In a previous post I have no doubt convinced you to take another look at The Lowly 4x6 Card.
Well my fascination with the simple 4x6 card continues to grow. In addition to all the ways I've mentioned before, here are a couple of new uses I've discovered:
Idea #1 - Glue 100 cards together
Instead of using binder clips on a pack of 20 or so, I glue a bigger pack of 100 together. It's a cleaner solution because the clip doesn't get in the way when I draw or write and it lays flat on the desk at work. If the pack is too big I can simply split it up in smaller pads after the glue dries.
Here's how I do this: I mount them between two 3/4 inch plywood boards and place them in a vice. Next I spread a generous amount of carpenter's glue (wood glue) across the top of the bound cards. In about an hour or two I have a great writing pad. You can use Elmer's glue if you don't have Carpenter's glue. Or if you want a more flexible spine you can use rubber cement. However I find that the Carpenter's glue may be a bit stronger and I like the stiff, snug binding this glue gives me.
Optional: Before gluing up the pack of cards, I print a "from the desk of...dave" at the top of the cards along with some empty check boxes. This gives me a "Todo" pad. It's sort of my GTD (Getting Things Done) system. Instead of carrying a book, I just carry one 4x6 card a day. Throughout the day I check off what I've accomplished and then at the end of the day I toss the card in the trash. Any undone items can be ignored (if I decide they were unimportant) or transferred to the next day's card.
Idea #2 - Staple 4 or 5 cards together (See illustration.)
This is my latest approach. Sometimes it's great to have a small booklet that I can use for several days while traveling. I can make one in a few seconds.
Here's how: I take about 4 or 5 cards and fold them in half lengthwise. Using my stapler I put two staples in the fold. Voila! I have a small book. I sometimes put a quick sketch on the front to help me keep it oriented correctly as I pull it out to write in it. I carry it around with me as my Todo "inbox" for big projects. Also, it makes a great gift for a child for their little sketches. You could also use a 4x6 picture as the "cover."
Keep in mind you can get a pack of 300 for about $1.79 at Walmart. What a steal.
[Note: In the illustration page above I'm using Zebra Mildliners. Love these things. These are muted colored highlighters and are much easier on the eyes. I get enough excitement during the day. I don't need florescent highlighters
yelling at me too.]
...dave
Illustrate your Journal - Life is short, make a mark. - dave terry
Theoretically Related Posts
Well my fascination with the simple 4x6 card continues to grow. In addition to all the ways I've mentioned before, here are a couple of new uses I've discovered:
Idea #1 - Glue 100 cards together
Instead of using binder clips on a pack of 20 or so, I glue a bigger pack of 100 together. It's a cleaner solution because the clip doesn't get in the way when I draw or write and it lays flat on the desk at work. If the pack is too big I can simply split it up in smaller pads after the glue dries.
Here's how I do this: I mount them between two 3/4 inch plywood boards and place them in a vice. Next I spread a generous amount of carpenter's glue (wood glue) across the top of the bound cards. In about an hour or two I have a great writing pad. You can use Elmer's glue if you don't have Carpenter's glue. Or if you want a more flexible spine you can use rubber cement. However I find that the Carpenter's glue may be a bit stronger and I like the stiff, snug binding this glue gives me.
Optional: Before gluing up the pack of cards, I print a "from the desk of...dave" at the top of the cards along with some empty check boxes. This gives me a "Todo" pad. It's sort of my GTD (Getting Things Done) system. Instead of carrying a book, I just carry one 4x6 card a day. Throughout the day I check off what I've accomplished and then at the end of the day I toss the card in the trash. Any undone items can be ignored (if I decide they were unimportant) or transferred to the next day's card.
This is my latest approach. Sometimes it's great to have a small booklet that I can use for several days while traveling. I can make one in a few seconds.
Here's how: I take about 4 or 5 cards and fold them in half lengthwise. Using my stapler I put two staples in the fold. Voila! I have a small book. I sometimes put a quick sketch on the front to help me keep it oriented correctly as I pull it out to write in it. I carry it around with me as my Todo "inbox" for big projects. Also, it makes a great gift for a child for their little sketches. You could also use a 4x6 picture as the "cover."
Keep in mind you can get a pack of 300 for about $1.79 at Walmart. What a steal.
