A friend of many in the advertising world, Charlie Clark, passed away on December 26th, 2024. Here are my remarks from the celebration of his life: Charlie and I were long-time friends in the world of advertising and graphic design and I’d like to share a snapshot of his work life with you. When she […] The post Charlie Clark was an advertising “idea man” first appeared on Ideabook.com. The post Charlie Clark was an advertising “idea man” appeared first on Ideabook.com ..read more

The graphic design world of the 1960s, ’70s, and early ’80s—the years leading up to the advent of digital design and publishing—was a very different place. Design in that era was as much a craft as it was a skill and talent. We used pens, tape, rubylith, knives, tracing paper, waxers, illustration board, vellum, markers, […] The post The Ancient Artist’s Quiz: 30 questions that graphic designers under 55 might find challenging… first appeared on Ideabook.com. The post The Ancient Artist’s Quiz: 30 questions that graphic designers under 55 might find challenging… appeared first on Ideabook.com ..read more

My dear friend David Maiden Sr. passed away on Monday. David was a brother in Christ, my Sunday school teacher at Glen Allen Baptist Church in the 1990s, and a friend of 30 years. Dave was also one of a dozen or so men who met Tuesday mornings for a number of years in Jimmy […] The post My dear friend David Maiden Sr. passed away on Monday… first appeared on Ideabook.com. The post My dear friend David Maiden Sr. passed away on Monday… appeared first on Ideabook.com ..read more

Based on the response to my earlier post (here), there seems to be lots of interest in the work of photographer Reid Miles. Following is a bit of a Reid redux. Recently, Jackie wrote to tell me she has 7 signed photographs by Mr. Miles. Her father, she told me was the director of Marketing […] The post More on photographer Reid Miles… first appeared on Ideabook.com. The post More on photographer Reid Miles… appeared first on Ideabook.com ..read more

John McWade, a true pioneer in desktop publishing and a gifted design educator, passed away on October 8, 2024, from complications following heart surgery. Here’s a small slice of his remarkable journey. In the early 1970s, “art school” could be disappointing for those of us more interested in graphic design than pure artistic expression. So […] The post John McWade: A Pioneer of Desktop Publishing first appeared on Ideabook.com. The post John McWade: A Pioneer of Desktop Publishing appeared first on Ideabook.com ..read more

I have a copy of this book and have always thought I’d get around to scanning it and putting it online. Thank goodness University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries beat me to it. Here, in all its glory, is what some consider the “culmination of specimen printing,”—1168 pages of typefaces, typeface accessories, printing equipment, and insights into the era. Sixty thousand copies were produced at a cost of three hundred thousand dollars and they said, “The opinion is ventured that in no other work of such magnitude can there be found as high a degree of good craftsmanship—an incentive to all who st ..read more

How many opportunities have you missed because you just weren’t paying attention? I suspect I’ve missed plenty. Imagine, for example, if you had lived in 15th-century Germany when Gutenberg introduced the first movable-type printing press. If you had understood its significance, what impact might it have had on your life? I’m not asking about the impact if you were directly involved—just if you had grasped the importance of what was unfolding. Beyond possibly enriching yourself, how could you have used that knowledge to improve your life and the lives of those around you? Or imagine, in the 17 ..read more

Designers of all types will tell you that much of what they do is hidden in plain sight. By that, I mean we spend lots of time and energy making things look as if they were destined to appear in the form you see them. Good design often seems effortless, as if it occurred naturally. That, of course, is rarely the case. In addition to big picture practices such as creating a concept, establishing a style, and honing the telling of the story–what you don’t see is the work on the small details such as adjusting the position of subjects, the elimination of distractions, the determinations on the us ..read more

Jeff Bridges is not only a talented actor, musician, and writer, he has an eye for design. His web is a series of sketches and handwritten notes that (to me) make him seem friendly and accessible. And he keeps it updated! Jeff Bridges’ Sketchpad… The Latest updates… His latest film… Posted in AUGUST 2022 / Chuck Green is the principal of Logic Arts, a design and marketing firm, a contributor to numerous magazines and websites, and the author of books published by Random House, Peachpit Press, and Rockport Publishers. All rights reserved. Copyright 2007-2022 Chuck Green/Logic Arts Corporation ..read more

Haha… stumbled on this today. Anyone remember? It shows how we designed print in the olden days. It’s called a “comp”–it is a hand-drawn facsimile of what you want the finished product to look like. The media are colored pencils and markers on parchment layout paper mounted on foam core. This final frame shows the actual printed catalog… Posted in JANUARY 2022 / Chuck Green is the principal of Logic Arts, a design and marketing firm, a contributor to numerous magazines and websites, and the author of books published by Random House, Peachpit Press, and Rockport Publishers. All rights rese ..read more