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17 Basic Kinds of Fonts

October 16, 2015 by Mary Bonneville

So you want to get a handle on the main types of fonts used by graphic designers and typographers every day. We have a list of the 17 of most used kinds of typefaces in general order of their usage and popularity. The most elementary and different kinds of fonts are here listed for you, so look no further!

We’ll look at all our examples using the same format: the name of the font, a basic description, and an example so you can see each one in action. Here we go!

1) Serif

Serif fonts are typefaces composed of lines with their ends embellished with small marks or strokes making them easy to read. Serifs originated in the Latin Alphabet. An example of classic serif fonts are Times Roman, New Century Gothic, and Palatino.

serif font

… [Read More]

Filed Under: Typography

SEO services in Rhode Island – a recommended source

October 14, 2015 by Douglas Bonneville

BonFX has spun off a child company: Oxbow SEO! If you need qualified search engine optimization services, please visit Oxbow SEO here! You might also pop by our SEO Meetup in Providence for high-value content, networking, and killer coffee. We have a very cool space to meet in for the first few Meetups, thanks to very cool art gallery ArtProv. We’ll take you from the humble example from antiquity of how to stretch pizza dough up through the most cutting edge SEO methods that work today.

rhode island seo

So, check out OxbowSEO when you need a local SEO consultant in the Rhode Island area!

SEO Rhode Island

Search Engine Services in RI

 

Filed Under: SEO

A boatload of squeeze and landing page template designs and elements?

June 26, 2015 by Douglas Bonneville

“Graphics Sifu” –  Everything you need from a squeeze page templates package

squeeze-page-templates

Every now and then I come across a crazy deal as owner of this design blog. I don’t know how people make money on some of these packages they put together, but this one is LOADED to capacity! Let’s not ask how they make money, but rather, how can we take advantage of their hard work to put this together.

If you are like me, you are tired of wasting time 1) searching for the right product and 2) discovering you bought the wrong one.

The best product for something like putting together squeeze pages is one that has EVERYTHING you need in it, and it shows you in a transparent way. Fonts, graphics, templates, HTML snippets, buttons, dividers, text-effects, ribbons, etc. In short, all the standard items you know you have seen on squeeze pages (that YOU yourself have bought things through!) are right here and you can “see what’s in the box” before purchasing! Boom! Transparency works for you in this case.

Look at all the value they packed in this deal! If you need all the pieces to slap together a squeeze page template or a landing page template, this one dinky purchase will save you a ridiculous amount of time. Here is a list of what it contains. It’s too long to read so just skim it. Basically, it’s in there:

Order Buttons
Blecher Buttons
Guarantee Seals
Guarantee Certificates
Comparison Tables
Screen Captures
Sticker Shapes
Number Displays 1
Number Displays 2
Box Shadow
Highlight Graphics
Divider Graphics
Minisite Template (Wood)
Minisite Template (Futuristic)
Minisite Template (Plain)
Minisite Template (Envelope)
Minisite Template (Grunge)
Credit Cards
Signature Fonts
Handwritten Fonts
OTO Graphics
Step-By-Step Graphics
Doodles
Squeeze Page 1
Squeeze Page 2
Squeeze Page 3
Squeeze Page 4
Squeeze Page 5
Squeeze Page 6
Squeeze Page 7
Squeeze Page 8
Squeeze Page 9
Squeeze Page 10
3D Text Effect
Photoshop Text Styles 1
Photoshop Text Styles 2
Photoshop Text Styles 3
Web Ribbons 1
Web Ribbons 2
Banners Pack
Star Ratings
Headline Graphics
Order Buttons 2
Dvd-Rom Mockup
Book Mockup
Card Mockup
Box Mockup
Bullet Point Graphics
Header Graphics
Minisite Template 1 (Health)
Minisite Template 2 (Dating)
Minisite Template 3 (Money)
Minisite Template 4 (Secret)
Minisite Template 5 (Real Estate)

And look at these previews! Yep, it’s all there and then some. Click below to see them all:

best-landing-page-templates

So, take a look at this deal up close. You can download all this for HOW MUCH? How can this be possible? Click through for the price (we hid it because you have to see it to believe it…and you’ve read this far!).

landing-page-templates

P.S.: Remember, in the time it took you to even READ this article, much less read another, what, 20 more, you can download this sucker and start playing with it. Don’t waste any more time: this is the squeeze page templates and landing page templates package you were looking for 🙂

P.S.S.: Click the “instant access button” and stop looking for “better” free ones. You haven’t even seen the price yet! Once you see it, you’ll regret having wasted time looking in other places. Click above!


Yo, Font-Addict! Make sure to check out The Big Book of Font Combinations. Go grab a copy from Amazon or B&N, or grab the DISCOUNTED ebook PDF digital download version (40% OFF the hardcover retail price!) from the BonFX Store, and stare at all 350+ examples of informative font combinations for web and print. You know you want to!


