01 29 2007:

infanstyle, launched this morning, joins the growing number of designer-run sites for childrens’ goods. it’s owned by shamar and geoff brossard (and their two kids). we met the brossards years ago when geoff and i created an installation for hewitt associates’ visitor center together.

infanstyle is the first time we’ve built a shop from scratch, and i think it worked out pretty well. we gave the brossards a customized shopping cart, a new custom typeface, illustration, and design. keep tabs on the shop every couple of months—we’ve designed and illustrated it so that it’ll change with the seasons. we also anticipate building a storyline around the mascot.

-pk

01 10 2007:

mobile phone manufacturers, if you’re ready to start giving thought to your interfaces now that apple’s dropped a fairly handsome brick in your puddle, su and i are available for consultation.

i’ve actually wanted to do iconography and typography for a well-done personal communicator for some time. we’ve got plenty of iconography and interface studies under our belts to make one great.

frankly, my razr’s interface is less satisfactory than it should be—especially considering the beauty of its form factor. hey motorola: we’re a twenty-minute drive from you.

-pk

01 06 2007:

check it out: gina got stippled.

gina’s a friend su and i made in manhattan when we were beginning an aborted design of gawker media’s kinja, years ago.

now she’s living across the country with her partner terra, and is working in public as the editor of lifehacker. she’s forthright. refuses to commit to something she’s not knowledgeable about. her honesty and openness are stimulating, especially on the community-driven web, where many feel the authority to speak without much justification.

gina’s got a new book out—her logotype is a preliminary version of a new type family i’ve worked on for too many years. while she wrote, we discovered we shared a publisher. as a result, she’s been a great cheerleader to me as i worked on our book (not done yet). if there’s anyone who rates a wsj profile, it’s her.

-pk

01 02 2007:

Happy New Year, folks.

We’ve been quiet for a reason: we reorganized our business. House of Pretty, Ltd. is now an Illinois corporation, which means my journey from salaried employee to freelancer to sole proprietor is now getting a little more interesting. If we could take offices in Oswald Cooper’s old building, here in Chicago, life would be perfect. Unfortunately, I think that building’s gone now.

Cooper’s my favorite typographer, in case you don’t follow that discipline. More on Oz here.

We’re in the process of doing a pile of new web-based work for Pentagram, PBS, Gawker Media, and Ars Nova Theatre in New York. Also in progress is a custom three-face family of fonts for Catholic Healthcare West’s new identity system. And, then, of course, there’s our usual recurring column, Obsessions, in Print Magazine. Always a good way to see what we’ve been looking at.

We’re in the midst of creating a proper site to replace this news column. We’ll be a bit more presentable shortly. For the time being, however, apologies. Hair’s still in curlers. :)

-pk