For most of us, it’s the end of the semester. For some of us, that means means countless group projects, study guides and days spent in Photoshop. I have a little present for you.
I know you don’t want to turn in your annual reports or web mockups in Comic Sans and Papyrus so I’ve collected over 650+ free fonts ready for download. You can thank me by using them.
As you look at these fonts, please pay attention to their restrictions. Some fonts are only free for personal use, but some are also allowed to be used professionally. Once, I owned a font that couldn’t be exported as a PDF because of licensing restrictions. Please look closely at the typeface you’re downloading and test its export restrictions before you use it for a vital design.
I know nobody can sort through 650 typefaces at once. This is meant to be a resource you can come back to for free inspiration. Please bookmark it, share it with friends or email it to your mom. These fonts are free for the taking – use them!
I stumbled across Chiddy Bang last year when I was making the perfect summer mix. I found their song ‘Opposite of Adults’ on Pretty Much Amazing and thought it was huge. (At the time it was just called ‘Kids.’) I figured there had to be some big break coming. They’d drop a debut album? Become best friends with Jay-Z? But there was nothing.
Fast forward one year. In a weird series of events, I found out a friend at Ithaca College grew up with one of the guys. She was freaked out by my fan girl status. I was freaked out by her connection. We both freaked out. Since then, they’ve gotten signed and are actually coming to Ithaca in a few weeks.
Aside from being in love with their music, I’m 100% impressed with the art direction in their music videos. They take low budget and make it fresh.
I hope these songs kick off your weekend and the videos inspire you. Their single ‘Opposite of Adults’ is for sale on iTunes so check it out if you have $1.29 burning a hole in your pocket.
Forgive me while I geek out a little bit. It’s not really a secret that I love following marketing trends, especially ones involving social media. Part of the reason I got an iPhone was so I could (finally) check out all the cool apps and tech I read about in Wired Magazine. I wanted to know what’s going on!
An app called Foursquare got my attention in a Wired article over a year ago. It’s a location-based app that lets you virtually ‘check in’ to locations around you using the GPS in your phone. When you arrive at a cafe or store you can ‘check-in’ to get points, show your friends where you are and see who else is there. Acquiring points unlocks badges and allows you to become a ‘mayor’ if you frequent that place more than any other visitor. (After four visits for their weekly Lost screening, I became the mayor of Wildfire Lounge.)
When you check in to a location you can leave tips for other visitors, or see what others have said before you. Visiting Collegetown Bagels for a hangover cure? Frank C. recommends the San Diego bagel.
Who would use Foursquare?
Foursquare’s main users seem to be the huge consumers of social media who own smartphones. These are your friends who have Facebook and Twitter, comment on blogs and upload videos to YouTube. These are 18 to 34-year-olds who have to be ‘in-the-know’ and don’t mind making their lives public.
While it may seem a little silly, I went through a few stages of Foursquare addiction. First, I just wanted to see which locations were active in my area. Who else was using the app? I’d whip out my phone as soon as I got the gym or a diner, curious if others were on Foursquare. Then it became competitive. Once I connected with friends on Foursquare, we began racing to check-in to our favorite spots and compete to become the mayor.
Would it help small business?
The great thing about Foursquare is that companies can use the tech to interact with their customers for free and give them special offers. Let’s say you check into a clothing boutique and look for tips. The owner could leave a tip offering viewers 15% off. Or, your favorite bar might have a policy that the mayor get’s their first drink on the house.
A business of any size can harness the app to attract customers, repeat visits and build loyalty to their brand. The reason it works is because the app is free. This means you can try it without consequences – as a consumer or business owner.
Have you used Foursquare or other location-based apps? Have you ever gotten a discount in the real world from using your smartphone?
It’s finished! I made this short video with a partner as an exercise in stop motion for our computer art and animation class. Our only requirement was to use a song from the Backstreet Boys.
It took a little over 8 hours to build the set, film and edit the video. We shot it at 15 frames per second so it turned out to be almost 1,500 photos! We got a little distracted with building the set and forgot to write dialogue until last minute. Oops?
Before I came to Ithaca College, I’d never taken an art class. I got my art fix by entering poster contests and juried exhibits, collaging and playing around with a copy of Photoshop Elements that came with my camera. Art was something I did, and will always do, but I never pictured it turning into a career or full-time interest. My practical side told me if I went to art school I would be paying $100,000+ when I could just be using that money for rent and art supplies. Instead, I wanted to study integrated marketing communications.
As soon as I got to school and my classes were filled with media budgets and mobile marketing, I knew I wanted to take it a step further and learn how to execute these ads through art and design. I wanted to combine my business savvy with aesthetics and work in creative. Because my school doesn’t offer a creative focus I supplement my design courses with an art minor. I started my minor with a course in painting, which led to 2D design, silkscreening and intermediate painting. Now, in my final semester, I’m taking computer art and animation.
In our class we use drawing tablets that let us draw directly into the computer. The tablet simulates any medium you choose (oils, airbrush, crayon, sponge, etc.) so you can have thousands of options. The way you use handle the pen changes the line you draw, so if you angle your pen or press harder it responds like the medium you’re using. While we began by making still images, like self portraits, we’ve started making animations. It’s a lot more work than I’d anticipated, but I love it.
For this assignment we had to illustrate a short video of ourselves and layer that animation in front of still image. I filmed myself, imported the video and drew each frame, a process called rotoscoping. It’s kind of insane how many hours go into such a short clip!
Right now I’m working with a partner to make a stop motion short. Armed with cardboard, origami paper and a magazine, we made a three room set for our little figurines. Check back for our film, “Ester & George,” a modern love story featuring the music of everyone’s favorite 90’s boy band. (Okay, well, my favorite.)
Let's face it. There have been times when you bought that book or picked out that one brand of bottled water over the other because it just felt better. The way things look influence the way we interpret them. It's that simple.
