Going Analog

A lot has changed, since the last time I posted anything on my website. AI has run amuck and seeped into everything.  I had high hopes for it at one time. It was a great way to suss out ideas, either in words, or visually. That has all changed though. It's oozing out of every digital device and  application.

As Cory Doctorow, the author of "Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It", has been known to say, “AI is the asbestos we are shoveling into the walls of our society and our descendants will be digging it out for generations.”

Now, in my late 50s, another year older, (and 70 pounds lighter), I've come to see a lot of things in the world change. I remember John Lennon being murdered, the AIDS epidemic, 9-11, crazy POTUS choices and COVID. I remember the VIC-20 the Commodore-64, the Macintosh, the iPod and the iPad.

But, somewhere around 2008, the American empire started circling the drain. Having a black president was the tipping point for so many that they just lost their racist minds and went full-on fascist. Conspiracies became lethal and were no longer just about cute, little harmless things like Nessie, UFOs, lizard people, the Illuminati and Sasquatch. People's lives were upended or worse as a direct result of shit like Qanon.

The world has become "enshittified". We are living in the "Enshittocene". A lot of this happened in an analog way during the COVID crisis. People realized that life was more important than meaningless jobs and shitty pay. Their eyes were opened. The cat was out of the bag, and it was never going back in. Corporations have realized too that employees don't like the way they're paid and treated. Their hearts aren't into a futile minimum wage job anymore. As a result, employees just don't care.

"Nobody wants to work anymore!" the employers exclaim. No, "Nobody wants to work a shit job for shit wages anymore." is more like it.

Employers are suffering, and AI has come along in the just the right moment to help. If they were really smart, they'd replace the people at the top first. Cut a company's spending by a few billion by axing a CEO.

Thus AI is now available to everyone. You can create music, images, videos and graphics with a few words and a click of mouse. People don't want to pay a graphic designer when they can use ChatGPT fairly unlimited for a month for $20 and choose from tons of supposedly unique logos, and assume their are no copyright issues, printing issues or sizing issues.

This brings me to this moment. This is the only place you'll find me. I no longer do social media. All of my "Rolling Rook" online accounts have been deleted or disabled. I'm no longer wasting time on creating content for others to monetize. I have not had a proper social media account in a few years, thus, I cannot see other social media accounts.

This is the only place you'll find me, and things are bound to change. My focus will no longer be on the digital, but the analog. Going forward, Rolling Rook Studio, will be providing all work via physical medium only. That's pen on paper, paint on canvas, images in print, etc.

We're going old school, baby! Welcome to the wonderful world of analog!

Petty Bickering and Fist Fights: A Cover for a Book That Vanished

Some books are bestsellers. Others become cult classics.

And some… never get the chance.

This is the story of a design I created for a book that only made it to print, very briefly — Petty Bickering and Fist Fights, a surreal comedy set in a small town where bowling is more important than literacy, and clone cats hold more sway than diplomas. The book was wild, weird, and wonderful. But like many creative projects, it disappeared before it could find its readers.

Cover by Rolling Rook Studio

📖 The Book

“You can never have enough bowling lanes. At least not in Dinky. A place where books are used as doorstops. Pledging out loud, and fistfights are used to settle disputes. Bean and Franks is the main food staple and bowling and beer rule have replaced college diplomas. Regional bowling championships are in two weeks and the wait for a bowling lane is three. Plato, Dura, George and a clone cat called Mr. Buttons are trying to prevent the seizing of the library for more bowling lanes. Unfortunately, the ninety-nine year old lease runs out at midnight. The city council is ready and waiting with demolition teams on stand-by. Clone cat or no clone cat, the fistfight for possession of the library is on.” - Good Reads

It’s the kind of plot that could’ve lived forever in the hearts of Terry Pratchett or Christopher Moore fans. A riot of small-town absurdity with a bite of satire and a sprinkle of sci-fi oddity.

🎨 The Design

When I set out to create the cover, I didn’t want to go dark or overly dramatic. I wanted something funny, bizarre, and deceptively cheerful—just like the book itself. I wanted the cover to make you curious enough to pick it up and take a look.

So I leaned into bright, clean vector art. I dropped in a retro-styled “Pink Creamery” stand straight from the text, and had old-school boxers facing off in the middle of town, as if a brawl were the most civilized way to settle zoning disputes. The library burns quietly in the background—just another day in Dinky.

There’s absurdity in the symmetry. Humor in the contrast. And something quietly tragic in that little lick of fire.

Cover was designed by me. The book was written by the author. But this amazing story is now lost.

🪦 The Ghost of a Book

The author moved on. The book was published briefly on Amazon then disappeared. It exists now only as a spectral GoodReads listing (with the cover another artist designed) and what little I can remember of it in my head.

But design is memory. This cover is proof that Petty Bickering and Fist Fights once had a heartbeat. And honestly? I’m proud of this piece. It’s a little ridiculous, a little thoughtful, and totally unique—just like the story it represents.

