I understand why regular people (not design professionals) use Comic Sans. It’s fun, readable and useful when telling co-workers to clean after themselves without sounding too preachy. Imagine writing that sort of message in a business font like Times (New Roman) or the default aseptic sans-serifs Arial and Helvetica. Comic Sans makes those signs look friendly. It tells your co-workers that what they do is just a minor nuisance (when in reality it drives everybody crazy). But Algerian? Why do people love Algerian?

Apparently Philip Kelly created Algerian in 1988 to embellish “any work which suggests the Victorian era”. Epic fail Philip! It seems the Eighties didn’t spare typography either. Fortunately for us, there is a typeface that suggests the Victorian era and is well crafted, versatile and very easy on the eyes: the Phaeton font by Kevin Cornell and Randy Jones.
It’s the font I used in the logo of Icon Kitchen, my little icon shop.

It looks like I’m not the only one who can’t stand Algerian. Other people suffer the existence of this offending typeface. This fun article lists the most overused typefaces around and, sure enough, Algerian made the list. Also don’t forget to hurt yourself with the Flickr pool, “The Algerian Font, a burning hate”.

How can anyone ever think of using this?!

Please note the Polish text at the bottom of the sample image. Algerian is eerily popular here in Poland. In fact it’s time for a confession:

I used to work for a company whose logo is set in Algerian.

Agro Polska sells pet products. Here’s what their website looks like:

Before you ask, yes, while I was “employed” there (I won’t elaborate on the contractual conditions, or lack thereof) I was asked to redesign the logo and the website.
My boss (a Frenchman) was adamant about keeping the font but of course he wanted me to add little animals sitting on the words:

That’s a rainbow gradient ladies and gentlemen.
This was my desk:

The reason cat litter is sitting on the desk, along with bird feed, is because I had to design the packaging for those products. There are dead computers sitting on the floor too…
I had just got laid off and I needed the money. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.
I’ll close this shameful confession with a Lionel Richie quote: “I’ve paid my dues to make it”

I have pictures of signs set in Algerian from over here in Poland but I won’t publish them because I’m a nice guy.
Folks, next time you cringe at Comic Sans remember: it could be much worse!

Check out these posts too:

1. Twitter Reading Bird – Vector Freebie

UPDATE: March 11th, 2010.

I understand these icons have offended some people. I apologize.
I just created some objects that are typically associated with women and released the set on International Women’s Day. In no way was I trying to identify women with beauty accessories, ignoring and belittling their achievements and their struggle for equality.
It was definitely and unfortunate choice of release date for an icon set that would have probably been accepted warmly had I marketed it differently.
My sincere apologies to women again.

I still think women are beautiful and deserve a beautiful icon set:

The icons are available as transparent PNGs at 256 and 128 pixels and they are free for personal use. The set includes: lipstick (2 colors), a vanity mirror, a bottle of perfume, a bracelet, an aquamarine pendant, a fountain pen, a notepad, a pocket calendar, a wallet, a handbag and a silk scarf.

These are just pretty pictures with no message attached, please don’t be put off by their frivolous content.
I promise I’ll be more careful in the future when releasing designs with a potentially controversial content.

Check out these posts too:

1. Furry Cushions Social Icons
2. Influenza Icons
3. T-Shirt Social Icons

If you enjoyed my digital painting and were curious about the creative process behind it you can now find it in its entirety in a two-part tutorial I wrote for the Tuts+ network.
Part 1 shows you how to create the basic outlines in Illustrator and Part 2 takes the plain vector drawing and turns it into a detailed illustration using Photoshop’s texturing and painting tools.

Have fun and spread the word: Andrea Austoni creates much more than icons!

Check out these posts too:

1. How to Create a Curious Owl in Illustrator
2. How to Create A Realistic Chef’s Knife in Illustrator
3. How to Create a Swanky Coffee Table Icon in Photoshop

I created this icon set for the well-known blog Hongkiat, a website dedicated to all tech users, designers and bloggers which also belongs to the Smashing Network.
There are 10 colorful, spacious and unstoppable social trucks at a whopping 512×512 px resolution for you to download and enjoy over at Hongkiat.
Take a look at one of them in its full glory:

Download the icons now!
May your tweets, links and status updates reach far, very far!