Filed Under: Graphic Design

A Free Expired Domains Scraper?

June 4, 2015 by Douglas Bonneville

UPDATE: 12/14/2105: Big updates and price drop – head right over to Oxbow Domains to check it out!

Elliot and I have been working on “Ox” for months! From concept, code, logo and brand identity, to typography and e-commerce! There are a lot of disciplines all wrapped up in our beta release of Ox, our expired domain scraper. The free period is only during beta, but check it out and get on the list for updates on the commercial release. Note that every beta will have a free trial period! Whatever expired domains you find you get to keep! So check out the latest entry into the realm of expired domain software with a modern, clean-design, cross-platform twist.

free expired domains scraper..Current release is 0.9.3. This is the free (as in beer!) beta release of Ox, our standalone domain scraping app, which can find hundreds or even thousands of expired domains in just hours. Ox supports proxies and automatically returns DA and PA for each available domain, and domain availability checking is provided by Namecheap (you can check their supported TLDs page to get an idea of what’s available. Basically, just about everything).

…

Ox is in beta so it’s a totally free expired domains scraper during this time. But when it goes on sale…[s]ay goodbye to subscription payments–Ox will pay for itself the very first day. No caps: Since Ox is running from home, you don’t have to worry about arbitrary limits being placed on your searches. Run it as long as you want! Searches 1m+ are quite easy and you can find thousands of domains from one URL.

…

Oh, and the beta expires June 7th, so don’t waste time and free domains. Give it a shot now!

Source: Ox Expired Domains Scraper

Filed Under: Graphic Design

The 100 Top Typefaces (in a Huge Sortable Table)

June 2, 2015 by Douglas Bonneville

top best fontsAn Inspiring Collection of Fonts

FontShop sold a typeface collection called “100 Best Fonts” for a limited time in Germany a little while back. The website for this special promotion generously listed the names of all 100 best typefaces for graphic design with background information in German. When the typeface collection was no longer available, the promotional site itself retained a life of its own, serving as a go-to reference for graphic designers looking for inspiration. The PDF on the promotional website is a beautiful piece of design work, a nice visual resource, and just plain fun to look at even if you don’t read German. (NOTE: You can click the typeface names for more info)

How could this great list be improved? I was interested into what categories and classifications these classic fonts were placed, what foundries they were from, and what interesting insights might avail themselves if I could see all the data in one place. I also wanted one place to see examples of all these great typefaces, so I put those together too. Enjoy, and leave a comment!

… [Read More]

Filed Under: Typography

Fonts that go with Century Gothic

May 25, 2015 by Douglas Bonneville

Fonts that go with Century Gothic

If you do a google search for “what fonts go with…”, you’ll see Futura, Century Gothic, Bebas, and a few other suggestions pop up in the auto-suggest tool. We just did a post on fonts that look great with Futura, and now we are continuing on to Century Gothic.

Century Gothic is similar in some fundamental ways to Futura, but has some very unique differences that clearly set it apart. For instance, notice how the terminals of the letter “C” (and other letters) differ from each other in this illustration (which I reconstructed from an uncredited source on Pinterest):

Century Gothic vs Futura: Fonts that go with Century Gothic

The perpendicular cut of Futura seems to make it feel more “serious”, where Century Gothic feels a bit less formal. If you compare Century Gothic and Futura in a variety of settings, you’ll see that to a large degree they can be used interchangeably. So, let’s see what fonts work with Century Gothic, pulling from a list of classic typefaces we keep handy, and see what kind of look and feel we can get going.

… [Read More]

Filed Under: Typography

What Fonts Go Well with Futura?

May 24, 2015 by Douglas Bonneville

Futura Pairings

It’s back to the future with Futura and the well time-travelled question of what other typefaces go with it! As with any typeface with a lot of personality like Futura, you have to choose what to pair it with carefully. No matter what typeface you are trying to match, you have to repeat that golden rule to yourself. So let’s get right to it. I’ll toss out some suggestions and a few words about each font. As usual, we are going to stick with the most popular classic typefaces and not venture off into the world of random free fonts.

… [Read More]

Filed Under: Typography

500 Drawing Prompts: Octopus – Douglas Bonneville

May 22, 2015 by Douglas Bonneville

I’ve started a drawing series over at douglasbonneville.com…I’ll post some highlights here.

Next up, Octopus. This was really fun to work on.

