Notes from a smart-phone free life
In this month’s column, our correspondent Daniel Benneworth-Gray finds himself suddenly smart-phone free. He expects being unshackled from the device to bring freedom, but finds he is unexpectedly bereft
Daniel Benneworth-Gray
Daniel Benneworth-Gray is a freelance designer based in York
Why is writing the ‘about’ page on a website so hard?
In his latest column, our correspondent Daniel Benneworth-Gray expresses the agonies of writing the ‘about’ page on his website, and why the easy answer is to just keep putting it off
On the horrors of indecision
In his latest column, our correspondent Daniel Benneworth-Gray muses on the potentially paralysing effects of indecision, and the role it plays in his work
Notes on notebooks and documenting years of ‘mental spillage’
Our correspondent casts an envious eye over Michael Bierut’s ordered tower of completed notebooks and wonders if it’s time to rethink his more ‘eclectic’ approach
On Myspace and the impermanence of lives lived online
A nostalgia-fuelled quest to rediscover his old Myspace page leads our correspondent to ponder the impermanence of lives lived online
*makes joke on Twitter*
Comedy thrives on Twitter, thanks to its range of unique joke formats and structures. In constant flux, the platform’s humour is often hard to pin down – and all the more amusing for it
On trying to work in a building full of art
The art gallery can offer the freelance designer a quiet, contemplative space in which to work without distraction. Unless you start looking at the art. And the art is by John Stezaker, whose collages you really, really like….
An A-Z checklist for 2018
From reading more books to unsubscribing, CR columnist Daniel Benneworth-Gray presents a checklist to prepare you for the year ahead – as part of our New Year New You series of articles on how to kickstart your work life and creativity in 2018
On the treasures you might find on a type safari
If you have a bit of time on your hands (or indeed if you don’t, but are procrastinatively inclined), may I recommend a stroll down the infinite scroll of typesetting.co.
All you need is the right pen
Artist Jeffrey Alan Love recently tweeted a sketch, simply captioned “illustrator’s funeral”. Leaning over an open casket, a mourner asks one final question of the deceased …
On the wonders of wandering in London
A saunter around the big city can work wonders for the mind and the transformation from designer to unhurried ‘flâneur’ is relatively simple: Go slow – and get lost
Remember when the week was neatly divided into a cycle of manageable chunks?
A freelancer’s working life has little regard for the traditional calendar. So how to get those daily markers back in place? Start watching TV
Do some people see colour better than others?
Even for the seasoned designer, colour can be a tricky visual language to master. So how best to start embracing its spectrum of possibilities?
On hearts, likes and sharing your work on social media
Sharing work online can bring more than just ‘hearts’ and ‘likes’, but designers may need to start channelling their inner window-dresser in order to keep up
On the challenges of being self-employed and working from home
Self-employment can be liberating – but when you work from home there’s little respite when the demands and deadlines all come crashing in at once
Desk detox: On decluttering your workspace for the new year
New Year finds our man Dan in the mood for a thorough tidy up. Room to think, room to work … and an intimidatingly vast and empty space to fill
The visual vortex at Full Table: a website full of pictorial wonders
The Visual Telling of Stories is one of the strangest websites you might ever come across – out of joint and out of time, it contains some pictorial wonders
Design among the stars – in search of the secrets of the ★ sleeve
In his artwork for David Bowie’s last album, designer Jonathan Barnbrook provided the musician’s fans with a range of hidden elements to discover. Intrigued by the findings – and the theories behind them – our columnist finally opens up his own vinyl copy to see for himself
On being inspired by the books you design
Being a designer allows you, temporarily at least, to inhabit the fascinating worlds of those you work for. Just be careful of the old inferiority complex.
The end matters – on designing a book’s index
While designing a book’s index allows for little creative expression, it’s a task that has its own rewards – turning a collection of pages into a working object
Do designers limit themselves by favouring a handful of typefaces?
In which our correspondent gets all hot and bothered over his current favourite typeface and what to do when such infatuations start impacting your work
On the challenges of designing a book spine
Tall, awkward and skinny: no, not your average graphic designer but the spine, key to a book’s structural integrity, but a bugger to do anything interesting
The perils of letting clients go behind the curtain
The work that goes into any design project is yours and yours alone. Unless, of course, your client asks to have a quick peek at it. Well, they were warned…
On the joys of sniffing books (and why you shouldn’t do it for too long in public)
Ah, the smell of a good book – those printed pages are much more than just a visual experience, as our man reminds himself with some delving amid shelving…
The surprising depths to be discovered in stock libraries
It’s easy to lose hours in the stock image library, yet among all the corporate surrealism, there’s a common language here; a lexicon for the modern world
Great work to take in and take home at this year’s Leeds Print Festival
The three talks that featured on the closing day of this year’s Leeds Print Festival offered up some very different approaches to printed matter – from film journalist Danny Leigh’s eulogy on the film poster, to The Designer’s Republic’s Ian Anderson and letterpress master Alan Kitching showing how the media thrives today
What’s the story? The importance of design to children’s books
More than just words and pictures, the best children’s books are complex objects made up of nuanced design decisions
The ABCD Awards’ book covers of the year
Last night, just as World Book Day was coming to a close (yes yes, your child looked adorable), the winners of the third annual Academy of Book Cover Designers (ABCD) Awards were announced at a ceremony in a bar beneath the streets of Hoxton Square. Now in its third year, the remit of the Academy is simple: to celebrate the ten best covers of the year. Last night, these were chosen by people who understand book cover design: book cover designers.