Check out these posts too:

1. Beer Cap Social Icons
2. Furry Cushions Social Icons
3. T-Shirt Social Icons

I am finally unveiling my pet project for 2010: Icon Kitchen.

Everybody seems to have a pet project these days. Many have started a “xxx a day” type of blog (a logo a day, a drawing a day…) but that’s something I couldn’t keep up for sure.
It seems natural for an icon designer to open a stock icon store so I did it.

I worked real hard to create the first icon set, SEO Icons. Creating 100 icons, optimized for 7 sizes and packaged in 3 formats (.ico, .icns and .png) is quite an undertaking. I am mostly satisfied with the result and I learned a lot about icon sets. The next ones will be better and better (stay tuned).

Then it was time to make the website.
I tinkered around with it for a while but the design coalesced quite fast. Thankfully!
What you see now is only a temporary static page to cover me while I work on the Wordpress version. For now it serves the purpose as there’s only one icon set to buy. In fact I am forced to say that the whole e-commerce stuff is quite new to me and I haven’t been able to implement the real-time delivery of the icons. I will process each order as soon as possible and I apologize in advance if any of you will have to wait a few hours to receive your download.
When the website runs on Wordpress I’ll be sure to activate a proper e-commerce system which will immediately send each customer the download link. For now bear with me as I learn the ropes.

The portrait

Back to the design. I knew I wanted to depart from Cute Little Factory’s polished style while keeping key elements to reinforce my brand. I took my controversial caricature and added some more real-life garments to turn myself into a Chef:

Do I really own an apron like that you ask? Of course! I am wearing it right now.
The toque was painted with my trusty Intuos tablet (I hope you got one for Valentine’s Day).

The background

Second graphic element: the tablecloth.
I want my kitchen to be friendly, warm and affordable. None of that fancy schmancy cuisine crap. If you know what a trattoria is you know the kind of place I was aiming to emulate.

I didn’t want to overdo the soup kitchen graphic metaphor so there’s no real tablecloth, just a background pattern. The same goes for any kitchen utensils I might have included: they would have been too literal.

I wanted the icons to take the stage so the graphics had to be as subdued as my flamboyant style would allow. I had lots of fun painting the scroll of parchment.

The header

The header is an experiment: whereas all the other stock icons stores have a clean, company-like look, Icon Kitchen immediately establishes a friendlier, more reachable image.
I tried to create a clear reading path. From the title (1) you go to my portrait (2). Then the arrow points to the preview of the current icon set (3). Its background color and width match the tagline next to the title: Mmh…finger-lickin’ good STOCK ICONS by ANDREA AUSTONI (4).

I’m quite proud of this header. I think it’s fun and clever. I also love the copy. Whatever…

The typography

The typography is not elaborate because the main typeface is so striking that it does all the work: the Phaeton font by Kevin Cornell & Randy Jones.
This font reeks of old restaurant menus. I had to use it! Look at those wonderful swashes. Awesome work guys! (Read more about it)

The body is set in Palatino (Linotype), a good old serif that doesn’t look as good as Georgia on screen but doesn’t look as modern either. I love Georgia, you see it everywhere here on CLF, but Icon Kitchen called for a more quaint-looking typeface.

The layout

Aside from the header, which is final, the rest of the website is still up for grabs, in a way.
I don’t really like how the content is stacked up plus the menu scroll is boring placed like that. I don’t know what I will eventually come up with for the Wordpress version.
I know this header will only appear on the homepage so I have to figure out a way to register another header for the internal pages. They will have to include a home link for sure (you can click on the title but it’s better to be explicit).
I will try to avoid the sidebar but actually it can be useful for storing a bunch of links to secondary pages like terms of agreement, post lists and so on. I am open to suggestions and any Wordpress and e-commerce related help is appreciated.

