// Nike Plus

At the weekend, my fiancé and I made what I would class as an ‘investment’. We bought a new pair of Nike running shoes (you can see mine here), and a Nike+ sportband each. Naturally I got the white & pink one (pictured), and he went all manly and got the grey and yellow one. Technically they are grey & pink / black & yellow, and whilst mine might be very light grey instead of white, there’s no way on earth the grey is black!

For those of you who aren’t in the know, the wristband comes with a sensor which you slot into the sole of your left shoe (underneath the insole) and you sync the two pieces of kit together. The sensor in the shoe transmits details of your distance, pace and calories burnt to your wristband, which you can plug into your computer (via USB!) and upload to the Nike website to track your progress!

Sounds pretty fantastic, doesn’t it? I’ve only used it twice so far, but I’m already impressed, and plan to use it regularly for the foreseeable future!

From a design point of view, the wristband is sleek and attractive, and the incorporation of a removable USB device to share your runs is ingenious. The sensor is a design marvel in itself, from the way it slots into the sole of the shoe, to the fact it’s cleanly branded with Nike & Apple making it not only a nifty tool, but visually pleasing too (considering it’s not on show!).

Furthermore, I’m loving the infographics on the website; it shows your runs according to the date, and each individual run in graph format based on speed and distance, with icons to map how you were feeling, the terrain upon which you ran, and also a route for the run. I’m looking forward to getting some more information logged over the next few days so I can start seeing my progress!

// Numbers

I get weekly emails from both Typography Served & Photography Served. This week, rather than the typography, it was actually some of the showcased photography which caught my eye – in particular the series below.



When they’re reduced to small scale as below, they aren’t instantly recognisable for what they are; the naked human form (all female), artfully arranged into numerical forms. Whilst this series of number is entirely female, there is also a set of male numbers on the creators website (featured below). I love how fluid the numbers appear, and see no reason why the sequence couldn’t be expanded in the future to also include letterforms.

I feel like this concept is the kind of thing which could work really well within a Sanex / Vaseline ad campaign; their television adverts lean heavily towards imagery of nude models, so in my opinion this would align perfectly as a headline typeface or similar. They’re eye-catching to say the least!





_{Sequence of numbers created by Arjan Benning | Credit to Kimberley Chan for reminding me what the naked-adverts were when I’d come up against a total mind block.}

// Things I love

This is my first (of hopefully many) ‘Things I love’ post of 2010. You can check out previous posts from this category by clicking here. We heart it has been difficult today, so this entry has taken a lot longer to piece together than it should have. Consequently it’s shorter than I would’ve liked!




What are you guys loving right now?

// Top 10 fonts of 2009

Those who know me will be aware that Calluna is way up there in my [proverbial] list of ‘favourite fonts ever’. Now, I don’t actually have a list, but if I did I think that Calluna would be sitting proudly in either 1st or 2nd. I’m obviously not the only one who noticed it; it was selected as one of the My Fonts Top 10 fonts of 2009, an rightly so!

Designed by Jos Buivenga from The Netherlands, Calluna was crowned most successful serif text font of the year. Calluna was initially a by-product of the design process leading up to Buivenga’s popular Museo typeface. While trying out different serif shapes, the designer chanced upon the possibility of giving his font “slab-serifs with a direction.” Instead of using the resulting asymmetrical serifs for a new Museo version, Buivenga incorporated the concept in a completely new typeface. Calluna was the designer’s first serifed text family — a robust, clean and contemporary face with interesting details and a forward flow. Its recent use as a book typeface has demonstrated that it works perfectly even at small point sizes; thanks to its striking details it also acts as a display typeface font with personality.





Despite the fact I’m not always a fan of serif typefaces, I love the overall look of this one, not to mention the beautiful ligatures (both standard and discretionary) — a topic I intend to dedicate an entire blog post to at some stage.

The other top nine were Champion Script Pro, Geogrotesque, Liza Pro, Memoriam, Alright Sans, Ivory, Narziss, We Love Nature & Aphrodite Slim Pro. To be honest with you, none of these jump out at me the way Calluna does, and though they have their own merits, Calluna has landed a number one spot for me.

_{Information source: My Fonts January 2010 newsletter.}

// Colour of the Year II

Since my initial Colour of the Year post at the beginning of December, we’ve entered into the actual Year of Turquoise (♥), and Pantone have pinpointed some more turquoise products — this time it’s kitchenware, available from Cuisinart and Le Creuset.

I actually saw some of the turquoise Le Creuset range last weekend whilst shopping in Debenhams with the boy, so I’m pleased to see it’s on Pantone’s radar also.

My favourite:



_{Kone Kettle & Traditional Whistling Kettle – Le Creuset}