Recently, I came across this typographic image created by French graphic designer Fabien Barral (click on image to see larger version). While I don’t wholeheartedly agree with all of his “rules,” I do think they provide some interesting insight into how the mind of a designer works.

Many people think there is a secret formula or approach to good design. While there are certainly trusted tactics and strategies to get the mind rolling, you can’t neglect to allow for that time where your mind is permitted to wander and an idea is allowed to percolate (see “rules” 5 & 7).

My favorite “rule” from Fabien is number 3 — “The best designers are the ones who find the good clients.” I believe good clients are the ones who not only appreciate good work, but also expect it – and they appreciate the time it takes to get there. At the Meyocks Group, we are fortunate to have a variety of clients who fit that description.

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Big news everybody – @font-face is here and now we finally have support for embedded fonts on all “grade A” browsers and the latest version of Internet Explorer. The average Internet user probably doesn’t know how big this is or what it means, but trust me, it’s huge. Designers can finally stop using images or hacks to emulate fonts and corporations can now have a font on their website that matches their brand guidelines.

In the past, browsers could only display a limited number of “web-safe” fonts. The majority of websites that sported fancy fonts like Futura or Univers had to use images instead of the actual text and this can have an adverse effect on search engine optimization. The copy on your web pages is what search engines, like Google, use to find and index your content so that it can be served up to customers looking for your product or service on the web.

The main advantages of embedding fonts using @font-face are that it is a cross browser solution (meaning it’s supported by the major browsers), it allows you to use actual text versus an image (which will improve your search engine rankings), it’s scalable, and it gives web designers the freedom to work around “web-safe” fonts.

Of course, there are a few drawbacks to using @font-face. Not all font foundries are on board with freely sharing their fonts, so the pool of available fonts is mostly full of freebies (sites like WebINK do offer foundry fonts for a monthly fee). Also, while your fancy embedded fonts will look good on the user’s computer screen, you can’t print the fonts used with @font-face. Instead the font will default to whatever is installed on the user’s computer. Possibly the biggest drawback is each embedded font takes a second or two to render in the browser, so users will see the text in one font family and then it will switch to the preferred font family once the font is fully loaded.

Web designers and clients alike have reason to celebrate this new advancement in browser capabilities. But remember—don’t go too crazy with your new font freedom, it’s a general rule of thumb to never have more than three different fonts on a page. Remember, even though @font-face is continually gaining more and more support, some old browsers will never support it, so you should always have a fallback (degradation FTW!). For more information on free fonts to use, visit the following sites: http://code.google.com/webfonts or http://www.fontsquirrel.com.

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WEST DES MOINES, IOWA — July 7, 2010 — Maggie Urbanec, a May graduate of Drake University, has joined The Meyocks Group as an account coordinator.

Urbanec earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration with an emphasis on international business, marketing and management. During her college career she interned at Delta Dental of Iowa and a marketing communications agency in Des Moines as well as in positions near her hometown of
Arlington Heights, Illinois.

“We’re happy to add Maggie’s educational background and enthusiasm for marketing communications to help us continue building our clients’ brands,” said Doug Jeske, agency president.

Founded in Des Moines in 1984, The Meyocks Group specializes in integrated brand communications for clients in the food, agriculture and health business sectors.

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234 years ago, fireworks were set off throughout our infantile country to celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the end to taxation without representation. Americans – before we were even Americans – demanded our voices be heard.

Today, social media allows consumers to do the same. You might remember the backlash Motrin received from angry mommy bloggers after running some off-putting ads, or the ongoing beating Nestle has received for a slew of social and environmental issues. And more recently, the response to BP’s negligent and apathetic response to the crisis in the Gulf. Social media has given consumers an easy and effective way of providing feedback to companies. Not just by speaking up when problems arise, but by showing some love (or should I say Like) when brands get it right.

Businesses should embrace this feedback – solicit it even. And, most importantly, act on it. Follow the lead of Comcast, Dell, and GM and take advantage of these outlets to connect with fan, reach out to potential customers and win back the jilted. (B2B, this goes for you too.) Listen to your customers and use their insights to tailor your goods and services to their needs. They’ll thank you with their dollars.

Oh, and if you aren’t sure where to start, we’d be happy to lend a hand.

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