How Mario Got His Mustache
Super Mario Bros. is one of the most successful video game franchises of all time. For people of a certain age, Mario and other Nintendo characters are better known than old-school cartoon characters like...
Tagged: design
Ranch Dressing and Other Modern Inventions
There are many things in this world that are older than you might think. For example, the Pope’s title of “Pontiff” predates Christianity by almost a millennium. The mouse driven computer with a mouse,...
Zero Shades of Gray: Black and White Design
They say it’s not good to think in terms of black and white. This is certainly true if you’re a lawyer or a politician, but as an artist, black and white design can be...
Redesign 101: The Flag of Minnesota
Like Michigan and Vermont, Minnesota is yet another state with a blue flag and a coat of arms. The flag of Minnesota is not just boring, however. It is garish, gaudy and borderline offensive....
The Rule of Tincture in Modern Design
Heraldry is the art and study of coats of arms, seals and banners. It’s the medieval equivalent of graphic design, and as someone interested in both history and design, I’ve always found it fascinating....
Super Mario iPhone Platform
The home screen on the iPhone is made up of little blocks, as are the bricks and boxes in the “Super Mario” series. So one day, I put two and two together and made...
US Highways: Consistently Inconsistent
Though I love Route 66, I’m not a big fan of modern US highways. They’re unpredictable. Whenever you see a blue Interstate shield, you know what you’re going to get. Even if the road...
