Author Archives: Brian Lawler

About Brian Lawler

Brian Lawler is an Emeritus Professor of Graphic Communication at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo and was a Guest Professor at Hochschule München from September, 2021 to September, 2022. He writes about graphic arts processes and technologies for various industry publications, and on his blog, The Blognosticator.

Mass storage in perspective

Posted on January 6, 2014 by Brian Lawler

I got an e-mail from a friend with a link to a Facebook page where a photo was displayed of an IBM hard drive was being loaded onto an Pan American airliner with a forklift. The disk, according to the … Continue reading →

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Things I have never seen before

Posted on January 1, 2014 by Brian Lawler

Happy New Year from The Blognosticator! This last week I saw two things I have never seen before, and I thought I would share them with you. And, I have a few other musings to discuss, as you will see. … Continue reading →

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Dear Blognosticator readers – all 60,000 of you

Posted on December 31, 2013 by Brian Lawler

We have reached a milestone on this 31st day of December, 2013: 60,000 readers! Your continued interest in the blogs has been inspiring to me, and I thank each and every one of you. A lot of interesting topics have … Continue reading →

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Pencil for Paper by 53

Posted on December 31, 2013 by Brian Lawler

It’s a stylus with a rubber tip on both ends. It works with the Paper app on iPads. I absolutely love Paper, the app by 53. I have been using it for well over a year on my iPad, and … Continue reading →

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’tis the season to make Biscotti and Photoshop masks

Posted on December 23, 2013 by Brian Lawler

Every year about this time I get out my recipes and I make a load of biscotti to give away as gifts, and a few for myself. I love biscotti, and I love making them. Years ago I was given … Continue reading →

Posted in Photography, Photoshop techniques | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

I’m going to be an energy magnate!

Posted on December 20, 2013 by Brian Lawler

In my spare time, between teaching and preparing for a photo exhibition opening in February, I have been installing solar panels on my roof. I had decided to do this several years ago, and had found the price of the … Continue reading →

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The 32,767-pixel limit: I should learn to read dialog boxes!

Posted on December 4, 2013 by Brian Lawler

That didn’t work quite as planned. In my large scale printing project, I started late last night to print the first of 17 strips of my huge panoramic photo 44 inches by ten feet in length. My original photo is … Continue reading →

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A do-it-myself take-up reel for a wide-format Epson printer

Posted on December 4, 2013 by Brian Lawler

I’ve mentioned in a few of my recent blogs that I am preparing a photographic exhibition at the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art that opens on February 14, 2014. I’m in the thick of preparation now, making prints, mounting … Continue reading →

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The Boy Mechanic rides a Faraday bike

Posted on December 3, 2013 by Brian Lawler

As a kid I read The Boy Mechanic cover to cover many times, so many, in fact, that it’s almost worn out, as you can see in the photo, below: This is my tattered copy of The Boy Mechanic, published … Continue reading →

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Resurrecting Ottmar Mergenthaler

Posted on November 26, 2013 by Brian Lawler

In 1960, John W. Reed, President of the Linotype Company, presented a bronze bust of Ottmar Mergenthaler to the students of Cal Poly’s Printing Department (now called Graphic Communication). The bust is about 2/3 life size, and is mounted on … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, People, Typography | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments