Smile, y’all, it’s Tuesday! Ordinarily, I regard Tuesday as the bane of existence for all humankind, but the sun is out (for now), my Threadless order arrived, and most importantly (and relevant to you), I’ve got some type to share to help make this typically crappy day slightly less crappy.
First off, Smashing Magazine has a new article out featuring some of the best new free fonts out there; some of them are so-so, but there are definitely a couple gems worth snagging.
Secondly, The Dieline has a fresh post listing (in their opinion) the top 15 fonts for package design. Note that these are not free, but it’s worth taking note of some of them for future reference.
About a year ago, I developed a concept in my packaging design class for a pizza box made of recycled cardboard that could serve a purpose past just delivery of food; the concept I developed utilized a perforated lid that would break into serving plates for slices of pizza, and the bottom could be used as a serving tray for the rest of the pizza. I dubbed it The Green Box. You may recall a blog post I wrote about it at the time. Imagine my surprise this morning when I saw this video pop up in my Facebook news feed:
I’m not totally sure if this is merely a result of the collective consciousness, or if it’s possible that these jokers came across my designs, made some modifications/adjustments and produced their own version. This really wouldn’t have caused me to raise an eyebrow if it weren’t for the fact that the thing bears the exact same name. It seems a little too fishy to me to be coincidental.
The complete Flickr Set detailing my process and the box specs is here. I’m trying to decide whether this is worth pursuing legally, or even if I have any recourse whatsoever to begin with. These guys apparently have already patented the design, so the only thing I might be able to go on is an intellectual property theft claim. If anybody knows anything about this kind of thing or has any experience with it, I’d really appreciate them either getting in touch with me, or putting me in touch with those who are in the know. Their product’s web site is here.
What do you guys think? Is this blatant enough for me to get riled up over, or is it just probably a fluke? I’m stumped.
Update
Upon doing some additional research, it seems these guys snagged their patent back in 2006, two years before my version of The Green Box was ever a glimmer in my mind. I suppose this one really can be chalked up to the collective consciousness. Their product design is definitely better than my concept as it takes things a step further with the storage container, but I say my logo is superior to theirs. Maybe they should hire me/buy the logo off of me.
In case staring at them in your Dock (or your taskbar) for eight hours a day wasn’t enough, you can now enjoy the Creative Suite icons on your couch or bed or chair as well. Of course now instead of working your brain until it refuses to cooperate any longer, they’ll help rest it back to functioning order. I’ll take PhotoShop, Illustrator and InDesign please. Check out MySuiteStuff to order some if you feel so inclined.
Another very cool infographic poster. Does a pretty good job of managing complex relationships and connections visually. It’s also not half bad to look at. Full version here.