[Note: In the illustration page above I'm using Zebra Mildliners. Love these things. These are muted colored highlighters and are much easier on the eyes. I get enough excitement during the day. I don't need florescent highlighters
yelling at me too.]...dave
Illustrate your Journal - Life is short, make a mark. - dave terry
Theoretically Related Posts
Labels: 4x6
on the road
2 Comments Published by Dave Terry on Sunday, December 27, 2009 at 12/27/2009 09:50:00 AM.
Just visitin' some folks down here in Mississippi. It's a place where everyone uses two syllables when only one is needed and uses one chair when really two are needed
Dining here at all-you-can-eat places is a nightly family outing.
...dave
“I'm not overweight. I'm just nine inches too short.” - Shelly Winters
Location:W 13th St,Laurel,United States
Just take my cash.
0 Comments Published by Dave on Saturday, December 19, 2009 at 12/19/2009 09:48:00 PM.
I usually get to the Enterprise around 7:15 or so. It's always the same routine: buy breakfast from the downstairs cafeteria and eat it while reading my email up on the 18th floor.
This sometimes gives me indigestion, but there it is. It's a habit I can't break.
I eat healthy, every other day. One morning I'll have eggs, a strip or two of bacon, and some potatoes. The next morning I'll have oatmeal with raisins. The oatmeal is good for my heart and weight. However, I figure that if I eat oatmeal every day my body will get wise to it and stop dropping the pounds. So every other day I feed the body gobs of fat and protean. Then the next day I try to get the fat off through the oatmeal raisin cup.
Ah, but I digress, my diet is not the intended subject of this post.
This is about those faceless people in the cafeteria, the cashiers.
Usually people don't pay them any attention. They just fork over the cash and funnel through the line.
Of course, I come in so early there is no line. So, I have a choice. Which cashier do I choose, the gabby one or the brusque one?
I vacillate, not able to decide.
One cashier treats me roughly. Even though there is no one behind me, he slams and punches at the register as if in a hurry. He treats me so brusquely I fear I've somehow made him mad. He grabs my cash card, shoves it into the slotted device, punches at the keys, ejects the card and tosses it back at me. It lands on my Styrofoam breakfast box. He says nothing but looks past me as if to help the next person. But there is no next person. There is no line. In fact, there are no people in the entire cafeteria.
I've tried friendly greetings: "Hey, Jimmy, how's it going? How are you today?" and when I go I always say: "Have a good one." But he only returns: "Too" or "Yep." Never nothing more than a single syllable.
If I go to the other cashier, I'll be there a very long time. She likes to chat and fiddle with the change. She'll open the drawer, pick stuff off the floor, or busy herself opening the change rolls. I'm thinking: "Hello!? Anyone there? Hey, there is someone here to give you caaaash."
One time she walked off while I was approaching the register. She went off to fiddle with the napkins and plastic forks. All the while I stood at the register, card in hand, mouth open, sort of incredulously looking over at her. She was mumbling.
When she does stay at the register, she stares down at the cash drawer and talks to it. She's telling it something important or maybe she is telling me some story and I'm expected to know the context. I haven't a clue what she's talking to her register about.
Oh, I sometimes hear parts of conversations, like: "I told him but he wouldn't listen, uh huh." She seems like a homeless person shuffling the streets, talking to herself.
When she finally gets around to taking my money, I just say generic commiserating stuff like: "Yeah, what are you going to do." or "Not much you can do." I'm just playing along. Sometimes I'll say something positive like: "Well, At least it's a beautiful day." Then she'll reply with: "You can say that again, umhumm, yep you can."
On the one hand I just want to get through the line (using this term loosely since there really isn't one this early in the morning). On the other hand I don't want to get slammed around this early before my second cup.
Why can't checkout people just take my money, thank me, and say: "Have a good one?"
In the end, which cashier I can endure is one of the toughest decisions I make each day.
...dave
If it’s true that we are here to help others, then what exactly are the others here for?
This sometimes gives me indigestion, but there it is. It's a habit I can't break.
I eat healthy, every other day. One morning I'll have eggs, a strip or two of bacon, and some potatoes. The next morning I'll have oatmeal with raisins. The oatmeal is good for my heart and weight. However, I figure that if I eat oatmeal every day my body will get wise to it and stop dropping the pounds. So every other day I feed the body gobs of fat and protean. Then the next day I try to get the fat off through the oatmeal raisin cup.
