Editor’s Note: Yesterday, we announced an upcoming series on Ram’s Ten Principles of Good Design. However, we are still planning content and contacting potential designers and writers. The series will take place over the next few weeks; we apologize if there has been confusion.

We are very excited to be coordinating what we feel will be an important educational exploration on design. Readers may track our progress via our Twitter account.

Jim Tierney is an illustrator and designer studying at University of the Arts in Philadelphia. His Jules Verne book covers, part of a senior thesis project, have been making the rounds on the internet.

“Being equal parts book-nerd and design-nerd, I naturally decided to re-design some classic Jules Verne novels,” Tierney told Faceout Books, a website devoted to book cover design and process.

Faceout Books features sketches with Tierney’s commentary on the entire process.

His concepts are developed with thought and clear intention. Each illustration has conceptual ties to its novel, adding depth to Tierney’s work.

Interactivity is important. Book jackets are more than protective covers: they are a collaboration with the hardback cover. The results are colorful, playful: true to Jules Verne’s classic stories.

Fabien Barral is known for uniquely textured work that is layered and colorful. He is also the creative mind behind Graphic-Exchange, a premier source of design inspiration. The Journal had the opportunity to interview Mr Barral. Here is what we asked him:

How did you get started in design and graphics?

School was not my cup of tea, and I always feel stupid learning things I don’t care for. At the end of my regular school courses, there was a forum to present working life to young, unprepared people. I saw this amazing school where you can design magazines and CD sleeves. That’s a job? Good … I get into it, I love it and I never stop. It wasn’t so long ago – 12 years ago – but, believe it or not, it was a time without internet and Photoshop layers!

What inspires you? Who do you look to for visual inspiration?

I am that kind of designer that needs to eat thousands and thousands of images before going into the creative phase. Most of the time I do mood-boards of what I love and can feature on the project, and when I am not on the computer – driving, walking in the street – images and concepts come to my mind. I don’t really know how, but it happens. Sincerely, it also happens when i fall asleep: not when i sleep, when i fall asleep. This curious moment where you are not awake but not gone enough to not remember…

Higher Education by Marc Stromberg

T-Post is a Swedish company that has decided to re-envision both t-shirts and magazines. They have combined them in a unique way, that I find to be quite intriguing. I came across their site over a year ago and completely forgot about them. Earlier this week I was browsing and came across it again. This time it caught my attention, with a thoughtful and minimal layout as well a fantastic motion graphic piece that described (very tastefully, I might add) the entirety of their business. They describe themselves as:

Offbeat news + graphic t-shirt = T-post, the world’s first wearable magazine. Every six weeks, subscribers receive a new t-shirt in the mail. News story on the inside. Artist interpretation on the front. All-around conversation piece.

Color Add is a visual system for the color blind developed by Portuguese designer Miguel Neiva. It uses simple symbols to represent colors. The system is based on the additive color system. The primary colors, blue, red and yellow are the primary symbols. Secondary colors are represented by adding the primary color’s symbols together. (For example, orange is represented by adding the yellow symbol to the red symbol.)

Color is an important aspect in design systems. Public transit routes, for example, are often color-coded. The system has clear  applications here. Transit maps can have a color symbol alongside the colored route. Shirt tags or colored pencils can be color-coded, as well.

This is a great example of design’s capacity for problem-solving. Color Add is a revolutionary concept because it  removes a handicap and provides new ways for color-blind individuals to see and interact with the world around them.

Be sure to check out Color Add’s website for some great facts and examples for the project.

Bibliographic: 100 Graphic Design Books by Jason Godfrey

I received a copy of Jason Godfrey’s recently published book Bibliographic: 100 Classic Graphic Design Books, for Christmas. It’s been a fantastic read: Godfrey collected a wonderful range of visual specimens from these famous (and some not so famous) books. It has provided me hours of reading and instilled a desire for me to spend hundreds of dollars on rare books.

I found the book so enthralling that I decided to email Mr. Godfrey and ask him a few questions about it. He has been a wonderful resource and provided us with some great answers. Please take some time to read what he has to say.

Upper First is a motion graphics firm with offices in Sweden and Spain. They have only been around for about a year, but they already have an impressive reel.

From Upper First’s website:

Built on a foundation of creativity, credibility and freedom of thought, our productions entice the imagination beyond the expected. Through the value of awe and entertainment our communication aim to increase brand value and awareness. Every project will stretch our limits, challenge convention and result in a high-end visual experience.

The WordPress theme Basic Maths, created by Khoi Vinh and Allan Cole, features an underlying grid system.

Khoi Vinh and Allan Cole released Basic Maths, a  theme for the popular blogging platform WordPress, back in November. Vinh is the Design Director for the New York Times’ online edition; he also runs the popular blog Subtraction.com. Vinh gets a lot of attention because of Subtraction.com’s custom design: it is clean and accessible. So, to fill a hole in the market, he designed Basic Maths in the spirit of his blog. Basic Maths is on sale ($30 instead of $45) until December 31.

Writer’s Note: I haven’t purchased or installed Basic Maths, so I haven’t used it. It runs on WordPress, which is what we use here at The Journal. WordPress is a powerful publishing tool, has a beautiful back end and is very user friendly. Vinh and Cole have a demo of Basic Maths to show it off.