As a graphic designer and art enthusiast, I become increasingly interested in icons and symbols. At one time my interest only covered the aptly described iconic brand symbols such as Paul Rand's UPS logo or Raymond Loewy's International Harvester logo. Over time I've learned how symbolism in art and society has progressed through the years. Dating as far back as the Roman Empire, when Constantine began to use the Chi-Rho monogram for his army. Symbols have even made their way into our lives functionally. The ampersand is once again being used in writing text messages and tweets. With symbolism playing such an important role in our lives, it was quite shocking to see the retail brand Gap's recent attempt at redesigning their iconic brand . The once clean and simple blue logo with reversed out type, reminiscent of a pair of jeans back pocket was temporarily changed to what a company spokesperson claimed was a more modern design. Temporarily is the key word here, as so man...

Sadly, summer is winding down. With shorter days I find myself indoors more often and catching up on the computer. I've been more of a visitor than an active participant online. Tonight however, I was inspired to write a blog entry after hearing one of my biggest pet peeves on the 11 p.m. news. There was a story about a virus that starts from the "Adobe program." Which Adobe program? Adobe makes many products, software and fonts. As a graphic designer, we often hear clients or fellow non-design employees in our organizations make this mistake. Here is my appeal to those of you who may be guilty of making your designer friends cringe. Dear computer users that occasionally use pdfs, Just a note to correct a common misnomer often stated by Microsoft users. In the story about a computer virus, the writers had a reporter state that the virus was caused by "the Adobe program." Adobe makes many programs and fonts. Adobe is the Brand and Acrobat, Photoshop, Illustrator,...

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Textural Patterns of Cleveland Dispelling some of the negative comments about Cleveland, I am finding so many interesting sights I never took the time to look at before.

Thanks for the summer creative break inspiration from Susannah Conway and Alease Michelle . Creative Inspiration is all around me lately. My focus has been inspired by images like these:

Buzz Words and Catch Phrases Over the past 5 to 10 years buzz words and catch phrases have been hard to avoid. The popularity of digital media has helped to spread these sayings, and the media itself is not immune to being caught up in a catch phrase cliché. Many of these phrases leave one confused as they are empty of any true meaning, or their use has been taken totally out of context. Business catch phrases are the worst culprits with sayings such as “Out of the Box,” “Transparency,” and “Taking Ownership.” Is Content King? The phrase that stands out the most to me is “content is king,” often used to refer to digital media marketing. I wouldn’t be so arrogant as to say that creativity is more important than content. However simply putting content on display for a visitor will not grab their attention. So is the content really King, or on an equal plane and dependent on a creative vision? Grabbing a viewer’s attention visually is not just about web design; it applies to an...

It's been my experience that creative people thrive on inspiration. I know I'm guilty of it. Salvador Dali may have felt creativity itself could be inspired through imitation when he said, "Those who do not want to imitate anything, produce nothing." I've also noted that creativity dwindles with low energy. Try as I may, every winter gets worse and it's a struggle to find that creative spark or the time to execute the many ideas floating around in my head. I think I can place some blame on the snow our region receives. It takes twice as long to prepare to leave the house and even longer to get to your intended destination. Winter seems to be a giant "Groundhogs Day" where the days of the week are a constant repetition with little extra time to break the routine. Inspiration is my answer to making it through the winter. I have found a great deal of inspiration in collage. I don't look at what used to be trash the same way anymore. That bottle,...

The holidays are over, and winter has hit us full force. I've already had enough of the snow, but this year I'm really trying to make good use of the time indoors. I have many projects and techniques on my mind to explore in my own art, both digital and mixed media. Practice makes perfect, or at least it improves technique and opens us up to more ideas. Being inside in the winter is a time of contemplation too. I am reading more and considering the happenings in my life and the world around me with more detail. I heard on a recent news show that in economic and political times such as the one we are in, many people become more reflective on the nature of issues around them and their own beliefs. At times like these people do not want to settle for the status quo. I think I saw proof of that on a discussion that may still be brewing on a Linkedin group's discussion board. The question posted asked whether or not creativity could be taught. To me the answer that...