Take Your Vision to New Heights with Rolling Rook AIR

Sometimes the best way to capture the full picture is from above — and that’s where Rolling Rook AIR comes in. Whether you’re showcasing a stunning property, capturing cinematic product shots, or conducting aerial inspections, we've got you covered.

As a FAA Part 107 Certified Drone Pilot, I specialize in aerial photography and videography that adds a whole new perspective to your content. From real estate listings that wow potential buyers to dynamic marketing shots that make your product shine, we're here to help your brand soar.

✅ Real Estate Photography & Videography – Give your listings a competitive edge with captivating aerial views.
✅ Product Photography & Videography – Elevate your brand with stunning, cinematic footage that turns heads.
✅ Inspections & More – Need a bird’s-eye view for practical purposes? We can handle aerial inspections, roof checks, and more.

At Rolling Rook AIR, the sky isn't the limit — it's just the beginning. Ready to see your vision from a whole new angle? Let's make something unforgettable.

New for 2025

Aerial panorama of a rainbow.

• We’ve left social media behind and removed all of our accounts. Our only official online presence is this website and our YouTube channel, (which we will be reviving soon).

• We’ve ended our social media services. We are no longer designing or managing social media sites. Sorry.

• Aerial photography and cinematography services are coming! Megan recently earned her Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate, and we’ll be launching a dedicated page for this weekend-only service soon.

• All services remain available, but our time much more limited. If you need a rapid turnaround, we can’t always guarantee the lightning-fast delivery we could in the past.

Years without Adobe

It has literally been years since Rolling Rook Studio did any work for a client using an Adobe product. We really don’t miss it. It has been very liberating not having to rely on the cloud or renew a software subscription every year.

Not all designers can pull it off though. It’s pretty easy for us, since we primarily do logo, publication and illustration work. We don’t do websites or 3D graphics (we’ll leave those for the young whippersnappers), so we don’t really need Adobe. Our work is provided to our clients and their printers/promotional products companies via digital files. We provide PDFs (vector, when able) and PNGs (lossless) files for the web.

It’s nice to actually own the software for a one-time fee of less than $50 (each), and not spend $400-$1200/year just to rent it. Sure, you get things like the cloud with Adobe, but try and convince a busy client to go look at work on the Adobe’s Cloud. Most of the time, they would rather you just email them small files. Let’s face it, it’s just much quicker than opening an email, clicking a link and waiting for your browser to open a website.

….and aren’t we all, just a little lazy?

Mailer Design - What You Need To Know

It's nearly the new year, and with it comes another year of lessons learned. In this blog post, I'd like to discuss some very important lessons I learned about mail.

While working at a post office for a few weeks this holiday season, I got to see a lot of packages, and a lot of mail. I especially saw a lot of presorted, standard, direct mail, or what the average person calls "junk mail". It was one of my jobs to sort through the stuff headed for the recycling bin looking for first class mail that might have mistakenly gotten into it, and return all that first class mail to the proper carrier for delivery. I probably sorted through 500 pounds of the stuff.

First off, let's discuss what EDDM® is. Every Door Direct Mail® is a low cost program created by USPS to make direct mail easier and more affordable for small businesses. You can basically pick a zip code (or codes) and directly mail your promotional materials without the need for a mailing list. You can just pick your zips, upload your design, make a payment, and they do all the rest. It's a great deal and a fairly low cost solution, but it's a waste of your money if you don't design your mailable pieces correctly. (If you're going the DIY route, I recommend using their online design service.)

View fullsize

I'm going to mention another service USPS has that most people don't know about, that's their MDAs and District Business Mail Entry Offices.  MDAs are Mailpiece Design Analysts, and you can reach one via the MDA Support Center. You can also visit a District Business Mail Entry Office (find one near you here). Use either of them if for any reason you might be unsure of your mailer design specs. If your mailers are not set up correctly they could cost more OR end up in the recycling bin.

Two things I noticed, that ended up in the recycling bin more than anything else were, HUGE mailers and small business postcards or flyers with improperly designed areas for postage, indicia, addresses, barcodes, etc. In the case of one, unnamed, international, Italian restaurant chain, their mailer was so huge (something like an unfolded 11" x 17") that it would not fit into most mail boxes, PO boxes, apartment mail boxes, etc. It must have cost them a fortune to design, print and mail, and yet I saw so many of them dumped into the recycling bin.

But, the saddest of all things I saw, (because of poor design, improper addressing, etc.),  were small business mailers tossed in the recycling bin. Small businesses don't have a lot of money to spend on promotional materials, printing, and advertising, and here they were just tossing their money away. I literally saw bundles of local menus tossed into the bin.

Just like addressing a letter, there are standards and specs for mailing pieces. If you're a DIY type of person and you'd like to read about and familiarize yourself with the basics of mailer design, please follow this link: 202 Elements of the Face of a Mailpiece or if you'd like to learn more about Business Reply Mail, please follow this link: 505 Quick Service Guide Or, if you'd just like to hire someone to design it all for you, please follow this link: Contact Us

---

SOME USEFUL TIPS & SUGGESTIONS

View fullsize

    •   This is just a suggestion, but you might not want mail any promotional or marketing materials during December, or the weeks of Valentine's Day or Mother's Day. Those are the major shipping holidays for packages, cards and flowers, which might leave your investment lost in the shuffle.

