Liveblogging a panel at South by Southwest 2005 (SXSW2005; SXSWI) with Andrei Herasimchuk, Cameron Moll, Keith Robinson, Ryan Sims, Paul Nixon; 2005.03.14 17:30
I walked in late on this one after getting another really choice remark from someone vaguely related to Knowbility at the AIR Awards (“It’s a private party”). The screaming good humour and team comedy from this session’s presenters was unmatched at the conference.
They’re live-redesigning the entire identity for a known bloggeur, Dirk Knemeyer. Hey, they have their own site!
Cameron Moll notes that I just walked into the room a few minutes earlier and that maybe I should close my eyes. “We could have him removed from the room,” somebody else says.
Steps he uses to select type:
- Start with familiar faces that he know works.
- Add faces that address a need, in this case heart/mind::professional/personal.
- Try two sizes.
- Lower case vs. upper case.
Anybody know who designed Avenir? “Frutiger,” I yell. “Can we have Joe Clark removed from the room?” “Security!” Does anyone know what year Avenir was designed? “Fucked if I know.” “1928!” yells a woman, incorrectly.
He called up John Parker of Veer for suggestions. Asked for something between a sansserif and a serif (I immediately flashed on the horror of Rotis Semiserif). The suggestion was Dynasty Light.
Other dude comes up to talk about colour for eight minutes. “It’s something I think a lot of designers just sort of look over… They just sort of like a few colours” and that’s it. How are heart and mind connected and separated? “Some colour options that I came up with were really groundbreaking – red, green, and blue.”
Andrei Herasimchuk talks about cropping and colour correction of photos.
And the final site actually validates. “Where’s the Flash version?”
Question: How much would this have cost? “Oh, yeah, we forgot, Dirk – we were going to charge you.” “We did it for the love, man.” Dirk doesn’t want to pay for it, though.
Give these guys their own show
They’re gobsmackingly competent and humorous and they can boast Broadway-calibre charisma and chemistry.