Who Knew? A New Blue.
For most of human history, producing blue pigment was pretty much the Holy Grail for artists. It was a quest that was, more often than not, unsuccessful. From the beginning of time, a source of blue was either impossible to find or really, really expensive. So blue, when it was used at all, was used […]
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 […]
Typography, Twitter, and Trump
I spend my day thinking about typography. Well, maybe not all day—but I do think about it a lot. That is what designers (are supposed to) do. The general public, not so much. But like good editing, and good writing, well-thought-out typography makes everyone’s life a bit nicer and a bit easier. And if copy […]
Meet Luna, My New Assistant (and Lap Cat)
With three cats in residence, you wouldn’t think there could be any neglected feline household duties. But like any group, my kitty org chart had some unassigned responsibilities. For example, the lap cat function had been ignored for some time, and none of our current crop of cats was interested in expanding their job descriptions to take on that additional task. […]
4 Years and Counting
My website has been live for just about four years with over 98,000 unique visits. In that time, one long lost colleague and one potential client emailed me through my contact page. I also received a lot of junk emails about Russian brides and hot stock tips (among other things) that I eliminated when I […]
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 […]
A Font of Their Own
Where do alphabets come from? Some alphabets were developed by committee. The Cyrillic alphabet was produced by what was basically a medieval think tank and it used by languages with a Slavic origin or a strong Slavic influence. According to Wikipedia, it is one of the most-used writing systems. And the Korean alphabet, created during […]