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Quark comes up with a newer logo after last September’s logo imbroglio. I don’t know if I like it. Reminds me of the Alligator King’s eye. An alligator Sadako eye.

via digg

Emigre has just published its last issue. As a graphic design student in the mid ’90s, I would pour over the magazine’s pages to seek creative inspiration. The experimental design magazine featured the fonts and layouts designed by the husband and wife team of Rudy Vanderlans and Zuzana Licko. Here’s in-depth coverage of the Berkeley-based company’s history. According to the e-mail announcement I received today, only the magazine will be discontinued.* Emigre the company “will happily continue on. (They) have much work left to do.”

*Back issues are sold here.

Designer Lucille Tenazas tells us how she handles typography in the latest issue of Adobe Proxy. Download the PDF mag here (8.3 MB).

Tenazas’ cover design for the 1994 book The Body, as some of you may recall, was blatantly ripped off by the guys who did the movie poster for the Razzie Award-winning flick Showgirls.

Update: According to this, the photograph used in the book cover was by Tono Stano, and MGM acquired licensing to use the image (albeit an altered one). It’s clear though that the main inspiration was Tenazas’ cover design because her cropping of the picture was copied to a tee. The original photo includes the woman’s entire head.

April’s been a busy month. The spring cleaning that began last winter is still ongoing. A few yard sales have come and gone but the garage seems as full as ever.

Some of the design books pictured above are seriously dated but I have a hard time letting go of them (do you think it’s time to toss Fresh Ideas in Promotion from 1994?). It was difficult parting with 4-years’ worth of MacAddict magazines and accompanying CDs (from year one to four). But I know they’re in good hands. I sent them all in a balikbayan box to a worthy recipient, Ernie, who is webmaster of PhilMUG and Apple employee no., uh, 8123? (Oh yeah, he’s got a personal blog now too. Check it out.)

Have you leafed through design magazines such as HOW, ID or Graphic Design USA lately? Within these rags are pages of varying weights ranging from textured card stock to high-gloss metallic paper. I consider them the papyral (is that a word?) equivalent of pop-up ads. They make it impossible to get to the “meat” of the magazine. As you flip through pages, you end up staring at the latest specialty paper touted by XYZ Paper Company. Like pop-up ads, they’re a necessary evil that pays the bills.