STEPHANIE ORMA :: travel, arts, & design writer

If you ask any graphic design student at San Francisco’s Academy of Art University to name his/her most-faved teachers, Typography 2 instructor Carolina de Bartolo will no doubt pop up in the mix. In fact, it was with her students’ encouragement (and their resulting wow-worthy portfolios) that finally convinced de Bartolo to bring her ten-years-in-the-making book idea to fruition. Two more years and a steep learning curve later, de Bartolo can now add author/entrepreneur to her title.“Explorations in Typography: Mastering the Art of Fine Typesetting” is de Bartolo’s first venture into the world of self-publishing – and a beautiful, instructive piece to boot.

Read my full article on Print Magazine’s awesome design blog IMPRINT.

"Explorations in Typography" by Carolina de Bartolo

I have a love/hate relationship with typography. Love in the sense that I am so passionate about the craft, I’ll stay up night upon night tweaking the type in a design so it’s just right. Hours will fly by, darkness will turn to dawn, but I won’t have cared or noticed because the type is all I see. Love in the sense that when I spot gorgeous typography, I simply cannot stop staring at the awe inspiring, drool-worthy brilliance. But typography is also my chief nemesis. It’s not a skill that comes naturally to me. And some days it feels like a constant uphill battle. It’s frustrating, it’s maddening, and probably even more so because of my fervent passion for the craft.

Typography is arguably the single most challenging element in graphic design to master, and likewise, the most crucial. The designers I have interviewed today are champions of typography and frankly, my personal design heroes. Their mastery of working with type is nothing short of downright enviable: Aya Akazawa, senior designer of Chronicle Books and sole designer of Souffle by Le Petit Graphiste; Todd Hedgpeth principal and creative director of Tawd Design and graphic design instructor at Academy of Art University; John Barretto art director and senior designer of Tolleson Design; Max Spector, art director and senior design of Chen Design; and Josh Chen, principal and creative director of Chen Design. Moderated by San Francisco graphic designer and copywriter Stephanie Orma of Orma Design and She’s SO Creative, the five acclaimed designers talk good type / bad type and share insightful tips for newbie designers to seasoned professional alike seeking to master the art of typography.

READ FULL ARTICLE: SF EXAMINER

With the economy run amuck, there’s a huge imbalance of job-seeking graphic designers to available graphic design jobs. Thus, hiring firms are in the incredibly challenging position of sifting through a plethora of prospective talent. Add to the fact that the San Francisco graphic design scene is bursting at the seams with a slew of graphic design firms, freelance graphic designers, and two top tier graphic design schools, California College of the Arts and the Academy of Art University, the challenge to choose the right candidate can be downright overwhelming for San Francisco businesses.

To help facilitate the screening process, here are 2 crucial must-have skills to look for when reviewing designers’ portfolios:

1. TYPOGRAPHY
   Typography (selecting typefaces and arranging them on the page) is the hardest skill for a graphic designer to master. It’s literally what separates the men from the boys (or the good designers from the so-so ones). Typography can make or break a design piece – it’s that crucial. But choose a candidate with a solid grasp of how to work and communicate with type, and your business will reap the rewards all the way down to the bottom line.
2. CONCEPTUAL SKILLS
   There are three types of designers: (1) the ones that make things look pretty, but are not idea generators, (2) the ones that have great ideas but can’t execute, and (3) the ones that are equally adept at both aesthetics and conceptual thinking. Any candidate that has the ability to generate and execute solid, fresh, creative, relevant ideas will be invaluable to your company. Why? Because you’re getting more than just a designer, you’re getting visionary who can help take your business to the next level. And that’s priceless…or at the least, well-worth the designer’s fees.

(originally appeared in SF Examiner  3/19/09)