Aug 8, 2007

The Toad Stool's New Look

In an effort to save the eyesight of my loyal readers I've selected a new template from the blogger.com template collection.

Because it seems David Ogilvy was right-- black type is easier to read than white type.

Let me know if you like it, hate it or are merely indifferent.

Thanks,

Toad

8 comments:

Tom Messner said...

add serifs
or keep the copy short
BUT
this is a big improvement

Alan Wolk said...

Hey Tom. Welcome to The Toad Stool. You appeared today, as if on cue: I was just discussing the old AOL advertising message board with a friend from those days, and well, here you are.

(For the uninitiated, AOL had a very active and very interesting advertising message board about 10 years ago that both Tom and I were a part of.)

I checked into fonts: the only serif fonts Google offers on blogger are Times and Georgia, so I'm going to stick with Trebeuchet for now- it's got some minor serifage going on.

And it is truly an honor to have you here. Welcome.

HighJive said...

In the advertising industry, Black is superior to White only with typefaces. OK, you knew that one was coming.

Anonymous said...

Oh, HighJive... :))

Yeah, Toad, the new type is better. Easier on the every-aging eyes.

Tom Messner on the Toad Stool. Cool. I interviewed with his partner, Ron Berger way back when.

Didn't get the job. Went to work for Helayne Spivak at Riney instead.

Small, small world, no Mr. Messner?

Tom Messner said...

A)Actually, as sans serifs go, this is a nice typeface. Much better than the celebrated Verdana.
By the way, NY's MOMA has a documentary film running on Helvetica. I heard it was very good. Seriously.
B)I remember AOL's board because I was recovering from a very serious operation on my leg, and had computer in the hospital, and it seemed like a new idea, which it was. I had earlier participated in an online jabbering that Adweek published. Jay Chiat, Jane Newman, Allen Rosenshine, Kelly O'Dea, Roy Spence and some others participated. The late Debra Goldman ran it--seemed very ahead of its time. 1994, I think.
C) Mad Men, last night, was interesting in that it found a new thng to be inaccurate about: real estate. No terraces on apartments on 83rd and Park, but what the heck, the cigarettes still are non-filter and the scene where the guy fakes that his boss stood up for him is a remarkably accurate portrayal of something I really did see in the business. Twice.

HighJive said...

regarding messner's comments about mad men, was it accurate that a creative director would have the authority to fire an account executive?

if so, at what period in time did we lose that power?

Anonymous said...

...firing an AE. Ahhhh...

(And then I woke up.)


Nice new look Toad. I was toying with upgrading my template too and going three columns–until I tried it on a dummy blog, and it totally reformatted everything I’ve tweaked along the way. Back to the drawing board.

Tom Messner said...

I KIND OF LOST THE DISTINCTION between creative director and account executives on the show.
But heavyweight writers and art directors who constituted the product of the agency or who owned the agency could shit can incompetents no matter what the department, couldn't they?
I am questioning my analytical ability anyway as I try to figure out John From Cincinnati.