Formative years: the enduring influence of the 1990s (for me at least)
Dinosaurs, dingbats and digital: in the creative industries, the 90s was the decade that changed everything
To be or not to be: what happens to those ideas that get away?
All those great ideas that don’t see the light of day – should we hide them away, show them off, or try to recycle them?
Going postal: the annual overthinking of the humble Christmas card
Christmas is a time for giving, receiving … and agonising over what to put on this year’s card. Letterpress anyone?
A tale of moving house and a life turned inside out
Upping sticks to a new place is a big operation, so focus on the smaller details – deskspace, broadband, cleaning wares
Why getting hands-on occasionally matters
We shouldn’t underestimate the act of putting pen to paper; it connects us to language – and letters – in a unique way
How to tidy your bookshelves – and why you should
A designer’s books should be on-hand for inspiration and guidance, so a well-kept library is a must. Just keep it tidy
Take the strain: on the surprising pleasures of commuting
The commute to work is often written off as a dull necessity, but with no distractions it can be the perfect mobile studio
Puzzling it out: finding vital space in a cluttered world
The relentless temptations of our always-on world make it almost impossible to preserve the space to think. Almost
Inept strategies: how accidents and pratfalls can aid the creative process
In which our hero unwittingly uncovers the creative potential of punching himself in the face
Playing catch up: or, do we really need all these software updates?
All of a sudden your software is out of date and you’re out of the loop. But who needs all those whistles and bells anyway?
The joys of being a multidisciplinarian
If you’re ever stuck in a design rut, remember that working in this profession gives you a chance to do, well, anything, says Daniel Benneworth-Gray
Drawing blanks: does a book’s cover really need to have anything on it?
It seems that nothing stirs the designer’s mind like designing a cover for a book about … nothing. Or something
Frozen out: making the most (or not) of the start of the year
New year quiet time affords an opportunity for a little self-promotion, provided Daniel Benneworth-Gray can tear himself away from a certain animated film, of course
Art rock: Daniel redecorates the studio
Whether or not to display a favourite record sleeve as art can be a difficult question for a designer. Even if it is a Saville
Surgical spirit: the impossibility of sick days for the freelancer
When illness blights the home of the freelancer, sick days just aren’t an option – you have some new clients on the sofa. By Daniel Benneworth-Gray
Split decisions: the devil is in the detail
Design is all about making a series of choices, where even the small ones – hyphen or en-dash? – have significance
Designs on film: how the industry is represented on the big screen
Designers on the big screen are so few and far between that the film that best reflects our profession is a Pixar animation, says Daniel Benneworth-Gray
Out of office: on holiday, but the email inbox beckons
It’s a pleasure to be travelling off on holiday but, as most designer’s know, leaving the inbox behind isn’t that easy
Picturing the past: finding the right cover design for a challenging subject
Finding the right image for a book cover is a lengthy process, made even harder when the text deals with a difficult subject
My box of bricks: why play is good for design
There’s a tool out there, perfect for giving the mind a creative workout. It’s tactile, stimulating, playful even. It’s called Lego
A radical confection: the story of the Aero Girls
The original paintings from the 1950s Rowntree’s Aero ad campaign were recently discovered, leading to a quest to identify the Aero Girls
My hobbyhorse: when your work is also your hobby
Doing what you love for a living is a joy, so finding it hard to separate ‘life’ and ‘work’ is no bad thing at all
The painful task of updating a design portfolio
How hard can it be to convey the kind of work we do in ten small pictures, without completely losing the plot?
Designer vs Christmas
From the tinsel to the dodgy cards, via an abundance of excess, the holiday season presents a challenging time for the minimalist
Where to start when building a new studio
Never mind the books, locating that box full of records is the first priority when setting up a new design studio
Virgin Records at 40: interview with Brian Cooke
As the record label celebrates four decades of ‘disruption’ we interview one of Virgin’s key creative collaborators, Brian Cooke
Attach, send, wait, worry: the painful process of submitting a concept to client
As soon as a designer submits a concept, crippling levels of doubt creep in, especially if the emails go answered
For the love of stationery. (Did I mention my clipboard?)
A freelance designer can spend a great deal of time not actually designing at all. Still, there’s always the stationery
In the wild: seeing your work in the real world
Finding your work in the real world is a thrilling experience for a designer. But tracking it down can be a hunter’s task
What is it that I do again?
While specialising in one field of design may one day make you an expert, it can close off a world of creative opportunity
Ink stains, papercuts: why it’s good to occasionally get away from the computer
Designers are often shackled to their Macs, but it pays to ditch the screentime and go and grab a stubby pencil
Go on, tweet yourself: where Twitter can be good for work
Twitter can be a distraction but it can often lead to new work, new relationships and, yes, useful hashtag punnery