Dear LoveLiza

I am a type fanatic and always on the look out for new typefaces. Can you predict what the new trends for typography will be this year?

Designer, New Jersey

Dear Designer,

The Economy slowly picks up this year and the usage of system fonts such as Courier, Times New Roman, Helvetica, Arial, and Tahoma will slow down in the first quarter.

As budgets slightly move by spring we see an influx of new Serifs coming from Europe sweeping from the East and over to the Scandinavian countries.

By the summer temperatures rise world wide and the new Serifs become curvier and the Sans starting adding more body.

Designers will become more and more tired of the ongoing austerity plans of governments and as a reflex will use bolder, fatter, thicker weights and extreme sizes.

This trend will splurge over to the East coast and all across the States and the year will end with the great discovery of a new typeface that appears to be  ‘Blacker than Black’!

LoveLiza

Dear LoveLiza

I am about to graduate and I really want to become a famous graphic designer. Can you give me some advice before I start my career?

Student, Mainz

Dear Adolescent,

This is a very common question and there is no easy answer so I took the liberty to consult Professor Powers who has experience in this matter. The following list is an indication of just a few things that will guarantee you success.

Change your family status: Become a footballers wife or become a daughter of a famous hotel owner

Think big: Steal large – this always makes the headline news

Reintroduce streaking in a different context other than the football field: maybe your next presentation

Discover something new: land or species

Find a cure: just save as many lives as possible

Change your name: Four letters and slightly Swedish always works

Change your attitude: self centered, egotistic and pretentious preferably all at the same time

Keep your friends close and your enemies even closer

Accessorise: iphone, ipad, ianything

Communicate: Twitter like crazy and if you have nothing to say just retweet and retweet again make sure you are on top of that list. And of course don’t forget all other platforms. I think faxing is also coming back.

And don’t forget your first project will define your design style. We recommend you design and publish a retrospective book about your life and design career as soon as you graduate.

LoveLiza

Dear LoveLiza

I am considering to quit my Facebook and Twitter account, do you think I will be completely out of touch with what is going on in the design world?

Creative Designer, Rotterdam

Dear Creative,

A friend of mine recently became a vegetarian but funnily enough she still knows what a cow looks like.

LoveLiza

Dear LoveLiza,

Currently I have 528 Twitter followers, do I have enough to be considered a successful designer?

Designer, Amsterdam

Dear Media Social-lite,

Jesus only had 12 and look where it got him.

LoveLiza

Dear LoveLiza,

What do designers do when they are over 60?

Graduate, San Francisco

Dear Graduate,

They start a Bed and Breakfast in the south.

LoveLiza

Dear LoveLiza,

I was wondering if there are obvious differences between male designers and female designers?

Design Writer, Amsterdam

Dear Writer,

Of course, females tend to wear pink and males light blue.

LoveLiza

Dear LoveLiza,

I really can’t tell when I look at a piece of design whether its cool or just badly designed. Do you have any tips that I can at least make sure I am on the right track.

Designer, London

Dear Confused Designer,

Look at it this way. Its your summer holiday on the coast of France, and you are enjoying your second Martini in the late afternoon as you gaze at the bikinis passing by. Two weeks later the holiday is over and you are back in your studio flat, and you make yourself a Martini just to remember the good times, and you stare out of the window into the neighbors back yard at his underpants waving back at you on the washing line. How does the drink taste now?

LoveLiza

Dear LoveLiza,

I have been promoted and I can choose between 2 titles Creative Leader or Creative Director. Which one do you think carries the most weight and gives me the authority that I need.

Creative, Paris

Dear Creative,

For you I would definitely pick ‘Leader’, this title can bring you a long way, such as ‘Leader of the Gang’, ‘Leader of Industry’, ‘Leader of the Country’ to eventually ‘Leader of the Free World’.

LoveLiza

Dear LoveLiza,

Whats the difference between using a cliché idea or stealing an idea, as both ideas have been done before?

Junior, Madrid

Dear Junior,

Stealing is using someone else’s good idea in a bad way. A cliché is using someone else’s bad idea in a good way.

LoveLiza

Dear LoveLiza,

I completely oppose the current government. As I am a graphic designer I would like to design a poster to voice my opinion, but I have a feeling it will have no real effect.
Can one poster really change the world?

Anonymous, Europe

Dear European,

“If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping in a closed room with a mosquito.” -African Proverb

LoveLiza