Tim Squires

The importance of website typography

Great website fonts and typography will help you to engage the attention of your visitors by making your content clear, legible and aesthetically appealing. The internet is primarily a text-based communication medium. Our online interactions rely heavily upon written content and carefully crafted words, and it is therefore very important to have fonts on your website that are clear, easy to read and beautiful. This is one of the most effective ways of engaging the attention of your visitors and converting drive-through traffic into sincerely interested readers. On the other hand, if your fonts are difficult to read, your visitors will find it harder to interact with your website and they … Read More...

Australian decimal currency designs

Australian decimal currency banknotes have a fascinating design history. A 1968 Penrose Annual article by renowned graphic designer Alistair Morrison provides a detailed account of the working methods of the team of graphic designers who collaborated on Australia’s first decimal currency banknotes. In early 1963 Read More…

Here there be Tygers

I have a real interest in design history and I often find inspiration from early styles of graphic art. I recently acquired another copy of The Penrose Annual from a second-hand book store and as usual it contains a treasure trove of images and designs. Read More…

A Design Odyssey

The astronaut/space theme that I have adopted for my website is a fun way of expressing a number of related ideas. I was born in 1965 – halfway through the decade that culminated with Neil Armstrong’s first “small step” upon the Moon. I have Read More…

Tasmanian state election guide cover 2018

State Election Guide 2018

My design for the cover of the Mercury‘s guide to the 2018 state election owes everything to the brilliant work of Mercury photographer Richard Jupe. Richard’s great talent for putting his subjects at ease, coupled with his extensive experience in lighting, composition and staging is Read More…

Drawing the Tasmanian tiger

The Tasmanian tiger, or thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus) was a large native carnivorous marsupial that was driven to extinction in Tasmania. The tragic story of the animal continues to fascinate many people both in Tasmania and overseas, and although many unverified sightings have been reported since Read More…

The Penrose Annual, Volume 50, 1956

As an art and graphic design student I often pored over the Penrose Annual collection in the art school library. They were a treasure trove of printing techniques, typeface designs, advertising artwork and illustrations, and I would be enthralled as I turned the pages. I Read More…

Antarctic wildlife watercolours

In 1990 I completed a series of Antarctic wildlife drawings and watercolours. This series, called Southern Life, was purchased by the University of Tasmania for their fine art collection. Later, in 2007, they were on display in an exhibition at the University. It was a Read More…

In Mawson’s Footsteps

In Mawson’s Footsteps was a three-part magazine series published by the Mercury in partnership with the Tasmanian Government and Norske Skog, Boyer. The series commemorated the 100th anniversary of Douglas Mawson’s expedition to Antarctica in 1912, and I was very excited when given the task Read More…

Your day in the stars

This is a series of zodiac signs that I completed for the Mercury‘s daily guide to the stars . It was nice to be able to explore a few different concepts for some of the signs and to try to break away a little from Read More…

Welcoming a president

On Tuesday, November 18 our Tasmanian state capital city of Hobart was visited by Chinese President Xi Jinping and First Lady Peng Liyuan. I was fortunate to be part of the team that designed and published a special front cover for the Mercury to mark Read More…

Michelangelo studies for the Libyan Sybil

Three favourite books

Although I love the internet and the convenience of accessing information easily online, I still have a great love for printed books of many kinds. I’ve put together this quick review of three books that have taught me a great deal about graphic design, illustration, Read More…

Business flourishes with WordPress

WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg writes that WordPress now powers over 18% of the world’s websites — a remarkably high percentage. Matt goes on to explain the great passion behind his project: WordPress is a part of who I am. Like eating, breathing, music, I can’t Read More…

DesktopServer by ServerPress review

Regardless of whether you are a WordPress beginner or an advanced developer, DesktopServer from ServerPress is a powerful and convenient tool that can greatly speed up your website development process. Even better news is that the trial version of DesktopServer is free, runs on both Read More…

I am an artist, designer and visual communications specialist

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