Pro Web Type

I was just making some edits to my web book and ended up changing the title from Professional Web Typography to Pro Web Type. The main reason was that Professional Web Typography was so hard to set on the homepage. The way the three words broke, which had a huge gap in the middle, bugged me. I couldn’t set the cover as big as I could. Pro Web Type is shorter and matched the web address of the book; therefore, I just went for it. Obviously I had to make some visual changes as well to make it look good.

Dan Brown: Practical Design Discovery

Discovery plays an important role in making design decision. It helps designers learn about the problem they need to address. In his book, Practical Design Discovery, Dan Brown examines discovery as a mindset, not a process. It is about the right attitude, not a set of instructions. It’s an intriguing read.

Letter to My Sons #37

Dear Xuân,

Of course your mom and I would like to hear about your day. Tennis is a fun sport. I am glad you are learning it in PE so you can teach me how to play. I would love to see your patterns for Alebrijes. I can’t wait to read your realistic fiction story. It sounded like you had a fun, productive week.

Over the weekend, I had a wonderful time accommodating you on your Cub Scout’s camping trip. Even though you had a busy schedule, I enjoyed the time you and I spent together. I had a great pleasure observing you playing, learning, and interacting with your Cub Scout buddies. It also gave me an opportunity to connect with your buddies’ parents.

My goal for you to join scouting is for you to explore new territories, learn leadership skills, and connect with others. You are on the right path. I hope that you will continue to be open-minded, stay curious, and become independent.

Thanks for keeping me company at the skatepark. Thanks for reading with me on a regular basis. Thank you for your willingness to get tutored to improve your reading and writing. I can’t wait to read your letter next week.

Love,
Dad

New Typographic Sample: Lời nhắn (Messages)

In her book titled Mỗi ngày gửi cậu một cái ôm (Each Day I Send You a Hug), Là Trang shares 108 positive, thoughtful messages to the youths to help them navigate through life. Even as an adult, I find her words compelling; therefore, I quoted a few lines and added my own English translation. I created this sample page to share her positive thoughts. For typesetting, I selected Montagu Slab, designed by Florian Karsten.

Gum.mp3: Black Life, Red Planet

Gum.mp3’s spacious, electronic style reminds me of The Chemical Brothers. “Spacey” is atmospheric, upbeat, yet calm. My personal favorite track on the album has to be “Deimos,” which showcases Gum.mp3’s skillful blend of Spanish guitar with hypnotic rhythms. Listening to the album brings me to the early days of Flash intros, which combined motion graphics with electronic beats. I also find the music soothing for walking or driving.

Grace Kelly with Strings: At the Movies

I know R. Kelly, but who the fuck is G. Kelly? From a quick research, Grace Kelly is a saxophonist, composer, songwriter, band leader, and a singer. I came across her latest album, in which she covers tunes from movies and an orchestra backing her up. The album kicks off with the “James Bond Medley” with Kelly’s soaring saxophone. Halfway through, she started to sing. She has a decent voice, but she should have kept the medley strictly instrumental. She introduces “The Way You Look Tonight” with the Charlie Parker flow. It’s a mesmerizing swing cover with the strings behind her. Her collaboration with Sean Jones on “Soul Bossa Nova” reminds me of Bird and Diz. Damn, Mr. Jones got the bebop chops and Ms. Kelly got the swag. Love the call-and-response interactive. Not a perfect album, but very close. Love her, and she’s Korean-American.

More Car Fix

Just when I thought I got all the car dramas out of the way, I had to go back to Costco yesterday evening to drop off our 2011 Toyota Sienna. My wife drove over a nail and punctured the rear passenger tire. I brought the car in at 6 pm and they called me at 9:30 pm to let me know it was finished. I still need to pick it up after work today. Did I say I hate dealing with cars? There’s a saying in Vietnamese, “Ghét của nào trời trao của nấy.” It’s true. Whatever you hate, God will give it to you. All these times, I thought God only give me good things.

Letter to My Sons #36

Dear Đạo,

I am sorry about your phone issue. Don’t be too hard on yourself. It’s fine to experiment with it. That’s how you learn.

You have been asking me for a new phone and I don’t have a problem with getting you a new one. I am deeply concerned, however, when you don’t know how to control your usage.

You don’t like it when I remind you about your education, but you haven’t proved that you can take responsibility for your school work. School should be your first priority, not digital usage. I worry about you, but my words have fallen on deaf ears.

I just don’t know what else to say to make you understand–or you just don’t want to understand. My priority is you and your brothers, but I am not doing a good job as a father. When talking to other parents about digital usage, I had learned that they were able to limit their kids to one hour a day, one hour a week, or none at all. I have not done that and I can’t now. I know the repercussions of limiting your usage.

Now that you are old enough, I hope you will figure out what to do with your life. Your mom and I do anything for you, but we can’t do anything without your participation. It’s still not too late.

Love,
Dad

Cascade’s Connectors

As the Law School is migrating to Cascade, one of the services they will provide is connecting the current course catalog in MODX to Cascade. I don’t know much about Cascade and its knowledge base isn’t too helpful. It states that, “Connectors allow you to take advantage of third-party web services by creating a connection between these applications and Cascade CMS.” My understanding is that Cascade will connect with MODX for the course catalog. If that’s the case, we can’t get rid of MODX, but we will be using two CMSes simultaneously. Is this what you get for a $200,000 CMS? It’s not my call.

Letter to My Sons #35

Dear Xuân,

Thank you for telling us about your week at school. I am glad you had a chance to meet Illustrator Alicia Robinson. I must confess that I didn’t know who she was; therefore, I had to look her up online. She is indeed a talented illustrator.

I always appreciated people who can draw. I wish I had drawn when I was a kid. I never liked drawing because I didn’t think my drawings were any good. I have seen your sketches. You can draw way better than me. You have a creative way of creating your characters.

Don’t make the mistake I made. Please continue to draw. Practice makes perfect. The more you draw, the better you will get. Once you figure out your style, you can become even more creative. You can even become an illustrator like Ms. Robinson.

You have a whole lot of future in front of you kiddo! Just enjoy yourself if you enjoy drawing. Talk to you in the next letter.

Love,
Dad