    •    Anything that is NOT MARKED FIRST CLASS MAIL (which includes PRESORTED FIRST CLASS), such as Presorted Standard, or Standard is more than likely to be junk mail and not personally sent to you, so checking the indicia can save you the bother and the time. (For more info on how to spot junk mail, there's an excellent article online here.)

    •    Don't waste your time writing, "Return to Sender", "Deceased", or "Not At This Address" on junk mail. (Which is typically marked PRESORTED STANDARD or PRSRT STD.) It doesn't get returned and only ends up in the recycling bin. You can simply recycle it yourself.

    •    There are presorted non-profit and pre-sort standard stamps, that can make mail look a lot like first class mail.

If you'd like to see examples of indicia formats (first class, presort, etc.) from USPS, please click here. Or, if you'd like to learn more about EDDM® from USPS, please click here.

Watch People in Other Industries React Hilariously to Being Asked for Free Spec Work

An absolutely MUST WATCH! This is a BRILLIANT video from creative agency Zulu Alpha Kilo explaining why no one should be doing "spec work" and giving away their livelihood for free!
 

Architects don't give away their blueprints. Diners don't fork out free meals. Personal Trainers don't sign over their intellectual property on spec. So why are we as creative agencies signing away our ideas? In fact, why is anyone in any industry giving it away? We'd love to hear what you think.

I really wish they'd included a plastic surgeon and a plumber. 😏

Logo Design for Pawsitive Purrspective - Petcare

The evolution of the Pawsitive Purrspective logo...

Pencil sketch

Black and white vector image

Colors applied

Another Brilliant Talk from Mike Monteiro of Mule Design

Mike Monteiro: This is the golden age of design! …and we're screwed (Webdagene 2015)

Everywhere I look companies are hiring designers! Two hundred over here! A thousand over here! We need a lot of them and we need them fast. Finally! Companies have come to understand the importance of design in building successful products and services. Isn't that great? Except where in the world are we going to find a thousand designers? And how good can we expect a thousand of anything to be? And how in the world do you incorporate them into your company? Find out.

Emoji, A Closer Look

Just for fun, I recently posted a tweet (primarily in emoji) that describes a typical day for me in the studio. Strangely enough, it got a lot of favs and retweets.

It was early in the morning and I was browsing through twitter on my iPhone, when I had the thought...How much info could you put out in a tweet using emoji? I thought about what I did all day and was curious if I could find the right emoji to describe the ins and outs of my day.

Translated, the above set of emoji say this: I get up at 7am and read the news, then workout, take a shower, eat breakfast, make coffee and am at work in the studio by 9am. I then read emails, drink my coffee, work on the computer, write and/or respond to client emails, answer questions and find solutions. I work until about noon and then eat a healthy lunch. I'm then back at it. A client might disapprove a design element in an email. To clarify, I might give them a call so that we can work together to fix it. Then I send the design back, get an approval, work on finalizing the files, and do an email, call or two from other clients. When approval comes back, I invoice the work, get paid and send the files. At about 6pm, I call it quits, make dinner and maybe have a beer. Later that night, I might play a video game or read a book, but I'm usually asleep before midnight.

So I can write out 164 words, OR I can say this in, 57 emoji! (By the way, I just figured out that the plural of emoji, is emoji NOT emojis.)

I know...some people absolutely hate emoji. I really wasn't a big fan until it evolved past the smiley and frowny faces.  I became an even bigger fan once they became graphics and were available on my desktop's OS. In the Character Viewer (Apple) you actually get a description of each one so that you can use them properly.

Let's face it, emoji are not only here to stay, but they are truly, the closest thing we have to universal communication.

Let's Take a Closer Look

I've been a big fan of emoji for the past year, but, until today, I never really looked at them, up close. Below I'm posting a few screenshots that show you some of the really neat details of emoji (Apple OS). I've pasted them into a text app and cranked the font size up.

View fullsize

Click for larger image.

Here are just a few interesting things about the emoji in the above image.

The mobile phone is not a generic looking phone. It is most definitely an iPhone.

The shower-head, the egg, the apple and the beer, all have quite a lot of detail that you probably won't notice until you blow them up.

The pink building with the heart is described as the "Love Hotel" in Apple's Character Viewer.

The game control, actually says "GAME" in the middle of it.

The tabbed pages, the book and the note being written all include part of the "Think Different" text written by Rob Siltanen with participation of Lee Clow, and it reads "Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can..." (Apple almost always uses this text (or part thereof)  in any icon or emoji where text is represented.)

The newspaper title is "The Apple Times" with "lorem ipsum" as the text of the article. The image on the newspaper is the "volcano erupting" emoji.

The book volumes 1-4 are all written by John Appleseed.

The building with the "24" above it, is a 7/11 type of 24 hour convenience store.

Lastly...like it or not...the pile of poo...really just is...A PILE OF POO! 😳