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Stewart Design Doodles

Observations on Graphic Design, Mobile Computing and the Web

Long Day’s Journey Into MacNovember 30

longdaysjourney

I am an anomaly: a long-time graphic designer who has worked exclusively on the Windows platform since the early 90s. It wasn’t always smooth sailing, especially at the beginning when design software was slow to come out for Windows, if it came out at all. Back in the 90s, if you were a print designer, you were generally considered a masochist and/or an idiot to work in Windows. But I was a pragmatist, not willing to dish out loads of extra cash when I knew how to get Windows to work just fine for design– albeit with some jumping through hoops. I churned out thousands of design jobs in Windows, sometimes getting compliments from prepress departments for how well my files were constructed compared to what typical Mac-based designers normally gave them. Occasionally a Mac-centric shop would tell me they refused to take PC files, despite my argument that file formats were identical, and that it makes no sense to discriminate on the basis of an .EPS file’s birthplace. (In those cases I’d compress those same PC-generated files with Stuffit to make it look like they came from a Mac, and… well, whaddaya know… not a peep of protest from the shops.)

Since the advent of Windows XP in late 2001, Windows was finally on par with Mac fo

Irish-Hindu wedding logoOctober 27

Our son is getting married in a few weeks to a wonderful young woman in D.C., and we spent this past weekend working on wedding gifts and favors for the guests that incorporate both their Irish and Hindu heritage. Our daughter thought of the idea of screenprinting an Irish and Hindu blessing on a piece of Irish linen. I thought it would be cool to create their own custom image of interlocking Irish love knots and the Ohm, the sacred Hindu symbol. Here’s what I came up with:

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Feed enhanc

Welcome to hevenOctober 25

Reason no. 21,325 why little girls are the cutest things ever: Check out the note my 8-year-old friend Libby left for her father on the garage door, after having heard he had a really hard day at work:

welcome-to-heven

Transcription:
Welcome to Heven!!!! Where their is no work and only musages* and piece and quiet not to menchen hugs and kisses. So slip on those Ira socks** and fuzzy bear slippers and favorite P.J.’s but relax!!!!!

*I have a Free Musage Ticket that Libby once made for me as a gift for babysitting her guinea pigs. She will hole punch it to validate it after each massage. Unlike regular coupons, however, this one never expires. “If I run out of places to punch holes,” she told me, “I will just make you another!”

**Libby is referring to her dad’s black dress socks, which he has been known to wear with shorts, like their neighbor Ira does.

Baby BoomOctober 21

This past weekend, 6 babies– 4 little nieces, 1 baby cousin, and our little granddaughter—all younger than one and a half—gathered in Dallas for a mass baby christening. My mother, ever the optimist, invited over 50 friends and relatives, hired a caterer, outfitted all the babies in tiny christening gowns and bonnets, booked 2 photographers, and called the first presbyterian church to tell them we were descending on them.

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The iPod Touch: a great gift for technophobes, elderly and disabledOctober 18

Last week we, bought an 8gb iPod Touch ($229 from Fry’s) for my Irish father-in-law’s upcoming 80th birthday. We loaded it with a bunch of his favorite old music, family photos and videos from the trips we’ve been on together. And we’re bringing it to our son’s wedding next month to add wedding photos, and a special video of everyone singing happy birthday and giving him birthday wishes.

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