Source: 500 Drawing Prompts: Octopus – Douglas Bonneville

Filed Under: Drawing

20 Contemporary Wedding Invitation Examples

May 1, 2015 by Mary Bonneville

blog-glendaloughmanor-comAre you planning your own wedding? Making your own invites? You need all the help you can get, right? Well, we’ve compiled 20 contemporary wedding invitation examples along with a few tips for those of you who are thinking about DIY wedding announcements. I enjoyed scanning wedding sites for these images–all the design associated with weddings in general are more artsy and beautiful than ever before. Hopefully this helps you a little, saves you some time, and gives you some ideas to think outside the box to make your special day just that much more special!… [Read More]

Filed Under: Graphic Design

Featured Artist: Thomas Vanhuyse

May 1, 2015 by Mary Bonneville

Lovely work with a good use of type, color and contrast and from our featured artist Thomas Vanhuyse –An illustrator and graphic designer based in the city of Ghent, Belgium.

Featured Artist - Thomas Vanhuyse… [Read More]

Filed Under: Typography

60 Popular Free Wedding Fonts

April 30, 2015 by Mary Bonneville

60-wedding-fonts-blog-img

As a warm-up to our upcoming Free Wedding Font Combination book, we’ve compiled a partial list of popular free wedding fonts (with links to downloads) from our own research process. From old style and slab to handwritten and classic script–you’ll find a diverse collection appropriate for any style wedding. So if you’re planning on saving money and time by creating your own wedding invitations, start by perusing our collection. Feel free to  or download and print the PDF’s!

680px1… [Read More]

Filed Under: Free Fonts

Five Principles of Design on Wine Bottles

April 29, 2015 by Mary Bonneville

jaqk-wine-design-elementsThe principles of design are simple guidelines used to organize the various elements of design (line, texture, color, etc.) in a composition. Five basic principles that we illustrate here are: balance, unity, rhythm, proportion and emphasis. Good art has both elements AND principles of design cooperating well together creating a composition aesthetically pleasing to the eye.

Below we show examples of fun wine bottle designs where several of these principles have been applied…. [Read More]

Filed Under: Graphic Design

26 Resources for DIY Wedding Invitations and Wedding Blogs

April 29, 2015 by Mary Bonneville

tips-and-resources2-diy

To save you time and help shorten your list of wedding t0-do’s, we’ve collected a list of resources for DIY wedding invitations and wedding blogs. (It’s just a fun little precursor as we get ready to release our upcoming book–The Big Book of Free Wedding Font Combinations!)

As we all know, weddings are not cheap! A few ways to cut back on your expenses is by creating your own wedding invitations and wedding blogs. But where in the world do you begin? Below we’ve whittled down and compiled some of the TOP resources for these two fun DIY projects, that when outsourced to local artists, can be costly.… [Read More]

Filed Under: Graphic Design

20 Popular Free Google Wedding Font Combinations

April 29, 2015 by Mary Bonneville

wedding-combo-post-intro-pic-1

Creating your own DIY invites? Find the top 20 free Google wedding font combinations below!

After researching some of the classic to modern fonts, we’ve combined a sampling of just a few of our favorites. The font combos include both a decorative font, as well as a more readable print font–so you can include a variety of information on your invites. Go ahead and Print the PDF’s!  And be sure to keep an eye out for our upcoming book–The Big Book of Free Wedding Font Combinations, coming soon!

Just to get your creative juices flowing, here’s a few sites that showcase beautiful avant-garde and minimalist style invitations. Enjoy!

… [Read More]

Filed Under: Graphic Design

16 Modern Examples of Music for Poster Design Inspiration

April 28, 2015 by Mary Bonneville

poster-design-intro-picCreative energies stagnant? Need to mix things up or gain a fresh perspective? Here’s a little poster design inspiration for your upcoming projects, articles or blogs.

We all get stuck from time to time and when this happens, nothing is more valuable than investing your time “stealing” ideas from wherever you can get them. Scanning beautiful portfolios, clever illustrations, typographic styles and good use of design elements (in addition to stepping outside or grabbing a coffee) are all effective ways to build upon and improve your work…. [Read More]

Filed Under: Graphic Design

12 Favorite Collections of Free Wedding Fonts

April 25, 2015 by Mary Bonneville

If you’re looking for a quick smattering of popular free wedding fonts, look no further. Here’s a collection of favorites from fellow bloggers. Of course you’ll see the best fonts overlap. Most posts have the links for download. Happy Browsing–

Bella figura - "Free Wedding Fonts"

  1. 50 Free Fonts | Best Free Fonts for Wedding Invitations
  2. My Top 16 Favorite Free Fonts For Weddings
  3. 40 Best Wedding Fonts
  4. Free Fonts for Your DIY Wedding Invitations
  5. Free Fonts for Your DIY Wedding Invitations-Vol. 3
  6. 25 Romantic Fonts
  7. Our Favorite Free Fonts
  8. Wedding Invite Font Combinations
  9. For Designers: Favorite Fonts
  10. Southern Weddings: Our Favorite Free Fonts
  11. My Top Ten Script Fonts
  12. 20 Free and Awesome Fonts for Weddings

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Graphic Design

Featured Artists: Ginger Monkey and Ryan Hamrick

April 24, 2015 by Mary Bonneville

We like to recognize featured artists from time to time not only as a plug for them, but a benefit for graphic designers everywhere. There’s never too much competition and it’s always awesome to spread the great work of talented artists! Cheers!

