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A FREE sign
guaranteed
to improve
your graphics
projects!

Now you can download in PDF format a handy motivational sign that's bound to keep you on the right track with your graphics projects. It's just the right size to mount over your monitor where you can't ignore it. The constant reminder is bound to improve your do-it-yourself designs. Click the link below and you'll be on your way.


Do designs
really 'pop'?

Let's get this straight right from the start: Good designs don't "pop." Balloons pop. Popcorn pops. Corks pop. Pop goes the weasel. Effective designs, however, prove themselves by function and measured response. There's no popping involved. It is way past time to drop this vapid usage --- it has become such an overused cliche to describe the indescribable that it no longer means anything.

- R.W. Bacon
(Yes, he's cranky.)

Typography & Graphic Design

The biggest recent belly laugh was prompted by the report of a job coach mollifying a nervous job-seeker not to worry about a lack of knowledge of graphic design by saying "No big deal! You can learn all you need to know by watching a few Youtube videos."

At present, people in almost every occupational role get "drafted" to produce material for print and the web, but without any knowledge of the craft. The resultant malfunctional designs sabotage not only effective communication, but also the best intentions, income potential, and business success for everyone involved.

Variety Arts Press comes to the rescue with The Cranky Typographer's Book of Major Annoyances: Helpful Graphic Tips for Do-It-Yourself Designers. This book offers an introduction to professional typography and page layout that will improve the look and effectiveness of do-it-yourself in-house projects. Packed with humorous examples of bone-headed "major annoyances," The Cranky Typographer helps motivated "designers-by-default" achieve optimal readability and communcative function.

Below are publications in this category currently available. Click on any book title below and you'll go to a page with a more detailed description of the book, a preview of selected pages, and a link to purchase and pay via PayPal.

Click on any title below for more information,
and to read the contents and introduction.


The Cranky Typographer's
Book of Major Annoyances:
Helpful Graphics Tips
for Do-It-Yourself Designers
By Reginald W. Bacon
(Newburyport, Mass.:
Variety Arts Press, 2014)
6x9 softcover, 240 pages,
250 illustrated examples
ISBN: 978-0-9817945-7-0
LOC: 2013921717

$20.00 (US) includes
USPS media mail shipping
in the U.S.

Payment accepted by PayPal
(see "Buy Now" below or on the full description page).

Look for the SPECIAL DISCOUNT when you buy BOTH The Cranky Editor and The Cranky Typographer companion books. See the full description page for details and easy online payment via PayPal.

To order by postal mail, send order details, your shipping address, and payment by check to Variety Arts Enterprises, P.O. Box 489, Newburyport, MA 01950.


The Cranky Editor's
Book of Intolerable Fox Paws
(Oops! Faux Pas!):
Helpful Writing & Style Tips
So You Won't Look Stoopid
By Reginald W. Bacon
(Newburyport, Mass.:
Variety Arts Press, 2014)
6x9 softcover, 148 pages
ISBN: 978-0-9817945-6-3
LOC: 2013956190

$16.00 (US) includes
USPS media mail shipping
in the U.S.

Payment accepted by PayPal
(see "Buy Now" below or on the full description page).

Look for the SPECIAL DISCOUNT when you buy BOTH
The Cranky Editor and The Cranky Typographer companion books. See the full description page for details and easy online payment via PayPal.

To order by postal mail, send order details, your shipping address, and payment by check to Variety Arts Enterprises, P.O. Box 489, Newburyport, MA 01950.