Brian Miller Design Group » BLOG

Books on my shelf

Brian Miller — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 23:56:16 +0000

I’ve always wanted to compile a list of books that have helped me in one way or another. So here goes (in no particular order):

This list will continue to grow, so please check back again.

Writing Above the Fold

Brian Miller — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 21:17:11 +0000

Around here, 2010 will forever be known as “the year of the book.” Just about this time last year, I received the incredible news that F&W Media, publishers of HOW Design Books, was interested in having me write Above the Fold. The book had been with Crescent Hill Books for over a year and I had almost given up on it.

I began writing in January. My daughter was 3 months old at the time and with my home office just steps away from where our nanny was caring for Sarah, writing during the day was out of the question. My solution was to get up between 4am and 5am to think, write and design in solitude. From January through August I kept this schedule, writing from 4am to 8am, then beginning my client work.

Having never written a book before, and having not written anything more substantial than an email since graduate school, starting was a real problem. I enlisted, as I often do, the help of Alex White. He solved my writer’s block with a fairly simple approach. He told me, metaphorically, that writing about living on the moon is very tempting in the sense that an author might think that’s what people want to hear about. The problem was, I don’t live on the moon, I live in a small house near the water in Norwalk. He told me to write about that. In essence, writing about what you know, will always be more interesting to people than trying to be bigger than yourself. From that day forward, the words flowed.

For eight months I wrote and designed, dealing with all the insecurities that come with doing something for the first time and with being a creative professional in general. The result is something I’m truly proud of. I believe I’ve produced a different kind of book about Web design. This book doesn’t rely on timely samples to succeed. Instead this book is actually about the fundamentals of any design process, and it happens to be set in the context of the Web.

The book is scheduled to be released on March 11, 2011. Click here to preorder Above the Fold on Amazon.com

Look for much more information about the book coming soon.

The image seen here is a cover concept generously provided to me by Mucca Design. Unfortunately, the publisher turned this concept down in favor of a slightly safer approach.

Interviewing Ed Benguiat

Brian Miller — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 20:12:31 +0000

Being an active member of the Type Directors Club means that I’m given extraordinary opportunities to meet and interact with my design heroes. This past Wednesday I had the honor of directing a video shoot with Ed Benguiat — Superfly, Ford, New York Times — yes, that Ed Benguiat. In addition to being one of the warmest people you’ll ever meet, he’s incredibly forthcoming with wonderful stories from his career as a designer and a pilot.

The two-hour interview was conducted by Ilene Strizver, shot by Very Nice Industries and expertly coordinated by Carol Wahler. The video will be part of the TDC’s legends series of videos which feature living icons of typography. Look for it soon on tdc.org.

Thanks to Ed, Ilene, Danny, Howie and Carol for an experience that will not soon be forgotten.

About our new site.

Brian Miller — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 14:13:42 +0000

Our new site is built using the WordPress open-source content management system. Every aspect of the site is controlled through the WordPress interface seen here. The pages above are pages and each piece of work is a post, that’s fairly standard, but in addition, the backgrounds are custom fields, along with the award icon and the services listed with each piece are WordPress tags. No custom coding is needed to create a new post.

We hope this demonstrates that WordPress themes don’t need to have a wide left-hand column and a narrow right sidebar. In the right hands, WordPress is simply an inexpensive yet versitile back-end that can bring any design to life.

Additionally, thanks to the WP-Touch plug in, there’s a mirrored mobile version of our site so you can keep up with us and our latest project on your iPhone or other mobile device.

Excerpt From Connfluence

Brian Miller — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 16:15:27 +0000

I was recently featured in the inaugural issue of Connfluence, the publication for ConnCreatives. Subjects of the article were asked to select a photographer they admire and have a portrait taken by that person. We were also asked to write a brief statement about our agency and what it’s like working with the photographer we chose.

I chose Tracey Kroll, who took the photo seen here. Below is an excerpt from the article:

Of all the gifts given to me by my father, there are two I’m most grateful for: a knack for design, and a passion for baseball. In my mind, the two are inseparable. Both offer a source of delight and agony — sometimes simultaneously. Both require a strategic, “big picture” approach. Consistency beats trendiness. Discipline trumps flash. It’s this underlying philosophy that drives my approach to every design challenge — minor or major.

Student Work: Sofia Hoflin

Brian Miller — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 21:00:18 +0000

The work seen here was all done by Swedish-born, UB student, Sofia Hoflin.

Left top: A magazine spread for a travel magazine. Sofia used can tabs to spell out the title of the article: “The Best of Bogota.”

Left bottom: This magazine spread uses type as image replacing the guitar player with body copy.

Right top: Typographic solution illustrating the concept of unification vs. isolation for a poster announcing a concert.

Right bottom: CD covers demonstrating the integration of type, image and space.

Excerpt: Moving Beyond Your BFA

Brian Miller — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 20:59:14 +0000

A while ago I was asked by Dave Cushman, the brains behind ConnCreatives, to talk about my decision to get my masters degree from Pratt Institute. Mark Snyder of ObjectResonance and Bjorn Akselsen were also included in the piece. Below is an excerpt from the article:

Why did you decide to go back for your Masters?
I decided to get a masters to prepare myself for starting a business. The way I saw it — if I wanted to start a successful, long-term business, my ability to plan, manage and delegate would become more important than my ability to design.

Did you ever consider an MFA in graphic design?
No. It’s not that I don’t think that I can improve as a designer, but I believe in mentorships for that sort of creative growth. I’ve always sought out working relationships with creative professionals that I admire. I think you can get more out of being mentored — and it’s a lot less expensive.

Read the full article on ConnCreatives.com »