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Gene Gable
Gene Gable has spent a lifetime in publishing, editing and the graphic arts and is currently a technology consultant and writer. After a decade in commercial typesetting and design services, he chronicled the desktop-publishing revolution from his post as publisher and president of Publish magazine. With nine international editions, Publish became the leading global resource on the use of digital technology for print and Web production. Gable served on the operational boards of International Data Group's PCWorld, The Web and PC Games magazines and was earlier publisher of Sporting Times magazine.
During his tenure at Ziff-Davis Gable was on the executive team responsible for major business events such as Comdex, Networld+Interop and JavaOne. As president of Seybold Seminars and publisher of The Seybold Report, Gable managed a global slate of conferences, trade shows and other graphic-arts educational products. During his leadership Seybold events featured prominent speakers such as Arthur Sulzberger Jr., publisher of the New York Times, Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer, Christie Hefner, president of Playboy Enterprises, Bruce Chizen, CEO of Adobe Systems, and Daniel Carp, CEO of Eastman Kodak.
Gable has spoken at events around the world and has written extensively on graphic design, intellectual-property rights, and publishing production in books and for magazines such as Print, U&lc, ID, Macworld, Graphic Exchange, AGI, and The Seybold Report. His clients have included A-list brands in technology and financial services. Gable's interest in graphic design history and letterpress printing resulted in his popular columns "Heavy Metal Madness" and "Scanning Around with Gene" here on CreativePro.com.
Follow Gene on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SAWG
Scanning Around With Gene: Colorful Produce Crate Labels
Blog: Written by Gene Gable on January 27, 2012
For almost 70 years, fruit and vegetable growers used colorful labels to distinguish their brands and show off their point of origin.
Scanning Around With Gene: More on Children’s Safety
Blog: Written by Gene Gable on January 20, 2012
A follow-up to last week’s entry with more dramatically tragic (and sometimes unintentionally funny) scenarios intended to scare kids safe.
Scanning Around With Gene: The Dire Consequences of Careless Bike Riding
Blog: Written by Gene Gable on January 13, 2012
Riding a bicycle is not for the faint of heart, at least not according to this safety pamphlet from the 1940s, which highlights the death and destruction possible from simple missteps.
Scanning Around With Gene: A Visit to the Sunshine State
Blog: Written by Gene Gable on January 6, 2012
Florida’s climate makes for very "sunny" promotional images. Don some shades and enjoy this vintage tourist literature, 1939 to 1963, from the Sunshine State.
Scanning Around With Gene: Painting With Air
Blog: Written by Gene Gable on December 29, 2011
Before there was software to create illustrations and retouch photos, there was the airbrush, which uses compressed air to create a fine spray of paint. Here’s a 1947 look at airbrush technique from the Paasche Airbrush Company.
Scanning Around With Gene: Winter Wonderland
Blog: Written by Gene Gable on December 23, 2011
Of all the seasons, winter is the most dramatic, and through the eyes of children one of the most fun. Here's a 1948 look at the season, courtesy of an educational guide for kids.
Scanning Around With Gene: Faded Holiday Memories
Blog: Written by Gene Gable on December 16, 2011
Christmas is a time for taking even more photos than usual. But in 40 or 50 years, will today’s images evoke the same nostalgia, smiles, and sadness that these old, faded photos do?
Scanning Around With Gene: Clever Things to Make at Home
Blog: Written by Gene Gable on December 9, 2011
Some industrious or crafty people choose to make gifts instead of buy them from a store. This DIY mentality is nothing new, as these plans from "Popular Mechanics" issues of 1939 to 1954 show.
Scanning Around With Gene: Would You Like Collector Cards With Your Tea?
Blog: Written by Gene Gable on December 2, 2011
One of the most popular tea brands in the UK included sets of collector cards in each package, designed to educate children and adults alike. Here’s a look at just some of the more than 10,000 educational cards the company produced over five decades.
Scanning Around With Gene: Viva la Révolution!
Blog: Written by Gene Gable on November 18, 2011
Before Facebook, Twitter, and text messaging, how did protesters spread the word? With posters like these from a significant period of French civil unrest in May 1968.
Scanning Around With Gene: How Dated is Your Kitchen?
Blog: Written by Gene Gable on November 11, 2011
Of all the rooms in the modern home, the kitchen tends to show its age most quickly. That’s especially true if you purchased a pre-fabricated Hotpoint electric kitchen in 1944.
Scanning Around With Gene: Animals in Advertising
Blog: Written by Gene Gable on November 4, 2011
A series of paper company ads from 1946 showcased cute animal illustrations. Can you say, "Awww"?
Scanning Around With Gene: When Halftones Were an Art Form
Blog: Written by Gene Gable on October 28, 2011
We take photographic reproduction for granted these days, but in 1929 the process of photo engraving was a multi-step art form involving chemistry, machining, and significant craftsmanship.
Scanning Around With Gene: When Hollywood Went Schwinn
Blog: Written by Gene Gable on October 21, 2011
Schwinn bicycles were the most popular American brand for several decades. This 1941 brochure featured Hollywood stars and their Schwinn-riding families.
Scanning Around With Gene: Autumn, a Time for Contemplation
Blog: Written by Gene Gable on October 14, 2011
The signs are all around us that it's time to harvest the crops and batten down the hatches for winter. Fall is here, and with it comes a certain sense of melancholy.
Scanning Around With Gene: So Long, Steve
Blog: Written by Gene Gable on October 7, 2011
The graphic arts industry owes a lot to Apple and its iconic founder, Steve Jobs.
Scanning Around With Gene: Let's Have a Tupperware Party!
Blog: Written by Gene Gable on September 30, 2011
When you combine the convenience of modern plastics with the excitement of in-home party sales, you have the winning formula that is Tupperware.
Scanning Around With Gene: Confessions of a Mysophobe
Blog: Written by Gene Gable on September 23, 2011
If you fear microbes, then disinfectant is your friend. Here's a look at Lysol marketing from 1940, when the company declared a war on germs.
Scanning Around With Gene: Turning 25 in 69
Blog: Written by Gene Gable on September 16, 2011
On the occasion of its 25th anniversary in 1969, the international design journal Graphis invited prominent artists of the day to illustrate the number 25.
Scanning Around With Gene: A Trip to the Western Auto Store
Blog: Written by Gene Gable on September 9, 2011
Western Auto, once the king of auto-parts stores and pioneer of the franchise model, sold a little bit of everything, including products for children that would make a modern parent cringe.