Conclusion

All in all I’m quite happy to have gone this far with this project. It’s not complete and it’s not smooth but it was important to ship it as soon as possible.
Header over to Icon Kitchen and download the SEO Icons sampler: you’ll be able to enjoy some of the icons in your personal projects and of course you’re welcome to buy the whole set anytime.
My intention is to always offer a sampler to go with the full set so you can try out my icons before you buy them. What if they don’t work in your project? It would be stupid to buy them.

Now it’s your turn: do you have a pet project?

Check out these posts too:

1. Introducing EDITABLE MESS
2. My Icon Wants To Kill Your Mama
3. Realistic Leather Briefcase Icon

So you have a website and you’d like your readers to follow you on Twitter, right?
Well it’s your lucky day: you just found the perfect Twitter mascot!
Download this cute bird in vector format (Illustrator CS2/CS4 format) and personalize it to your liking. This bird is literally reading your website so put your logo on the magazine.
It’s available in two poses, sitting on a Twitter egg or simply sitting down. Your pick.
Heck, if you don’t care about the magazine just get rid of it! The bird might not have a body, though, so beware.
Download the cutest Twitter bird of 2010 (I know, I know…) and knock yourself out customizing it!

Brought to you by CLF’s new feature, Freebie Friday. Updates will be frequent, I promise.

Check out these posts too:

1. Cafeteria Icons Freebie
2. Six Vector Icons For WebAgencies.com
3. Furry Cushions Social Icons

I’m planning a trash can/recycle bin icon set and the first icon is a bathtub. I created a tutorial to show how I did it. Go read it on Instatuts, comment and share.
Stay tuned for the icon set in the near future.

Check out these posts too:

1. How to Create a Shiny Paint Bucket Icon
2. Create a Leather-Textured, Realistic Briefcase Icon
3. RSS Christmas Stocking Icon

I love brain slugs from Futurama so I painted one.
I definitely want to do more illustration work. First, because icons are too restrictive with respect to subject, size and style. Second, I paid an outrageous amount of money for an Intuos 4 Large tablet last June and I need to put that money to good use. So here we go.

And here’s a closeup of the little creature.

The slug was painted in just under three hours, on and off. I liked the result so I didn’t add more detail.
If you like it view it on Behance where you can leave your appreciation and comments.
I plan to do a “making of” tutorial very soon so stay tuned.

Check out these posts too:

1. Let’s Go To Monster School!
2. Tutorial published on Psdtuts+
3. Create a Recycle Bin Replacement Icon (Bathtub)

Cover art for a fictitious book. A monster professor teaches in a classroom complete with dingy walls and floor and a blackboard full of mumbo-jumbo. See if you can find the references (they’re pretty easy).

This illustration is the result of an integrated Illustrator/Photoshop workflow.
First the basic shapes and colors were laid down in Illustrator following a handdrawn sketch. Then everything was imported in Photoshop where the actual shading and texturing took place. The walls and the floor were textured with images and completed with some color correction and light brush work. The blackboard and the monster were entirely hand painted.
I’ll show the workflow in detail in two upcoming tutorials so check back soon.

UPDATE – March 4th 2010: The tutorials have been published: Part 1 on Vectortuts+ and Part 2 on Psdtuts+. Enjoy!

View the project on Behance and leave your appreciation and comments if you like it.

This was fun to do. I wish someone actually wrote this book!

Check out these posts too:

1. Create Character Driven Book Cover Art Using Illustrator and Photoshop
2. Brain Slug Illustration
3. N.EN Pictograms

This set was inspired by Art In My Coffee, a Tumblr blog which catalogs latte art from all around the world.

Although I don’t spend time in coffee shops and certainly don’t call coffee with milk and foam a latte (it’s a stupid corruption of my beautiful language), I definitely appreciate a good cup of coffee and foam art is lovely.
So there you go, four social icons for Facebook, RSS, StumbleUpon and Twitter available as 128×128, 64×64 and 48×48 PNGs.

Download the latte art social icons. Sip slowly and with a knowing smile. And please share!

Check out these posts too:

1. Social Trucks Icons
2. Furry Cushions Social Icons
3. Beer Cap Social Icons