This post was originally posted on June 3, 2018 on Sketchbook B. It’s reposted here as part of a project to move some of my favorite writing to my new site.
I loved my analog childhood
Each week for a year, I’m designing a shirt and releasing it on my Threadless store. This is the design for week 50.
My entire childhood was essentially analog. I grew up with records, cassette tapes, VCRs and rabbit ear antennas. I took pictures on film and developed them in a darkroom. When I did research for papers in high school, I used the card catalog in the library to find resources. I sent people letters. And they wrote back. I didn’t have a mobile phone. And smart phones didn’t exist outside of science fiction. We had computers, but they were very simple and barely networked. I didn’t have to worry about social media or texting.
When I got to college, the internet was just taking off. I got email my freshman year and by the time I entered the workforce, everything was different.
I’ll be honest, I wouldn’t go back if I could. I love technology and I love all the things that are possible because of the advancements we’ve made over the last three decades.
But I loved my analog childhood. I feel like I’ve had the best of both worlds. I was able to grow up in a world with a lot less pressure and stress than kids have today. And then, I was able to fully benefit from the internet in college, when research and connectivity were more important. I appreciate how “easy” we have it today because I remember what it was like before. I think it makes me more thankful for the technology and capabilities that we have today.
Bob Wertz writes about design, technology and pop culture at Sketchbook B. Bob is a Columbia, South Carolina-based designer, creative director, college instructor, husband and dad. He’s particularly obsessed with typography, the creative process and the tools we use to create. He’s currently nearing the end of a project to design a new shirt a week for an entire year.
My shirt-a-week project is almost complete. 49 down and 3 to go. To see the whole sequence, follow the link in bio.
This post was originally posted on May 27, 2018 on Sketchbook B. It’s reposted here as part of a project to move some of my favorite writing to my new site.
Ancient stories in the sky
Each week for a year, I’m designing a shirt and releasing it on my Threadless store. This is the design for week 49.
At certain times of the year, when I walk out my front door, the constellation Orion is directly in front of me. Orion’s Belt is easy to spot — three bright stars aligned in a row. I learned all these constellations in Cub Scouts in elementary school, and I had a star field guide at some point. I’ve forgotten most of them, but I remember Orion. I tend to look for it whenever I’m somewhere I can see the stars clearly. Now, my kids and my wife look for it, too. My son, Ryan, is still convinced it’s called “Ryan’s Belt.”
I’ve been thinking about constellations lately. How ancient people found shapes in the night sky to tell their stories… and how we don’t really do that anymore. Our ancestors shared their ideas widely as they traveled and traded. Other cultures took and shaped the stories to fit their traditions. And now, we know stories that pre-date written history. It’s impressive that their narrative is alive today.
What constellations could we find today in the night sky to pass onto our future generations? What grand stories do we even want to pass along?
Bob Wertz writes about design, technology and pop culture at Sketchbook B. Bob is a Columbia, South Carolina-based designer, creative director, college instructor, husband and dad. He’s particularly obsessed with typography, the creative process and the tools we use to create. He’s currently nearing the end of a project to design a new shirt a week for an entire year.
Enjoyed worshiping at St. Michael this morning with the family before heading home.
This post was originally posted on May 20, 2018 on Sketchbook B. It’s reposted here as part of a project to move some of my favorite writing to my new site.
The perfect beach souvenir
Each week for a year, I’m designing a shirt and releasing it on my Threadless store. This is the design for week 48.
Living in Columbia, South Carolina, we can easily make a day trip to Isle of Palms to spend the day on the beach. It’s a relatively easy drive when I-526 isn’t under construction. Other times during the year, we’ll head to Hilton Head. And whenever we head to the beach, our kiddos are somewhat obsessed with finding sand dollars.
Finding a sand dollar isn’t always easy. If the beach is crowded, it’s going to be tough to find one. You want to find a sand dollar that’s in one piece — the beach is littered with fragments of sand dollars. And it can’t be alive. Sure you can take a living sand dollar off the beach and bleach it, but that’s cruel.
We’ve got more than a couple that we’ve collected over the years. And they always remind me of the family beach trips we’ve taken in the past. We’ll take another day trip soon, and hopefully we’ll come home with a perfect sand dollar souvenir.
Bob Wertz writes about design, technology and pop culture at Sketchbook B. Bob is a Columbia, South Carolina-based designer, creative director, college instructor, husband and dad. He’s particularly obsessed with typography, the creative process and the tools we use to create. He’s currently nearing the end of a project to design a new shirt a week for an entire year.
On the fence.
Playing around in my brother’s barn
Farmhouse clock. Love the numerals.
Congrats, Parker!
Jill found my old Minolta and is fascinated with it. I’ve had to explain how a film camera works and what all the buttons do…
Happy Mother’s Day to my parenting partner-in-crime.
This post was originally posted on May 13, 2018 on Sketchbook B. It’s reposted here as part of a project to move some of my favorite writing to my new site.
Things always loop back around
Each week for a year, I’m designing a shirt and releasing it on my Threadless store. This is the design for week 47.
I was a young kid when my parents got us a Commodore VIC-20. Around the same time, I was exposed to TRS-80 computers at school. With either system, you could load and play very simple games, but you could also write some simple programs. One of the easiest things to do was to write a simple loop, and then the string in the first line would repeat infinitely.
I’d go into Sears, Montgomery Ward or Service Merchandise and they had computers out in the electronics department. No one really knew how to display computers, and it was pretty clear the sales people had no idea what to do with a computer. The machines would just sit there. So I’d always write a loop, with “hello” or my name repeating infinitely. Just because I could.
It was also in that Chicago suburb that I learned about coffee. My father was the pastor at a Lutheran church with a strong Swedish heritage. And those church members loved their coffee. Strong, black coffee. No cream. No sugar. I didn’t drink coffee then… I was too young. But many years later, when I acquired a taste for coffee, I always tried to drink it black because I believed that had to be the best way to enjoy coffee. It’s funny how experiences from childhood always manage to loop back around.
Bob Wertz writes about design, technology and pop culture at Sketchbook B. Bob is a Columbia, South Carolina-based designer, creative director, college instructor, husband and dad. He’s particularly obsessed with typography, the creative process and the tools we use to create. He’s currently nearing the end of a project to design a new shirt a week for an entire year. Follow Bob on Twitter, Instagram and Micro.Blog.
This post was originally posted on May 6, 2018 on Sketchbook B. It’s reposted here as part of a project to move some of my favorite writing to my new site.
Facts at my fingertips
Each week for a year, I’m designing a shirt and releasing it on my Threadless store. This is the design for week 46.
My daughter, Jill, was asking me what I read for fun when I was her age. The answer probably isn’t surprising for anyone that really knows me: I read the encyclopedia for fun.*
My family had a set of World Book encyclopedias. I’d grab a volume, crack it open and look for something that interested me. I liked to read about space travel, other countries and creatures of all sorts.
Jill, of course, has no idea what an encyclopedia is. She eventually concluded that it was “like the internet, but printed out and never updated.” And yes, that’s reasonably accurate and more than a little snarky. But when I was a kid, the world’s knowledge, as I understood it, was completely contained within the 20 or so volumes that sat on the shelf in the family room. I still love finding a topic on Wikipedia and learning everything I can about it.
* I read more than just the encyclopedia. I also loved the atlas and anything by David Macaulay.
Bob Wertz writes about design, technology and pop culture at Sketchbook B. Bob is a Columbia, South Carolina-based designer, creative director, college instructor, husband and dad. He’s particularly obsessed with typography, the creative process and the tools we use to create. He’s currently in the middle of a project to design a new shirt a week for an entire year.
