The Font We Love to Hate
Comic Sans is the typeface that designers love to hate. And designers hate Comic Sans probably for the very same reasons that the general public loves it. It looks different. It is fun and playful. It is a friendly, approachable font that can be used for anything. And that anything part is a big reason […]
And the Color of the Year is…
…Green. Pantone calls it “greenery.” Huffington Post says the experts are describing it as a “zesty yellow-green.” I would call it a sort of dingy chartreuse. Pantone claims that this will be the color that we will be seeing everywhere in 2017. Not sure if I agree. Pantone’s track record for picking colors of the […]
I Am Not a Robot
I am not a robot. No, really, I am not. And, hopefully, neither are you. Unfortunately, robots are pretty active on the Internet, and, for some reason, they really liked to send me emails. Lots of emails. Lots of emails from Russian girls looking for love. Emails with hot stock tips and cures for an […]
Play Nice with HTML
It was never my goal to be the next Web wiz kid. I still like print and paper and ink. But anymore, even dedicated print designers have to know a little basic HTML. I know a lot of CMSs claim that you can post to the Web (or produce a “professional” looking email announcement) without […]
Bill Gates Hates Me
Whenever a Microsoft product drives me crazy (which is quite often), I just repeat to myself “Bill Gates hates me, and he doesn’t want me to be happy.” It doesn’t make the problem go away, but it helps me put the issue into perspective and makes me feel better. Lots of things drive me crazy […]
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 […]
Don’t Blame It On Rio
The 2016 Summer Olympics are now history. And despite the Russian doping scandal, the problems with the water in the pools (and in the bay), and the threat of Zika among other things, for the most part, Rio (like every Olympics) will be remembered for its high points and, hopefully, not for the low ones. […]
The Great Bathroom Wars
As a nation, we are in the middle of a contentious election year with many important issues being debated (or Tweeted about). What to do about immigration. Where do we as a country stand on abortion rights. The future of accessible healthcare. The need to protect ourselves from radicals bent on doing us harm (both […]
The Color of Sludge
Picking just the right color for a job can be one of a graphic designer’s biggest challenges. The wrong color or shade can tank a project. Blue can be trustworthy or dull. Red? Is it energetic or aggressive? Green can be fresh and environmentally friendly, or it can remind consumers of bread mold. (Years ago, […]
The Not Quite Obsolete Floppy Disk
I had a computer with SCSI for a long time after SCSI was standard computer issue. I had a much loved (and, at the time, very expensive) scanner that connected to my computer using SCSI. And a lot of my old backups were on Zip disks that I could only access using my SCSI Zip […]