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 […]
Was That RBG or CMYK?
Certain pairs just always go together. Chocolate and vanilla. Night and day. Sun and rain. Dogs and cats. Dinner and dessert. They are opposites that attract. Better together, each half complementing its partner. Try making chocolate cookies without the vanilla. Yuck. And really, how would you appreciate a beautiful sunny day if you couldn’t compare […]
The Man Who Invented Italics
For most of recorded human history, human history (and everything else) was recorded mostly by hand. That changed around 1440, when Johannes Gutenberg invented the moveable-type printing press. Suddenly the written word became a whole lot more accessible. Aldus Manutius was an early pioneer in moveable-type printing. As this article from Smithsonian explains, he designed […]
True Blue
The monitor for my first computer system only supported 8-bit color, so it displayed just 256 colors. That sounds like a lot, but it was really limiting. Many colors don’t make the cut when only 256 are allowed to play ball. At the time, I would have loved to have had a monitor that displayed […]
Copy(right) That
Because a good share of what graphic designers produce is referred to as “work for hire,” we never really own our creations. Our clients or employers do. So we are not always aware of what has a copyright and what does not. (Really, do most Americans realize that they don’t have exclusive rights to their […]
The No-Door, No-Office Policy
When I first started working, one of my goals was to have an office with a door and, if I was really fortunate, a window. But, what I really wanted was a door. A door of my very own. It was a goal that I never managed to achieve while working full time, partially because […]
Fiddling with Reality
Retouching photography isn’t something that Photoshop invented. Turns out that photographs have been retouched for about as long as there have been photographs. Retouching used to be a hard-earned (and learned) skill and a true art form. (There is no undo button when you are working on a one-of-a-kind negative or airbrushing on a print.) […]
Saving Lives One Fish at a Time
Sometimes low-tech design is the best. And easy, elegant solutions are the ones that work. (Because complicated is a lot easier to mess up than simple.) This is the story of a fish. A lucky fish. A lucky, iron fish that is helping improve and even save lives in Cambodia, one cooking pot at a […]