Typography and Photography

I use photography as a sketchbook to my design work. Photography is a part of my initial process for any project, I always have a camera around. I use my phone, my small digital camera or for my fine art photography images I still use a medium format camera film. I document form, texture, architecture, really anything that catches my eye. I use my personal image library for inspiration, I research images in the area of focus, and sometimes end up using personal images for clients. My images spark ideas for logos, influence layouts and give insight along with text.


I was reading an article in The Economist the other day and one of the titles on the cover was, "Kodak withers, Fuji thrives" (Jan 14-20, 2012). The Economist is very text heavy so there has to be a title on the cover that intrigues me to sit and read it. The article is under Business, Technological change, "The last Kodak moment?" 

"Strange to recall, Kodak was the Google of its day. Founded in 1880, it was known for its pioneering technology and innovative marketing. 'You Press the button, we do the rest,". was its slogan in 1888. By 1976 Kodak accounted for 90% of film and 85% of camera sales in America. Until the 1990s it was regularly rated one of the world's five most valuable brands."

Just as the internet is creating competition for print, digital cameras and camera phones are taking over the old "Kodak" photography. While reading this article, my film was out on my desk which was ironically both Kodak and Fuji 120 film. The photograph I took is the background to my blog. I find images as backgrounds to be distracting so I decided to tie it into the importance of my post. 





I am interested in the layout of The Economist, its typeface, the creator of the typeface and other Political magazine type faces. I will research that for my next post.