Art Deco: Icons – or – Clip Art?

Posted on August 9, 2009 by Leslie Sigal Javorek | 3 Comments

Posted by: Leslie Sigal Javorek • Date: Sun, Aug 9, 2009 8:55pm

An interesting comment was posted on the forums at MacTHEMES in response to a few previews I had posted of my Art Deco Series when I began noodling with it in 2007. While indicating that he liked my concept, the Poster felt that the execution was more conducive to Clip Art than Icons. I appreciated his comments and must say that when viewing my art at say 48×48 or smaller sizes, that I can certainly see his point. Guess I’m rather spoiled in working on a Mac PowerBook 17 with a resolution of 1920×1200, thus having the real estate to keep my icons at their full OSX 10.4+ size of 128×128 pixels so I can enjoy them and without them being intrusive. I suppose that’s the benefit of being “retired” and no longer having to create work that is acceptable to the general mass market to feed my family. 😉 At the same time, just because I’ve referred to my creations as “icons” doesn’t prevent you creative folks out there from using them as you might if they were advertised as “Clip Art”.

What’s your view? I’m curious to know:

How many of you look upon icons purely as a functional interface element vs. as functional AND “eye-candy”?
What size do you keep icons at on your desktop?
Do you ever set a custom icon on a folder to serve no purpose other than to just enjoy looking at it?
Do your preferences change if working on a Mac vs. Windows?

Free Clip-Art / Icons of the Day

The following images are either full or reduced size previews. Simply right-click (or control-click) on the preview to save the image(s) of your choice to your desktop. (Unless otherwise noted, downloads are 512px X 512px in .png format). As always, usage of any of the images offered in the “Free Clip-Art / Icons of the Day” section are free for your personal use, subject to the limitations of my Creative Commons Non-Commercial – Attribution – No Derivatives – Share Alike- 3.0 license. (See sidebar for Terms of Use) For commercial or any other use, please contact me for directly.

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My Adaptation of cover on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “ALL THE SAD YOUNG MEN” (original on right):

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Versatility of Man-Made Materials in Art Deco

Posted on August 8, 2009 by Leslie Sigal Javorek | Leave a comment

Posted by: Leslie Sigal Javorek • Date: Sat., Aug 8, 2009 6:03 pm

A big part of what drove Art Deco was the plethora of new Industrial materials such as aluminum, bakelite and plastics, which found themselves in favor for such non-industrial applications as dishes, hair brushes, clocks, and even ladies’ evening purses. These new materials were extremely durable, easy to work with and form into exotic shapes and lead to new discoveries for working with pigments as the plastics in particular could take on strong, vibrant colors that did not easily fade.

Free Icons of the Day

The following images are either full or reduced size previews. Simply right-click (or control-click) on the preview to save the image(s) of your choice to your desktop. (Unless otherwise noted, downloads are 512px X 512px in .png format). As always, usage of any of the images offered in the “Free Clip-Art / Icons of the Day” section are free for your personal use, subject to the limitations of my Creative Commons Non-Commercial – Attribution – No Derivatives – Share Alike- 3.0 license. (See sidebar for Terms of Use) For commercial or any other use, please contact me for directly.

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Wise Words to Whet the Visual Appetite

Posted on August 4, 2009 by Leslie Sigal Javorek | Leave a comment

Posted by: Leslie Sigal Javorek • Date: Tues. Aug. 4, 2009 10:35pm

The clever turn of a word that makes one smile to themself and think “I knew that!” or which causes a bit of a blank look upon their face as they mull over a simple statement that they recognize as a very profound observation, seems to stick in your mind and reappear (as if by magic!) when you need to hear or share it most. It’s like when you open a bible (or a book of poetry) to a random page which always seems – somehow – to be the exact page you needed to read at that moment. Below are some of my favorite quotes spoken or written by iconic figures who stood in the forefront of their fields during the height of the Art Deco period (1920’s through the 1930’s). Perhaps one of these gems will hit the spot for you.

“If only we’d stop trying to be happy, we could have a pretty good time.” – – Edith Wharton (author).

“One can never consent to creep, when one feels the impulse to soar.” – – Helen Keller (author, diplomat, inspirational speaker).

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” – – Albert Einstein (scientist).

“”All men dream, but not equally – Those who dream at night, by the dusty recesses of their minds, awake to find that it was vanity. But the dreamers of day are dangerous men, that they may act their dreams with open eyes to make them possible.” – – Thomas E. Lawrence (a.k.a. “Lawrence of Arabia”).

“Hell, there are no rules here — we’re trying to accomplish something.” – – Thomas A. Edison (inventor).

“Judge — A law student who marks his own examination-papers. Lawyer — One who protects us against robbers by taking away the temptation.” – and “Equality before the law is probably forever inattainable. It is a noble ideal, but it can never be realized, for what men value in this world is not rights but privileges.” – – H. L. Mencken (author).

“Every man has a right to his opinion, but no man has a right to be wrong in his facts.” – – Bernard Mannes Baruch (author).

“We have art so that we shall not die of reality.” – – Freidrich Nietzsche (philospher, author).

“Dying is a very dull, dreary affair. And my advice to you is to have nothing whatever to do with it.” – – W. Somerset Maugham (author)

Free Icons of the Day

The following images are either full or reduced size previews. Simply right-click (or control-click) on the preview to save the image(s) of your choice to your desktop. (Unless otherwise noted, downloads are 512px X 512px in .png format). As always, usage of any of the images offered in the “Free Clip-Art / Icons of the Day” section are free for your personal use, subject to the limitations of my Creative Commons Non-Commercial – Attribution – No Derivatives – Share Alike- 3.0 license. (See sidebar for Terms of Use) For commercial or any other use, please contact me for directly.

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