design – Beth Dudek Design | Rochester, NY Digital Designer

July Wallpaper Refresh

bethrd — Mon, 06 Jul 2015 04:09:16 +0000

An inspirational Helen Keller quote, and a quirky saying for an acronym featuring the vintage wood typeface Gothic Tuscan, which looks even better as wood blocks in person. Trust me.

Add some fun to your desktop, and enjoy.

Roc the Brain: Hand Lettering Class

bethrd — Wed, 15 Apr 2015 05:05:15 +0000

Recently, I took a class at the Rochester Brainery on the art to hand lettering, taught by graphic and web designer Andrea Burke (then Levendusky). Fun times were had.

April Desktop Refresh

bethrd — Wed, 15 Apr 2015 04:46:17 +0000

A few random, and free wallpapers I designed.

Download and enjoy!

(The first is inspired by the title of an Interpol song).

.918 Get Type High

bethrd — Wed, 15 Apr 2015 04:09:16 +0000

My time as an intern happened randomly as I visited Type High Letterpress Print Shop after the market, and spontaneously offered to help, intern, and become further educated in the amazing world of letterpress. Tony, the owner, is so skilled, and owns the greatest print shop ever. He has quite the collection that takes up most of the space…and it’s growing. I learned many invaluable tips, tricks, and lessons there, and now I’ve earned my keep to go back and design my own projects, getting an idea out of my head, formed by type and ornaments, and printed on paper with lovely 50 year old ink.

Type High confirmed my growing love (…obsession…) with letterpress.

“Be the designer.” & “There is no spellcheck in letterpress.”

The WNYBAC Intern

bethrd — Tue, 14 Apr 2015 04:16:08 +0000

I was an intern at the Western New York Book Arts Center through Canisius my final semester, while Rich Kegler and Chris Fritton (now the wanderlust-striken Itinerant Printer) were still in association there. The travel there included construction tearing up Main Street, graffiti, lackadaisical passersby’s, littered sidewalks, and grungy subway. But I loved every day there, and gained a fortune of knowledge from a budding love for letterpress, to bookbinding techniques, using vintage tools like a corner rounder, to learning general studio upkeep and the mechanics, orders, paperwork, and communication that keeps a business alive and relevant. Oh, and we also jammed to The Decemberists every day.

Instead of reminiscing for a while, I’ll just post some pretty pictures from my experiences.

The Second Batch Food Blog Brand

bethrd — Thu, 08 May 2014 12:40:44 +0000

So, I have a new website. As a self-proclaimed foodie it’s…(spoiler alert)… a cooking and baking blog. Below is the style guide and logo branding process of creating The 2nd Batch. Check out the site here: The Second Batch.

Type: Alignment

bethrd — Tue, 08 Oct 2013 15:07:00 +0000

An exercise that focuses on the importance, contrast, and interpretation of alignment using Adobe Garamond Pro. The given quote is by Walter Ong, Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word (London and New York: Methuen, 1982).

Type: Space and Meaning

bethrd — Thu, 03 Oct 2013 14:08:47 +0000

An exercise that focuses on the correlation between space and meaning with typefaces and words,in which only Futura could be used.

Bonus Round (featuring the Typefaces Ohio and Didot):

Name Typeset and Sketches

bethrd — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 13:18:53 +0000

In the typographic exercise of writing my name in various type and ways, I learned that there are a myriad of possibilities. Although I filled an entire page with my name, which admittedly was strange to see, there could have easily been five pages of alternatives and then some.

The whole process was fluid, with ideas, creativity and inspiration basically bombarding my mind until the entire exercise was completed.

The sketchbook process influenced my digital one to a degree. With the digital, Illustrator files, the typography is more linear, business-like and slightly utilitarian to some regard. On the other hand, my sketches are more organic, exploring completely different styles from circular lines and text to linear and rotated letters as well. However, the sketches did help with my digital process, because I was able to explore different possibilities that I could not fit on the page, and also take certain ideas I sketched and modify them in some way. All in all though, I believe my sketches and digital typography are better left as their own entity, rather than looking at them in combination.

These are my revisited name sketches:

Color Scheme: Tea Time

bethrd — Mon, 19 Aug 2013 22:23:02 +0000

I recently went to a Victorian mansion in the area that has been turned into a sort of museum, complete with plenty of gardens too, such as a Rock Garden, Japanese Garden, Italian Rose Garden…and even a pet cemetery. It is one of my favorite places to visit during the summer and this time I brought my trusty Canon to take tons of photographs.

Although the subject matter is simple and stereotypical with the Victorian Era, I received a request to do a pink and brown color scheme, and I though this picture would be perfect.

The color scheme below features rosy pinks, creamy yellow and soft, muted brown.

Enjoy!