Ah, but I digress, my diet is not the intended subject of this post.
This is about those faceless people in the cafeteria, the cashiers.
Usually people don't pay them any attention. They just fork over the cash and funnel through the line.
Of course, I come in so early there is no line. So, I have a choice. Which cashier do I choose, the gabby one or the brusque one?
I vacillate, not able to decide.
One cashier treats me roughly. Even though there is no one behind me, he slams and punches at the register as if in a hurry. He treats me so brusquely I fear I've somehow made him mad. He grabs my cash card, shoves it into the slotted device, punches at the keys, ejects the card and tosses it back at me. It lands on my Styrofoam breakfast box. He says nothing but looks past me as if to help the next person. But there is no next person. There is no line. In fact, there are no people in the entire cafeteria.
I've tried friendly greetings: "Hey, Jimmy, how's it going? How are you today?" and when I go I always say: "Have a good one." But he only returns: "Too" or "Yep." Never nothing more than a single syllable.
If I go to the other cashier, I'll be there a very long time. She likes to chat and fiddle with the change. She'll open the drawer, pick stuff off the floor, or busy herself opening the change rolls. I'm thinking: "Hello!? Anyone there? Hey, there is someone here to give you caaaash."
One time she walked off while I was approaching the register. She went off to fiddle with the napkins and plastic forks. All the while I stood at the register, card in hand, mouth open, sort of incredulously looking over at her. She was mumbling.
When she does stay at the register, she stares down at the cash drawer and talks to it. She's telling it something important or maybe she is telling me some story and I'm expected to know the context. I haven't a clue what she's talking to her register about.
Oh, I sometimes hear parts of conversations, like: "I told him but he wouldn't listen, uh huh." She seems like a homeless person shuffling the streets, talking to herself.
When she finally gets around to taking my money, I just say generic commiserating stuff like: "Yeah, what are you going to do." or "Not much you can do." I'm just playing along. Sometimes I'll say something positive like: "Well, At least it's a beautiful day." Then she'll reply with: "You can say that again, umhumm, yep you can."
On the one hand I just want to get through the line (using this term loosely since there really isn't one this early in the morning). On the other hand I don't want to get slammed around this early before my second cup.
Why can't checkout people just take my money, thank me, and say: "Have a good one?"
In the end, which cashier I can endure is one of the toughest decisions I make each day.
...dave
If it’s true that we are here to help others, then what exactly are the others here for?
Labels: illustrated journal, sketch
design is teamwork
0 Comments Published by Dave on Thursday, December 10, 2009 at 12/10/2009 08:59:00 PM.
A concept design I did for work. Designed to illustrate that ideas are circulated and then born from a team of thinkers.
Copied from Nancy Margulies Site. I love her people representations. No details in the faces but her ability to capture the body flow is fantastic. She does what's called "Graphic Facilitation" which amounts to illustrating on large rollout paper a brainstorming session, usually a business idea of some kind.
I have been experimenting with pure black and white with grey shadow. I like the clean, open look that results.
...dave
It is amazing how much you can accomplish when it doesn't matter who gets the credit. - Anon
Copied from Nancy Margulies Site. I love her people representations. No details in the faces but her ability to capture the body flow is fantastic. She does what's called "Graphic Facilitation" which amounts to illustrating on large rollout paper a brainstorming session, usually a business idea of some kind.
I have been experimenting with pure black and white with grey shadow. I like the clean, open look that results.
...dave
It is amazing how much you can accomplish when it doesn't matter who gets the credit. - Anon
Labels: sketch journal, sketchnotes
Hawaiiscapes
0 Comments Published by Dave Terry on Saturday, December 05, 2009 at 12/05/2009 12:58:00 PM.
I've been sort of busy doing nothing, you know, vacationing.
Doing nothing gets pretty tiresome because I can't stop to rest.
...dave
A vacation is what you take when you can't take what you've been taking any longer. - Anon
Doing nothing gets pretty tiresome because I can't stop to rest.
Hawaiiscapes from daveterry on Vimeo.
...dave
A vacation is what you take when you can't take what you've been taking any longer. - Anon
Labels: HDR, photography