Sunday 16 thru Saturday 22, 2011

This blog will have some history of my work in graphics and my intend to enhance my command of Adobe Illustrator. I believe Illustrator has always saved me professionally. I’ve never been even remotely close to being a “guru” but, honestly, Illustrator got me into the working world of corporate America. I’ve “played” with this application since the 80s. Now I don’t remember how or which Adobe Illustrator version/number I’ve actually used for “professional” work. When I was introduced to Illustrator, the MACs the company had, ran on 4 mgs of ram! I think now computers use DRAM, so, maybe, RAM doesn’t even exist anymore? OK, think of RAM as archaic RAM sticks, does that help? Dude, the new MACs will have flash drives, hard drives will be a thing of the past!


This blog’s background shows my attempts to create my business cards with Illustrator for print. I think I must have tried about 7–9 different angles. I’m not going to delve into specific details about the technique. But, the effect was performed with the simple use of the type, pen and blend tool. If you’d like details let me know and I’ll get them to you. I never had any of these business cards printed. Just couldn’t justify the expense—maybe, these really are hard times. Still, when I created a PDF portfolio, the concept served me well.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/55648749@N08/sets/


Much of my “professional” work was for print and very conservative. (If you take a good look at my portfolio, it does take on a rather “industrial” look.) So, I will also reflect a little on my experiences associated with Adobe InDesign, Photoshop and, maybe, Acrobat. Presently, I’m trying to get a genealogical book out but the author keeps adding pictures and editing the text. Patience and prozac really help. We’ve been working on this book for 3 years. We’ll talk?



Sunday, February 20, 2011

Inspiration about corporate America

I have to produce an editorial poster for a client. This project about genetically modified foods has really made me consider what commerce and working in it is all about. It seems most of the foods we eat come from genetically altered origins. That is, animals are given chemicals to produce more or become more nutrient beneficial to us. Seeds are genetically altered to become resistant to certain “weeds” but will not germinate, leaving farmers subject to the will of the conglomerates who produce the seed. Let’s see, gigantic corporations versus the people, I definitely relate to that!

Working for CINTAS Corporation, I noticed the disparity between the salaries of the executives and the people working in production and distribution, “the floor.” These people worked just as hard as the executives and VPs but were compensated so much less. Working for Hearst Corporation’s San Antonio Express-News (SAEN) gave me a sense of how helpless we all are when it comes to the power of corporations. Seems like these American corporations have no allegiance/patriotism to the good old USA — not when they make their biggest profits by outsourcing their work to foreign countries. I’ve always wondered why not one of the journalists, reporters or columnists ever wrote anything, anywhere about the layoffs occurring right before their eyes. Seems like no one felt like fighting Hearst Corporation. (It was probably a contract thing, right?)

For this “genetically modified foods” project, I did some research and watched the movie “Food, Inc.” The research the French journalist accomplished in this film was just amazing. Now, I’m pretty sure I’ve got enough inspiration to represent this complex dilemma graphically. My tangent/perspective: starving people really don’t care if the food they are eating has been genetically modified. With so billions of people in the world now, food will be food.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhOo1oRqH70
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