We are in what seems to me a very gray period. No I don't mean the Northeast Ohio weather. I feel right now in society throughout the world we are seeing that the world is not black and white, rather shades of gray. It seems for some gray is very disturbing and they are struggling to put things back into the black and white categories they feel they belong. The bickering in several states over union versus non-union a conflict between the way things "used to be" and a new way to operate. The turmoil in Middle Eastern countries where technology has created a voice for those that have embraced it versus those wanting things to stay as they've historically been. In the entertainment world we're witnessing a split between reality TV and creative programming, forcing many to seek out entertainment on their own terms through online programming not found on network or cable. For many creatives, gray is beautiful. A black and white photo is not truly only black and whit...

It's the week following Valentine’s Day. Maybe at this point, you are sick of anything red and heart shaped after being inundated with Valentine messages and imagery since the New Year. Maybe you love anything heart shaped, wearing it as jewelry and decorating your room or home with hearts from country to contemporary. We use heart icons in so many ways. In a greeting card we can find kitschy expressions of adoration. In fine art paintings we find the symbol used as an expression of deep love or as in a Frida Kahlo painting, deep pain. It even has worked its way into our language to replace words like in the famous “ I heart New York” slogan. But all these references point back to a way to visually express an emotion that is not easily depicted without an icon to represent them. My research into iconography would not be complete without exploring the origin of the heart shape. How did this symmetrical symbol that only vaguely resembles the actual organ become a universal icon? An i...

Challenger Explodes in Flames The Post Standard (Syracuse, New York) Terror Hits Home (pdf) Houston Chronicle Pontiff is at Peace (pdf) Daily Herald (Suburban Chicago) Saints Go Marching In (pdf) Akron Beacon Journal All of the previous newspaper headlines were found above the fold (see the wikipedia definition ,) a term still relevant today in web design. For a web designer planning a site, important information is put in an area of prominence, or above the fold. Many sites are designed so that all the information falls within the visible screen area, not needing to be scrolled to view. Well of course there is the concept of fluid grids , implemented when screen sizes began to rapidly change and even shrunk to mobile phone size. As a visual based designer who's coding experience is mostly front end and who has little love of "whiz bang" special effects on a site, I don't care much for reposition-able sites...but I digress. For a designer visiting a site, nothing ...

Hopefully everyone has enjoyed the holiday season thus far. The holidays can be a time filled with opportunities for creativity and a time we could all use to celebrate peace and understanding, no matter what our individual beliefs! I’ve been disappointed when I noticed on New Years Day that many decorations were gone. Some who hurriedly put up decorations after Thanksgiving, have now rushed to turn off or take down their Christmas and Holiday decorations, even though many of us are still celebrating the Christmas season. I guess the unity of the Christmas spirit fades fast for some. I find it sad, especially for those of the Orthodox faith who will be celebrating Christmas in January, because the spirit of Holiday songs on the radio and public and retail areas filled with festive decorations are removed before they even get a chance to celebrate their holiday. All thoughts have now turned to resolutions and the New Year, fueled by retail and marketing promotions for organizing your ho...

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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