This Week in the Blogs: January 18 – 24, 2010

Responses to Author Solutions CEO Kevin Weiss, a fascinating and extensive illustrated history of the Helvetica typeface, some advice on maintaining email etiquette, and a terrific new resource for self-publishers from the Rochester Institute of Technology’s Open Publishing Lab are the blog posts that caught my eye this week. And something special for all lovers of color. Enjoy!

Shiloh Walker on Shiloh Walker
Sorry, Mr. Weiss. I’m not impressed.
“Anyway, Mr. Weiss wants to talk to RWA, SFWA and MWA about their differences and as you can probably gather from above…I have some differences…. As a member of two of those organizations, here are a few of my differences and if Mr. Weiss would like to discuss these differences with a lowly member, here we go.”

Cameron Chapman on Web Designer Depot
The Simplicity of Helvetica
“Why is Helvetica so popular? What is it about this font that seemingly tries to be inconspicuous that has made it such a part of our culture and daily lives?”

Rachelle Gardner on Rants and Ramblings
Email Protocol
“Since we all deal with so many pieces of email everyday, I think it’s important to be able to use it efficiently and effectively…. Here are some tips.”

Rachael Gootnick on Self-Publishing Review
The Open Publishing Guide: An Open-Source Website for Self-Publishers
“The Open Publishing Guide was developed to assist individuals seeking information on the self-publishing and print-on-demand process. While there are massive amounts of information on self-publishing on the Internet, not all of that information is presented in a positive or non-biased manner. We wanted to give individuals who were thinking of starting the self-publishing process a centralized resource for gathering motivating and non-sales driven information.”

And for Something Completely Different

ColourLovers
“COLOURlovers™ is a resource that monitors and influences color trends. COLOURlovers gives the people who use color – whether for ad campaigns, product design, or in architectural specification – a place to check out a world of color, compare color palettes, submit news and comments, and read color related articles and interviews.”