This post was originally posted on March 14, 2020 on Sketchbook B. It’s reposted here as part of a project to move some of my favorite writing to my new site.
Uncertainly in the time of coronavirus
When I redrew my Sketchbook B fish logo a few months ago, I decided to draw him with a few different emotions by moving the eyes around and changing his expression. The nameless little fish has been a proxy of sorts for me and I thought it would be cute to switch out the logo on the site for how I was feeling. I even drew a few with hats and sunglasses for the summer.
Today, I decided to change the fish on Sketchbook B for the first time because of the coronavirus. The pandemic response is impacting everything in my life. My conference presentation in Memphis was moved online. My grad school classes next week are cancelled and going online only for a couple of weeks after that. For now, my wife and kids are still in school and my daughter’s lacrosse season continues, but all of that can change with an email.
Cancelling everything is completely the right call. Preventing the spread of the pandemic should be the priority for everyone, but everything has changed so quickly. Even for someone like me who has been following the coronavirus spread closely, things went from scary to terrifying so incredibly fast.
I opened the Affinity Designer file with all my fish variations and looked for the appropriate one for how I feel about the coronavirus pandemic. I fully intended to use one of my “disappointed” fish, but as I looked around the screen, at the top edge of the artboard was one of the last fish I drew: my “anxious” fish. I didn’t think I’d ever use him, but honestly, if I don’t use him now, I don’t know when I’d use him.
For now, I’ll go with the anxious fish. And as my emotions about things change, I’ll switch out the little guy. I look forward to the return of the happy fish and can’t wait to use the version with the Cubs hat for opening day.
My logo, for now.
Bob Wertz writes about design, technology and pop culture at Sketchbook B. Bob is a Columbia, South Carolina-based designer, researcher, college instructor, husband and dad. He’s particularly obsessed with typography, the creative process and the tools we use to create.
More network analysis as art. #nodexl #nodexlgraph
Network data visualization as art. #nodexl
Normally, this Starbucks is packed with graduate students. Not tonight. I’m the last one…
I love when my @jetpens order arrives two days earlier than expected. New mechanical pencil, fountain pen and ink… all green, of course.
This post was originally posted on January 4, 2020 on Sketchbook B. It’s reposted here as part of a project to move some of my favorite writing to my new site.
It’s become trendy to bash Facebook — and everyone on Facebook — as unsophisticated. Dave’s especially pointing out how journalists have a tendency to dismiss Facebook and its audience. He’s not so much defending Facebook as he is pointing out that with over a billion users, you can’t ignore Facebook if you are trying to build a business.
I’ve been mostly off Facebook for a little over a year. I’ve decided that, for various reasons, Facebook was not an experience that I enjoyed anymore. I have issues with Facebook. I don’t approve of Facebook’s approach to privacy and I think the algorithm brings out the worst in people sometimes, but the reason I’ve left Facebook is that it doesn’t make me happy.**
That said, I completely agree with Dave. If you are trying to build a business, you can’t ignore Facebook. I’ll be honest, when I post links to my blog posts on Facebook, the articles get more traffic. Leaving behind Facebook meant leaving behind that audience. If we’re talking about my blog, that’s a trade off I’m willing to make. If you are starting a business venture, you don’t have the luxury to ignore an audience that large.
Dave’s follow up post brings up a second, maybe more important point:
I want to clear something up. I do not equate the net with Facebook. However a lot of people do. That’s where you have to meet them. If you want to go forward with them, Facebook is where they are. Why do you rob banks? That’s where the money is. ;-)
For those of us who have chosen to quit Facebook, it’s important to remember that we are in the minority. Most people enjoy their experience on Facebook. I’d actually say that most people find it impossible to imagine their lives without Facebook. To some people, Facebook is the internet. When we bring up the need to build a better internet, we need to talk about the ways that an open web improves on the things they like about their Facebook experience.
* RSS, Podcasting, etc.
** I don’t love Facebook, but I’m still on Instagram.
Bob Wertz writes about design, technology and pop culture at Sketchbook B. Bob is a Columbia, South Carolina-based designer, researcher, college instructor, husband and dad. He’s particularly obsessed with typography, the creative process and the tools we use to create.
