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Showing posts from June, 2013

The Art of Redesign

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The word redesign makes me cringe. I don't like redoing anything—it should be done right the first time—not five times past the first. Inwardly I grieve for what can not be. But what can one do? The Committee has spoken—the change must be made, even if I strongly disagree with their decision. Once you get over your disappointment—you have to decide what to do. Artists have to have thick skins in order to survive—but that doesn't mean that we are immune to the hurt. After all, what does one do with a rejected design? Sometimes you can salvage the design—such as in the case of the cover Looking for a City —I was able to utilize the original background image from the rejected cover in the final design. This didn't make the redesign process any easier—but at least I was able to focus more on the type design instead of worrying about what was going to go behind it. Then there are times when you can't salvage anything from the rejected cover. And you wonder, a

Roses are Red

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When I was growing up, I was taught that . . . Trees are Green Roses are Red Sky is Blue Barns are Red Clouds are White Flowers are Yellow Violets are Blue My crayon and marker drawings stayed true, until my parents enrolled me in a two week summer painting class. Our teacher (bless his heart) was very traditional and always said "like so" after every instruction. Apparently, I was the rebellious child and he saw it as his duty to curve my unruly artistic ways. "Barns are not green ." He emphasized the last word as he studied my masterpiece. Our assignment had been to copy his painting. The rest of the class had done just that—and to them he gave praise. But as I was dutifully coping his painting, I decided that a red barn would blend in with the burnt umber treeline. And so, mine was green. It was my first artistic rebellion, but it was most certainly not my last. Trees are Whimsical Roses are Elegent Sky is my Backdrop Barns Protect