And, the Winner Is…
There is no award for best poster. It is something that I had never really thought about, but, really, if you already present an Oscar for best art direction. Why not one for, well, you know, best poster art direction.
Oh, Venus
Botticelli’s Birth of Venus is one of those iconic pieces of art—a masterpiece that everyone seems to know (and that pretty much everyone seems to like). It has been copied, reprinted, manipulated, revised, and reinvented. It has appeared on paperweights, posters, umbrellas, and tote bags. When he wasn’t busy with Campbell’s soup cans, even Andy […]
My Brief History of Backups
I am always surprised that many of my fellow freelancers do not bother to back up their computers. (Most do, but a lot do not.) I have always been a fan of backing up my files. And although I have not had to rely on it often, when I did, I was really glad to […]
Of Computer Mice (and Men)
I try to make sure my computers and software are kept up to date and not neglected, but even when I think I am doing everything right, something will inevitably go wrong. Sometimes the best-laid plans, well, you know how that goes…. Christmas time for graphic artists can be either slow (as in, nothing is going […]
Street Graffiti
When I first enrolled at the University of Delaware, my major was “Graphic and Advertising Design.” Not exactly the most elegant title, but people pretty much understood what it meant. (Which was I was an art major who actually planned on making a living.) Sometime during my four years at U of D, the name […]
The Future in 3-D
Several years ago, I worked on a magazine for customers (and potential customers) of a company that created software for infrastructure engineers. The editor who hired me is a good friend (proving once again that it is not necessarily what you know, but who you know) and she tried to fill each issue with a […]
The Internet… Even More To Love
FedEx started back in the early 1970s, but it wasn’t until the mid-1980s that it became an indispensable business tool. Next-day delivery was at the time faster than fast. Being able to get a package delivered overnight was a game changer, and it changed the way a lot of us worked. Lead times got a […]
Where Did Easter Eggs Come From?
Easter is almost here, and lots of children (and more than a few adults) will be occupied with the search for chocolate Easter eggs. But what about Easter eggs of the non-chocolate, computer variety? Finding those can be a bit trickier (and equally rewarding and, as an added bonus, calorie free). The first (and I […]
I Love the Internet
When I worked at Commodore, the user group coordinator, Pete, would book flights to meetings all over the country from his computer by interfacing directly with an airline’s reservation system. His computer screen showed just a bunch of glowing, green computer code and commands without any fancy, graphical user interface (this was way before the […]