By all means break the rules, and break them beautifully, deliberately, and well.  That is one of the ends for which they exist.

– Robert Bringhurst

Featured Artists–

Lovely work from Ginger Monkey, Lettering Artist, Designer, Art Director and illustrator from Bristol, United Kingdom.

featured-artist-Ginger-Monkey
… [Read More]

Filed Under: Typography

Find your passion and purpose as an artist: 3 powerful videos

April 23, 2015 by Mary Bonneville

Have you lost your passion and purpose as an artist? From time to time we get bogged down in the daily grind of life and lose site of the bigger picture of what we’re all about–which inevitably leads to loss of passion and energy. We wanted to share a few inspiring talks not only as a help to confirm your calling as an artist, but as a boost in your confidence and long-term creative vision as well.

Reclaim Your Passion and Purpose

Listen to Elle, as she tells her story of reclaiming her passion of art, changing her life work and is now living with focus and authenticity. Just recently CreativeMornings featured designer, painter, and writer Elle Luna. “Elle Luna describes her path from designer to artist, following her dreams and choosing ‘must’ over ‘should’.”

… [Read More]

Filed Under: Creativity

5 Motivating Books to Rekindle Your Creativity

April 23, 2015 by Mary Bonneville

5-motivating-intro-pic-1Are you losing your passion for design? Is your drive, or personal vision in your work lacking?

Here are some great books to help rekindle your creativity, or help you re-evaluate your life purpose. We all go through dry periods when we lose site of our vision and languish in our inspiration–whether in our life, career, or just the next project. Every now and then, we need a kick in the pants–or at least a little encouragement from other like-minded, and very human artists! If you’re in need of a creative reboot, consider a few of these books written by those who through sheer determination traveled upstream to follow their inner calling…. [Read More]

Filed Under: Graphic Design

Tarkovsky on Finding Your Calling; Integrating Creativity and Truth

April 22, 2015 by Mary Bonneville

tarkovsky-your-true-calling


Tarkovsky could sum up his life’s work as one of integrating creativity and truth. He strongly believed life was about finding your calling (in his case, an artist) and living it out fully. After a long and arduous journey of his own self-discovery, he points others to do the same. To be true to yourself, you must discover who you are and live for a higher purpose authentically.

tarkovsky2

This inspiring cinematic memoir is essential for anyone who’s interest is in the Visual Arts. Whether or not you are studying film or even familiar with the work of Tarkovsky, this book will enlighten you as an artist and help you rethink the purpose of your own work. Tarkovsky not only sets out methods for film making, he writes profoundly on the philosophy of aesthetics–pointing out the power visual poetry has in helping the audience transcend what we ordinarily call real–into a much more potent world of spirituality. He doesn’t believe in art as an outlet of  “self expression”, so much as a duty of self-sacrifice, to love and enrich the lives of others. He says when the artist creates authentically, they communicate from a higher level of existence, ultimately linking us to Absolute Truth–the Source of all creation.

In this very personal book, Tarkovsky writes honestly about his own mistakes and hard lessons learned along the way. He shares his inspirations, thoughts and techniques in his films–Ivan’s Childhood, Andrey Rublyov, Solaris, The Mirror, Stalker, Nostalgia, and The Sacrifice. 


From his book–Sculpting in Time, Tarkovsky writes:

“Masterpieces are born of the artists’s struggle to express his ethical ideals. If he loves life, has an overwhelming need to know it, change it, try to make it better, -in short, if he aims to cooperate in enhancing the value of life, then there is no danger in the fact that the picture of reality will have passed through  filter of his subjective concepts, through his states of mind. For his work will always be a spiritual endeavor which aspires to make man more perfect: an image of the world that captivates us by its harmony of feeling and thought, its nobility and restraint.”

 “In artistic creation the personality does not assert itself, it serves another, higher and communal idea. The artist is always a servant, and is perpetually trying to pay for the fit that has been given to him as if by a miracle. Modern man, however, does not want to make any sacrifice, even though true affirmation of self can only be expressed in sacrifice. We are gradually forgetting about this, and at the same time, inevitably, losing all sense of our human calling.”

“The great function of art is communication, since mutual understanding is a force to unite people, and the spirit of communion is one of the most important aspects of artistic creativity.” –A. Tarkovsky

Filed Under: Graphic Design

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