This post was originally posted on December 31, 2019 on Sketchbook B. It’s reposted here as part of a project to move some of my favorite writing to my new site.
Defining who I want to be…
Like last year, I’m going to set some loose themes for this year. They aren’t goals or resolutions, but they do give me a nice guidepost for what I want to accomplish during the upcoming year. For 2020, I only have four themes.
One note about my themes this year: I’m thinking about them more as statements of identity. During this past year, I readAtomic Habits by James Clear and one anecdote in particular has stuck with me. When people are trying to quit smoking, people who say “I’m not a smoker” are more successful than people who say “I’m trying to quit.” Defining who you are can help shape your habits and actions. So I’m framing my themes as statements of who I am instead of what I want to do.
I’m a graduate student. I only have a handful of classes left and my thesis. Most of my time and energy will be focused on completing my Master’s degree and presenting at conferences. I’ll be doing a significant amount of reading and writing for classes and research this year. If all goes according to plan, I’ll graduate in December of 2020.
I’m a healthy person. I need to start taking better care of myself. Yes, that means eating better and working out regularly, but being healthy does just mean physical health. I’ve read a lot in the past year about meditation and mindfulness and I feel like I’d benefit from carving time out of my schedule to focus on mental health as well.
I’m a typeface designer. I love designing typefaces. Honestly, it’s my favorite thing to design and I don’t do it frequently enough. (This year, despite it being one of my themes, I only finished a single typeface.) I’ve got plans for a variable typeface and my plan is to finish it in 2020.
I’m a reader. It wasn’t one of my themes for 2019, but I decided in the spring that I’d like to read more books. I used Goodreads to track my reading, rediscovered my local library and finished 24 books over the course of the year (not including all those journal articles and books I read for class). I’d like to keep it going…
And that’s it. I have other projects and topics I’ll work on, but these are the four big themes. Last year, I wrote a follow up at the midpoint of 2019. For this year, I’m going to try and write about my progress at least once a month.
Bob Wertz writes about design, technology and pop culture at Sketchbook B. Bob is a Columbia, South Carolina-based designer, researcher, college instructor, husband and dad. He’s particularly obsessed with typography, the creative process and the tools we use to create.
This post was originally posted on December 30, 2019 on Sketchbook B. It’s reposted here as part of a project to move some of my favorite writing to my new site.
Adding some fiction to the mix
I tend to read mostly non-fiction*, but for 2019, I made a concerted effort to read more fiction and thoroughly enjoyed the change of pace. In all, I read 24 books during the year. According to Goodreads, that’s 8,410 pages.**
So how did I find the extra time to read more? As I started to change my relationship with social media, I also figured out that I needed to change how (and when) I used my phone. So most evenings, I avoided using my phone after dinner and read a book instead.
I also made sure I had a book to read at all times. I used Goodreads to track the books I wanted to read and then requested them from my local library. Richland Library has a online interface for requesting books. The book is typically ready for pick up in a couple of days although sometimes, it takes longer for popular books. It was much less expensive than buying them all new.
And finally, as I wrote about earlier this year, getting reading glasses might have contributed to reinforcing my reading habit.
For next year, I’m going to aim for 26 books — one every two weeks. It seems like a reasonable goal with all of the reading and writing I’ll have to do for graduate school this year. I looking forward to adding even more fiction to my reading mix.
* Even when I was a small child, I gravitated towards non-fiction books.
** That doesn’t count all the books and journal articles I read for work. Or articles I read online.
Bob Wertz writes about design, technology and pop culture at Sketchbook B. Bob is a Columbia, South Carolina-based designer, researcher, college instructor, husband and dad. He’s particularly obsessed with typography, the creative process and the tools we use to create.
This post was originally posted on December 29, 2019 on Sketchbook B. It’s reposted here as part of a project to move some of my favorite writing to my new site.
