March 5, 2010

Fridays with Mordy

I think back to how I got started in this business. I was always interested in technology and art, and at the time, those two worlds were beginning to collide. Sure, I remember burnishing rub-down Letraset fonts, losing parts of fingers to X-Acto #11 blades while carefully cutting rubylith, fumbling around the darkroom to find the box of film for the stat camera, and sniffing awesome Pantone markers and rubber cement. But I also remember my first Quadra 700, using the first design application I purchased with my own money (Deneba Canvas), and spending hours and hours in front of the 16" RGB screen -- just knowing that one day, it was going to be the focus of a designer's toolbox.

One of the things that really pushed my learning further was that I was a member of AOL and there was a Vector Forum that I participated in. That's were I first "met" the likes of Sharon Steuer, Sandee Cohen, Ted Alspach, Sree Kotay, etc. Every Tuesday evening, the Vector Forum would have a live one-hour chat, where we'd pick a topic and discuss all things vector. I learned so much from those chats, and I was also able to share what I was learning with others.

I'd like to bring that concept of a weekly chat back -- and so I'm starting Fridays with Mordy -- a weekly chat each Friday for about 30 minutes where we talk about Illustrator or anything else that matters to a designer in the world of technology.



We'll pick a different topic each week, based on user feedback, and it will be a great opportunity for all of us to share advice, information, and ideas. And we'll make new friends!

Fridays with Mordy "airs" LIVE each Friday at 2:00 pm Eastern time (US) and the URL is:

http://experts.na3.acrobat.com/fridayswithmordy

Here's a link to some recorded sessions:
- Recoloring Artwork in Illustrator (aired 03/12/2010)
- Resolution & File Formats in Illustrator (aired 03/19/2010)
- Making Selections in Illustrator (aired 04/09/2010)

- Illustrator CS5 Overview (aired 04/12/2010)
- Illustrator CS5 & Flash Catalyst CS5 (aired 04/16/2010)
- Envelope Distortion in Illustrator (aired 04/23/2010)
- Smart Guides & Alignment in Illustrator (aired 04/30/2010)
- Making Illustrator YOURS (aired 05/14/2010)
- Building Art in Illustrator (aired 05/21/2010)
- Working with Illustrator and Photoshop (aired 05/28/2010)

You can suggest topics for future Fridays with Mordy sessions here in the comments, or on Twitter. In fact, if you aren't already following me on Twitter, you should consider doing so, since it's the primary way I connect with my viewers these days (I gladly answer Illustrator questions that people send my way). You can follow me at @mordy on Twitter.

Fridays with Mordy is sponsored by Lynda.com, who now also offer an iPhone app that allows you to log into your account and few thousands and thousands of high quality training from some of the best trainers in the industry. For more information on the Illustrator Lynda.com training that I offer, click on the big yellow banner that appears on the right.

I look forward to seeing you at a future Fridays with Mordy!

16 comments:

dltmphoto said...

Today's was great! Thanks so much and I plan to come back......TGIF!
Dianne

Aquaspark said...

This sounds great Mordy... I've just come across your blog and this story took me back in time... memories of the way it was! Though I enjoyed the work... back then! These days are about the wonderful technology we have, exquisite work and cleaner work places!
Aqua

Gary Spedding, Ph.D. said...

Glad to see you back - thought you had dropped of the face of the earth.

Gary.

MACinTUTOR said...

How about a session on:

(1.) practical uses of 3D?
(2.) OpenType fonts and various related panels
(3.) ye o' tried and true Blend tool
(4.) Live Paint uses such as AlmostOlympic.ai?
(5.) Blob Brush and the other "real" brush categories
(6.) Integration with Flash
(7.) Pathfinder panel and Pathfinder effects

:-)
Thomas

Steve Dolan said...

Will these events be recorded so we can watch them later if we miss them?

Unknown said...

Thanks for the ideas, Thomas! I'll add them to my (growing) list. Steve, I am recording these, and have already posted links in this post (above) to past sessions. Check them out and let me know what you think!

Anonymous said...

As Illustrator CS5 is coming out is there any thing new compare to Illustrator CS4 as I have not found anything so far? I guessed there not much to choose between Illustrator CS4 and Illustrator CS5 but I could be wrong!

Gary Spedding, Ph.D. said...

Any news forthcoming on Ai CS5? Sounds like the network are being allowed to start giving snippets of info. Stuff out on PS and InD but nothing yet on Ai? I have a strong feeling that Adobe are allowing Ai to die off quietly away but I hope not.

Usama said...

Dear Mordy,

To me illustrator was completely different compared to photoshop, I quite frankly was about to give it up and get back to how frustrting some text stuff could look like after printing them on Photoshop.
I tired to read illustrator's help and it was boring to the bone - Then I found your website and then a friend shared with me your vedio tutorials.
I feel better now lol life is easier and I stand up to you with respect and appreciation.
Many thanks for all the hard work you're doing and have done and God bless you and yours.

Usama / Iraq

Anonymous said...

I would love help using masks to their full potential. For example, if I have a shape, like an apple, with a nice gradient fill, and I'd like to add a highlighted edge on one side, how can I mask off that highlight shape so that it fits inside the apple, without removing the nice gradient fill on the apple? And without creating extra layers, or cutting shapes into pieces, or making the shapes uneditable?

MACinTUTOR said...

Another topic request: the new perspective tool in Illustrator CS5. I am particularly intersted in how it can be used in interior design.

Thanks!
Thomas

Lukas Engqvist said...

Just downloaded CS5, and start playing with the new things… some small quirks though :S
The beautiful strokes applies the same shape on all subpaths of a compound stroke, I see that from a mechanical aspect this is the way it "should" work... from a creative aspect a little less intuitive.

Having some problems getting to terms with the paint inside feature. Get spooky strokes appearing on hidden objects, seems paint inside is only to be used on shapes with basic appearance?

Unknown said...

Great idea. hope to be around for it - or listen to the recording..love the name
When is the book coming out?

Unknown said...

Just wanted to say thanks for this great series! I've watched a few, and hope to actually attend one live soon. I've been a fan of your Lynda.com classes and books for years now and this is a great resource to supplement those - keep it going!

Dennis Yu said...

Mordy! You are great. I love your tips and tutorials. I am a student at SUNY New Paltz. Learning design from you is completely different because you give insight on how to work on projects outside of the classroom. The several tips you give will definitely save time with the assurance of the quality of work. I'm in the NYC area too, so if you have any events please let me know. I would be glad to attend.

MACinTUTOR said...

Glad the show is back again. This is the first time I am not teaching on a Friday afternoon so I finally get to participate in a live one.

Some topics I would love to see covered:
• Open Type: Glyphs panel, ligatures, typographic features, etc.
• Live Paint: something like your Olympic Rings where you show how this enables the "impossible" in Illustrator
• Masks: Clipping, Opacity, etc
• Blend Modes
• Integration tips with Flash (not Flash Catalyst), throw in the blend to layers to frames to SWF thing you do as well.
• Blend Tool: I am sure you have lots of tips on this you have gathered over the years
• Brushes: particularly the new Bristle Brush
• Effects: 3D and any of your favorite effects
• Graphic styles: techniques like your "Highway" graphic style are cool
• Symbols: symbolism tools, using Movie clip (NOT graphic) symbols for Flash
• Integration tips with the other apps in the Creative Suite such as Fireworks

Thanks!
Thomas

Thomas Benner
The Art Institute of Austin