The Graphic Arts Tradition
What is that thing? Is it an X-acto knife. Unless you are an old
timer or involved with the crafts scene, you may not even recognize
it. But that, along with other now-archaic tools, like rapidograph
pens, triangles and T-squares, non-repro pens, H-series pencils,
rubber cement and Bastille were the basic tools of the Graphic
Artist, Designer, and Art Director. And don’t forget missing
in action specialists like mechanical and layout artist, film
strippers and typographers. For the first ten years of my career,
x-acto knifes and the associated accessories were my everyday
tools. What's missing is the bloodstains from the occasional and
inevitable nicks and pricks from a busy day at the drawing board,
scraps of rubylith clinging to unwary surfaces and ink under the
fingernails.
Some
of you are taking a little trip in the way back machine. Others
may be wondering what in the heck I am talking about? But
in those pre-desktop years, I learned this profession at a very
deep level and high degree of craft and expertise.
Artwork
was prepared on boards and much of the technical work was sent
out to relatively expensive specialists. Color Separators, type
houses, Service bureaus then featured stat cameras and darkrooms
as opposed to banks of computers and high-end printers. Designers
needed a fairly bulky studio setup to do their work. Drafting
tables, work tables, flat files, waxers, a cornucopia of inks,
brushes and retouching tools. Illustrators could easily double
or triple this investment in gear and space depending on their
choice of media. Trust me on this one, as an illustrator as well
as designer, my fairly large old studio was a very gear packed
space. Art Directors were expected to be well versed in the issues
and details of print production, photography and illustration
as well as design. Doing dozens of marker comps a day was considered
typical... But you seldom see them much today outside the Fashion
realm.
Digital
Workflow
1996 marked a very important year for Me and other creative professionals,
that was the point where the digital workflow hit critical mass
and it when it was not only possible, or even feasible, but now
more efficient and effective to produce print projects completely
within the digital realm. The software and desktop computer technology,
combined with advances in digital prepress had reached a level
where publishers and creatives could actually produce projects
entirely digitally. This has altered the marketplace ever since.
I was able to create the promotional poster for that year’s
NYC Witches' Annual Masquerade Ball with an impossible
turnaround time and minimal budget flatly impossible with traditional
media by going entirely digital with the project, using Infini-D,
Photoshop and Quark XPress. The results were completely professional,
and the sponsors were overjoyed.
SAMPLE
GALLERY: Witches
Ball Poster
The
New Media and New Tools
Nowadays, no designer or art director can survive, much less thrive,
with out a fairly muscular computer, scanner, printer, Internet
access, and suite of graphics software that would have sent an
IBM engineer screaming into the night in 1980. Times change. What
is also means it that a well versed graphics professional must
not only understand the craft of the Layout Artist, Designer,
Typesetter, Illustrator, Photographer, Color Separator and Pre
Press Technician, but also, computer-assisted, perform many of
those functions themselves. A studio is reduced to a desktop.
And small teams or solo professionals now perform the work of
entire departments.
SAMPLE
GALLERY: Invitation
So
Why Does Any Of It Matter?
When it comes to experience and broad knowledge. I have it. I
now use a mouse, keyboard and stylus with the same professionalism
and craft as I did with pencil, brush and x-acto knife. And I
still remember which end the blade goes on. A lot of the craft
and care that went into putting ink on paper went away during
the time when a 300 dpi laser printer was the state of the art,
but I haven’t forgotten. Not to put too fine a point to it,
I've been doing this for a long time and I know what I'm
doing. Beyond design, I am extremely familiar with the
processes and procedures of print and web production, possessing
both digital and traditional studio skills.
SAMPLE
GALLERY: Hana K
Lots
of people can design. But designing and executing projects with
professionalism and finish requires experience. I have it. I have
executed assignments from concept to finish, including prepress
preparation throughout my career. Managing deadlines and multiple
assignments, all in a days work. I have worked solo, freelance,
supervised workgroups and design teams, including mentoring and
training. I have helped shepherd clients and companies into the
digital age, sometimes kicking and screaming. When you need someone
to talk to the printer, having some idea how ink actually hits
paper helps a lot.
THAT’S
why it matters.
Will the pages actually print? Is that image CMYK? RGB? The correct
resolution? Why doesn’t that picture on your screen print
just like it looks on your monitor? Should you use process or
PMS colors? Shall we discuss trapping? What about a web
site?
For
the answers to these and many many other questions, talk
to me.
What I do. Find out about:
GRAPHIC
DESIGN | ART DIRECTION | WEB
DESIGN | ILLUSTRATION
| TRAINING & CONSULTING
