon.

The Authors

In addition to their role as lecturers in interactive design at the University of Ulster at Belfast, where they have been active in promoting a web standards-based curriculum, Christopher Murphy and Nicklas Persson are practicing designers and digital artists. Their work has featured in a variety of design books and magazines alongside numerous internationally respected designers and they are regular speakers at design conferences and workshops worldwide.

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