About 15 years ago I set a constraint that I would design and publish sets of free vector assets on my website. I wanted a reason to practice vector art, I wanted to give back to the design community. What came from it was recognition and job offers. Last year I tried to set a constraint to write one blog article a month on my experiences in the design world. I failed at that because I wanted to add all the supporting images and just ended up putting too much constraints on myself.
America is massive. And has a huge portion of “wild” country. As much as I want to go EV. All my free time is in the mountains on logging roads and in sub zero temps in winter. The charging networks are not yet embedded in the small mountain towns I frequent and I can’t take that chance.
I interviewed with Uber last year and they wanted me in the office two days a week so I could remote in with the rest of the team scattered throughout the US.
I had rented a barebones Jimny last month when I was in Auckland for the week. Not saying it was prone to roll. But holy hell was it feeling like I could roll that bad boy on some curvy gravel roads. I also loved it.
It’s funny how Musk has changed from the origins of Tesla where he had a very expensive car just to break into the market and build momentum. And now says that having more cars and cheaper cars means the expensive upstart (Waymo) will never compete.
As a designer, I know some absolutely amazing artists who just hunker down and produce phenomenal art/designs and I am not fluffing here. As a climber, I also know of climbers who are at the best in the world level, but don’t post sends on IG or muck about in socially promoting themselves. It’s great to know that there are extremely talented people doing their thing and it’s not driven by leaderboards or social clout.
I didn't see any usage stats in the article. But if the English also made their own, then I guess they were widely used. If any one has any more insight, I'd be keen to know more.
Very early in my design education (late 90's) I was taught that fonts are fonts and the more you have, the better you tool set would be. As a graphic designer I definitely made things with fonts I had downloaded. It wasn't till I got my first serious design job at an agency where I quickly learned about purchasing and licensing fonts. Even if I could "find" a missing font, I wasn't allowed to use it. We needed to get the fonts directly from the vendor we were working with and if they were being too slow, we ate the cost and purchased the font.
Reminds me of efforts to reduce roadkill in Australia.
"The virtual fence is the latest attempt to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions. It uses a line of posts spaced along the roadside, each with a unit producing loud sounds and flashing lights aimed away from the road. Vehicle headlights activate the units, which are claimed to alert animals and reduce the risk of collision."
I have quite a few very fond memories of Toys R Us.
My Aunt and Uncle would come visit us and part of the ritual was to take my sister and me there and we got one toy each, under a certain budget. I typically got Muscle Men or GI Joe.
I can still smell that store in my mind...38 years later. And I can still visualize the GI Joe Aircraft Carrier that was holy unobtainium for me and my families budget.
All of this to say...I am thankful I never witnessed the fall. I hit an age where we stopped going and I just never went back.