Shillington College

The Online Grid Master

An handy little web tool to create grids when you don't like maths, just type and create. http://gridulator.com/

50 Totally Free Lessons in Graphic Design Theory

Haven't had a look at all of them yet, so you might get a mixture of quality.

http://psd.tutsplus.com

Massimo Vignelli is the 'Canon' of design.

If you are not familiar with Massimo Vignelli you should be. He is an old school designer born in Italy and has been working out of New York since the 50's. His mutli-disciplinary studio is entitled 'Vignelli Associates'. Massimo is most famous for bringing the 'Swiss style' graphic design to America, where it became known as the 'international style'. He has worked on some infamous jobs such as creating the NY subway map and signage to corporate identites for Benetton, American Airlines and Knoll.

Being a true supporter of design he has kindly put his book 'The Vignelli Canon' online for free download as a PDF. So, if you are looking for some pearls of wisdom relative to using grids, typography and some insight into the inner workings of a living graphic design genius get downloading.

So often we overlook the wisdom of the old(er). It is too easy to say 'times have changed' and 'that those rules no longer apply'. But there is still much to be learned from those who have devoted their whole life to graphic design and Vignelli is definitely one of those whose ideas and insights are as valid today as they will be tomorrow.

Manchester Music scene.

Unfortunately the website for the studio 'Music'  like most design agencies is under eternal construction. This is the life of a busy and talented design agency, the paying jobs always come first. Their holding page did put a smile on my face.

You only have to look at the work 'Music' do to see why they don't have the time to design their own site. These examples were published on the Creative Review blog. 

A perfect example of how less is more and how a dry subject like the economic state and potential of the city of Manchester can be transformed into a delightful surprise.

Free Online Graph Paper / Grid Paper PDFs

FREE and very handy tool!

Link: Free Online Graph Paper / Grid Paper PDFs.