A bit of graphic design...

There was a time when typefaces, logos, and layout were an important part of my life. A time when I would eat, sleep, and breathe what my tutors called graphic design. It was really a way of making a few quid out of limited artistic talent and not at all what I’d set out to do, but one way or another I managed to wangle a BA degree in it and set to designing logos for haulage companies and leaflets for sheet metal workers.

Now don’t misunderstand me, my graphic design degree stood me in very good stead over the years and still does in many ways, but it wasn’t and isn’t the creative life I once envisioned for myself. Yes, there are few cut-off ears, drunken rapier duels, or girls with a single pearl earring in the world of graphic design. That’s all saved for the more daring, and often barkingly deranged, really creative types.

Mind you, back then at least there was some ‘art’ involved in graphic design. It wasn’t all computer rendered and you really needed to be able to draw a little. Rubbing rub-down lettering in a straight line was an art form in itself, and I could name any face from the Letraset catalogue simply by looking at the ampersand. Yes, mastery of the Rotring pen was mine and I could, if required, churn out a pretty passable illustration. But it wasn’t Turner territory.

I think I was lucky though. When I came out of Art College there were plenty of jobs for young able graphic designers. Of course, this was before the Internet revolutionised design and before every man and his dog became graphic designers or at least thought that they were – making a leaflet in word through the abuse of Comic Sans and adding a low resolution picture of something or other really isn’t it though.

I hardly do any graphic design these days, the technology left me behind years ago in a world called Freehand 5.5. So when I was elected to knock up a new name-style for the shop where I potter most days I was a little unsure that I could do it. It was in need of an overhaul because, although it was only a few years old it looked like something out of the eighties and the name ‘The Trader’s Outlet’ did little for our reputation as a boutique and artisan shopping experience – I’m one of the artisans by the way. Fortunately I found that knocking out name-styles is like falling off a logo (log – sorry, in joke there folks). All you do is pick a couple of nice typefaces, mess around with the balance and layout, turn the ‘The’ on its side or sit on top of a larger letter, and away you go.

Anyway, here it is: ‘The Emporium on the Downs’. I quite like it.