Wednesday, July 01, 2009

The person behind a favorite childhood memory

As a kid, I loved to look at the cool television graphics that promoted a broadcast station or the movie of the week. I tried to figure out how the "people in the TV" got the letters and curves to swish, spin and fly around the screen, and I thought that there was a room with a turntable that the people spun the letters on. I was so obsessed that I even drew the ABC logo on the living room wall. (Unfortunately, my mom didn't share my enthusiasm about my artwork on the wall.) Thanks to a free trial of lynda.com, I got to watch some videos about one of the people behind those cool graphics - Harry Marks. Marks, now retired, was the graphic designer behind the flashy promos you've seen on ABC, NBC, Entertainment Tonight, and elsewhere for 35 years. Go here to see a video of his work (adjust your speakers). I don't know if I would ever do broadcast graphics, but the concept of it fascinates me, and I am definitely inspired to take my skills to a higher level because of the work of Harry Marks.