Travel broadens the mind. Learning other languages increases our awareness of other perspectives and expressions. Using two page layout programs is a pain in the butt – kind of like travel or language lessons. I’ve noticed that I long for abilities on one application that are in the other application. But then, I (and probably everyone else) has longed...
Constrained by language. If my language doesn’t have a way to express the thought or feeling that I really want you to understand, I borrow a word or phrase from another language. We’re all used to that. But when it comes to using design applications, we just can’t do that (at least, not very easily). If I want to...
Today my projects required me to use both InDesign and QuarkXPress, and I began to feel a little bit bilingual. I can’t claim to be bilingual in any other sense, but I’ve noticed that those who are truly bilingual will sometimes have moments of forgetting that they’re speaking one language and use a word from a different language: forgetting...
I believe that applications and operating systems shape the way we think. It’s only natural that people take the path of least resistance, and in the design world that means using tools that are easiest to use. You can see it in the evolution of the appearance of magazines, advertisements, and everything else that uses words and pictures. Compare...
Today at the Conference on World Affairs, I attended a panel session on how our language is changing. And something occurred to me: because our industry is now actively using two page layout applications, graphic designers are becoming “bilingual”, for lack of a more appropriate term. To work effectively, we need to know how to use both QuarkXPress and...
