One Year Later
My website has been live for just over a year and has had over 20,000 unique hits. (Thank you to Marilyn who suggested adding a counter.) Wow. Not sure who all those people are, but hope they enjoyed visiting the site. Over the past year, I have updated and made additions to my online portfolio. […]
Before Pantone
Every tool that I relied upon when I first started in graphic design has become pretty much obsolete. Except one. Sure, I pull out my trusty X-acto knife and burnishers on the rare occasion that I need to assemble a comp. I have been known to use my old Design markers from time to time, […]
Paper Prison
More often that not, great design is just so simple, so perfect, so obvious. It is a rare combination that is not easily or often achieved. “Paper Prison” created by Interbrand New York celebrates the life and legacy of Nelson Madela with powerful simplicity. The design received a Gold Design Lions award at the 61st […]
A Life in Typefaces
No, not my life—that will be an exercise for another day—Mathew Carter’s life. Since the beginning of written history, the written word has been a product of its times from classic Roman inscriptions carved into marble to the elegant brushstrokes of medieval monks. From the innovation of moveable type that made the printing of Gutenberg’s […]
One Font To Rule Them All
When the definitive history of the twentieth century is written, I suspect that it will be typeset in Helvetica—the definitive font of the last century. Helvetica solidly occupies typeface neutral territory, kind of a Switzerland of typography. (That seems appropriate since the Latin name for Switzerland is Helvetica.) Like a strand of pearls that look right […]
Nut Facts Makeover
Over the years, I have worked in all sorts of design fields: publications, logos, web, advertising, displays. And packaging design—which lives in its own little universe somewhere out in left field. Why is it so different? Packaging design lives in a multi-dimensional world. There are front panels, back panels, top panels, bottoms panels, and side […]
Logos While You Wait
Not all logos are created equal. Some are elegant, brilliant, perfect. Most are just okay. They get the job done, adequately representing a company or service, but not much more. For logos (as with many things in life), great just doesn’t come along that often. And now, so-so logos will be a lot easier to […]
Mac Turns 30
On January 24, 2014, the Macintosh computer turned 30. Wow. The first time I saw a Mac (in person) was sometime during the spring semester of my senior year of college. The business school extended an invitation to the visual communications department to join them for a presentation of the original Mac. Up until then, […]
The C64 Lives On
My first real job was in the publications department of Commodore Business Machines. Consequently, I have a certain nostalgic fondness for the Commodore 64. And so do a lot of other people. (I have been known to impress more than one geek acquaintance with the fact that I used to work at Commodore.) For an […]