Sometimes when everything you’ve tried in a design feels like overkill, step back and simplify. You can never go wrong with black & white paired with a basic type treatment. I’ve collected these examples from a few fashion magazines to demonstrate just how fresh it can be. When in doubt, don’t over-think!

Gingko Press just sent me a copy of I Love Avant Garde, a book from Victionary’s I Love Type series and I thought I’d share. Of the title, Gingko says that “each book in the I Love Type series highlights a single typeface and its prevalence in the design community. This narrow focus lends itself to an in-depth study of each typeface — how the same font can be altered to create different moods and generate an entirely original effect.”

Avant Garde was originally designed by Herb Lubalin as a logo but later became a full typeface. One of my personal favorites, here are some examples of Avant Garde in use that I found particularly compelling.

Overall, I found the book to be really thorough and though I own a decent library of other design books (and read a huge number of design blogs), I would say that half of the projects were completely new to me. I appreciate the singular focus of one typeface because it really helps you grasp the possibilities when you see hundreds of hugely varied design executions. I’ve been a huge fan of Victionary’s titles for years so I am perhaps a bit biased but still, I was pleasantly surprised at the print quality, variety and layouts of this particular title. And, the hot pink edging on all of the pages is an extra special bonus.

As creatives, something we all struggle with at times is staying organized. Let’s face it: there’s so much stuff out there. Magazines, books, blogs, catalogs, fonts and images galore. It’s enough to make anyone’s head spin.

There’s always the thrill of finding an image that strikes your imagination. For me, it’s been much easier to keep my digital content organized — I keep neatly labeled folders tucked away in a designated area on my desktop and sort through these files about once a month.

But, what about real life? I read a lot of magazines and find amazing type everywhere I look. Instead of keeping these images loose (and just waiting to get lost), I began gluing them into an inexpensive Muji notebook that I deemed my ‘Typography Notebook’ about two years ago. Now, when I need to locate an image, I can quickly flip through instead of digging through piles of clippings.

My overall objective is to group similar colors, patterns or other visual cues so that an image can be found with little effort. I find that this same method has worked well for other themed notebooks to keep my various interests nice and neat including interior design and architecture ( Decor Notebook) and fashion-related imagery (Fashion Notebook).

Readers: How do you choose to keep your ‘real life’ imagery organized? Any tips or secrets that you can share with the rest of us?

This page was an intro to a W Magazine fashion spread last year — I became slightly obsessed with it at the time and had it pinned above my desk for many months. I really like the use of Helvetica paired with the op-art graphic. It’s so very reminiscent of a vintage Swiss poster design and I am Swiss-obsessed so there you go. If this was a contract of some kind, I would sign my name (in blood) without even reading the fine print — I like the looks of it that much.

The entire set of The Typofiles can be viewed here.

Sometimes adding type diagonally to a simple layout adds a fresh spin. I had completely forgotten about this cover that only subscribers to U.S. Elle received until last night when I was was searching for the new Rihanna cover (which also features some tilted type).

In a way, it reminds me slightly of the first landing page I designed for Solestruck last month when they were launching Senso, an Australian brand of shoes they are selling exclusively in the U.S.

Here are two more of my favorites (without any rotation):

The entire set of The Typofiles can be viewed here.

P.S. My newest campaign for Solestruck just went live and it’s so twisted and funny. I was basically sent a pile of photos featuring half-naked people, Senso shoes and a bunny head. The whole time I was staring at them, all I could think of was, “Ohhhhhhh Senssssssooooo!” Haha. Here are a few of the results.

Perhaps the longest running print ad campaign in history (1949 to 1969), Maidenform bras were featured alongside the tagline “I Dreamed I….in my Maidenform bra.”

The activities highlighted in the campaign were fairly ordinary (at least in the beginning), but the accompanying imagery was much more intriguing. My favorite ad from this epic series is “I dreamed I was a private eye in my Maidenform Bra.” It’s got a graphic, pop sensibility — and the dangling handcuffs are a nice touch!

The entire set of The Typofiles can be viewed here.

I am a huge fan of Non-Format and I love this spread they designed for Very ELLE, a special
biannual edition of the French version.

All of The Typofiles can be viewed here.

I am sure that everyone is sick of seeing me around town (and on the web) in the American Apparel Sheer Luxe Shapes Pantyhose in Nude / Black Punctuation so I just picked up the black version. Slightly dressier and a little less reminiscent of leg tattoos, I’ve already worn them a ton. Sheer black tights in general remind me of a trashy 80s secretary but the punctuation toughens them up a bit.

The best comment I’ve received while wearing these tights so far was from a stoner dude who walked up to me and said, “You must REALLY like texting!”

All of The Typofiles can be viewed here.

Here’s another gem from House Industries.

All of The Typofiles can be viewed here.

I just discovered the American Apparel Sheer Luxe Shapes Nude / Black Punctuation Pantyhose and they are like a total dream come true! These are super lightweight and allow your natural skin tone to show through. Since I’m not big on the bare legs look, I will surely be sporting these all spring and summer under shorts and dresses. From far away, they make your legs look like someone went Sharpie crazy…which isn’t a bad thing, is it?!

All of The Typofiles can be viewed here.