Complicated feelings…
Warning: Significant spoilers for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker premiered last week. I caught a late show on opening night and then saw it again with the family a couple of days later. After the first viewing, I was conflicted. I enjoyed the movie, but honestly, I left a little disappointed. There was just so much to process and I wasn’t sure I was satisfied with all the twists and turns. Chris Trainor at the Free Times posted a great review that pretty much summarized my initial feelings.
When I saw it a few days later, I enjoyed it much more. I knew what to expect and just sat back and enjoyed the ride. A couple of random thoughts…
Palpatine and Exegol. I have lots of questions about how Palpatine came back from the dead and where all those Sith disciples on Exegol came from.
Rey. I don’t necessarily love that Rey is a Palpatine, but I understand why they made that choice. Even so, I never felt Rey was going to really turn to the dark side, so all of the attempted fake outs felt a little flat to me.
Droids. They used C-3PO and D-0 well as comic relief. I especially loved when C-3PO declared Babu Frick “one of my oldest friends.”
“That’s not a navy, sir. It’s just… people.” I thought the final battle was entertaining. So many ships. (Maybe too many ships, to be honest.) The shock of General Pryde when the Resistance reinforcements show up, and the concept that the only way to defeat tyranny is for ordinary people to stand up to evil.
Leia. I think this movie would have been much stronger if Carrie Fisher were alive to deliver her lines instead of using repurposed footage from The Force Awakens. I think they did a good job piecing it together, but it would have been stronger. That said, I’d rather have this movie than one with a CGI Leia.
Media blitz. I didn’t seek out spoilers, but I couldn’t avoid the crush of promotional clips, trailers and commercials. I think it was a mistake to show so much. If I hadn’t already seen the clip of the Millennium Falcon coming to the rescue with thousands of ships, the moment in the end when Poe is giving up would have had more impact. Instead, I was waiting for the scene from the trailers when the reinforcements show up.
Where next? Will Rey start rebuilding the Jedi order? Will there be a new, New Republic or will the universe finally give up on the concept of a single galactic government? Have we finally seen the last of the Sith? I know this is the end of the Skywalker Saga, but they left more than a few direction for future movies and streaming shows.
In the end, I’m satisfied. I don’t plan to see it again in the theater, but will watch it again as soon as it comes out on Disney+. And we’re not done with Star Wars, we’re just ready to move on to other stories in the Star Wars universe.
Bob Wertz writes about design, technology and pop culture at Sketchbook B. Bob is a Columbia, South Carolina-based designer, researcher, college instructor, husband and dad. He’s particularly obsessed with typography, the creative process and the tools we use to create.
Spotted this little guy on a hike with the family today.
Here are my 8 favorite shots from 2019. Lots of wonderful memories… Like I did last year, I picked my eight favorite shots from the last year instead of letting an algorithm choose what pictures others like most. (I’ve written about my Fav8 process on my blog…) #fav8
This post was originally posted on December 15, 2019 on Sketchbook B. It’s reposted here as part of a project to move some of my favorite writing to my new site.
Vincent visits Columbia.
Self portrait in a snazzy gold frame.
I spent Saturday afternoon at the art museum. My daughter — to celebrate her 15th birthday — wanted to visit the Van Gogh exhibit* at the Columbia Museum of Art with a couple of her friends.
The exhibition highlighted not just Van Gogh’s art, but also the artists that influenced him. It’s important to remember that everyone — even a master like Van Gogh — was influenced by the world and art around him.
I’ll also add that if you have an art museum near you, go visit it. We don’t visit the Columbia Museum of Art frequently enough. Today, we spent a little extra time upstairs looking at the permanent collection and I found a few new pieces that I don’t remember seeing before and found interesting.** It’s a great collection and we are lucky to have it here in Soda City.
* If you are in the Columbia area, check out the Van Gogh exhibit. It’s up through January 12, 2020.
** They recently expanded the galleries in the permanent collection. So it’s quite possible they are, indeed, newly on display.
Bob Wertz writes about design, technology and pop culture at Sketchbook B. Bob is a Columbia, South Carolina-based designer, researcher, college instructor, husband and dad. He’s particularly obsessed with typography, the creative process and the tools we use to create.
