Author: Matt Maldre

Do famous artists feel weird looking back at some of their older artwork? Looking back at some of my college artworks, I realize how crappy they are. Even though I archive all my old work, there are pieces that don’t…

What happens when you forget your hat at a friend’s place? I left my hat at at Bible Study last night. My friend Chris texted me, “U forgot ur hat” Hat is such a fun rhyming word (as Dr. Seuss…

Gizmoodo reports: The U.S. Army Research Office has just thrown some money the way of 4D printing‚Äîbut what, exactly, is all the fuss about? This beautiful video goes a long way to showing us why the technology is so exciting.…

Magic covers the ground with the first snow of the year. Everyone is an artist with boots acting like printing plates on the fresh white sheet. Creating prints in the ground, we look back to admire our work. Start a…

This is a very interesting call for artists. As a public spaces artist who does not want concealed firearms to be legal in Chicago, I’m going to be giving this proposal some serious thought. If you are pro-gun, I’d like…

What can be cuter than 8-bit artwork of ewoks? Thankfully the ewok card came to me early in the iPhone Star Wars game, Tiny Death Star. The card proudly proclaims, “Furred natives of the forest moon of Endor, the Ewoks…

DC to lose grit as it moves from New York to Burbank, California.

Pepsi originally thought they had Coke beat with this Halloween ad, but Coke’s unofficial response is actually much, MUCH better than Pepsi’s original concept. (source: thenextweb) First off, a red cape is not scary. What was Pepsi thinking that putting…

The sunlight hit just the red part of the tree blowing on the fire to give the blaze more life. The colors were saturated even more by the HDR photography of the ProHDR app on my iPhone. Originally I was…

Ahh these whipper snappers thinking they are old, talking about Photoshop CS3. Please. I’ve worked on Photoshop 3.0. That’s right. The ORIGINAL Photoshop. Before Adobe started naming them CS and CC. When Photoshop CC 3.0 comes out, designers in their…

The great Oscar Wilde says, “A true artist takes no notice whatever of the public. The public are to him non-existent.” Sorry, Oscar Wilde, but you are wrong. A true artist expresses and communicates to the public. An artist that…

45,000 people ask this question: What’s there to do the day after a marathon? You accomplished a huge feat. You want to reward yourself. Chicago stores should offer a 1/2 off discount for people with a Chicago marathon bib. Better…

There are at least 23 cities named Paris in America. I’d love to see the Eiffel Towers of each American Paris. If your town is named Paris, you HAVE to feature an Eiffel Tower. It’s a rule. All the Paris…

Hey, remember 2006? Doesn’t seem too long ago, right? Well, starting next year 2006 will be closer to the 90s than it is to today. That means 2006 is more about the 90s than it is about 2014.

I cannot think today. In fact, I just tweeted this: Wow. I cannot think today. I wonder if this is how must humans live. — Matt's Health (@mattshealth) October 9, 2013 The very fact that I misspelled “most” reinforces the…

Yahoo trying to be like Google Google has an embossed logo. Yahoo now has a beveled logo. Google has a logo with super-thins. Yahoo now has a logo that is very thin. Google does many variations on their logo. Yahoo…

For my mom’s birthday card, I’m using an image of a Monarch butterfly (i’ll post the image sometime soon). I always like to make custom envelopes, because we have a printer at work that can make 11×17 prints. This particular…

Ever get a spam direct message from a friend’s twitter account? I bet you are kind enough to alert them. But make sure you don’t alert them in the wrong way. Simply stating that his/her twitter account is sending spam…

The double-edge funny meaning behind this strip: 1) The internet is so new and different! What a difference 20 years makes. In 1993 Calvin was looking forward to what the internet could bring. He exclaims, “Pretty soon, computers, telephones, and…

The staring eyes of this portrait intently gazed at my girlfriend and I as we sat on the bench to the left of this painting. We tried to relax on the Art Institute bench, but the Bazille family kept looking…

… wearing a kilt. It’s long and drapes down. Reading a newspaper. How quaint. Real paper. Real ink. Big paper, at that. Paper so long that it drapes down in front of you. The paper blows around in the wind.…

… and guys with mohawks. I missed my train home as it quietly circled over head on the elevated tracks in Chicago’s loop. Another 15 minutes would pass by until the next train would arrive just short of midnight. A…

For fun, try having a phone conversation where both of the phones are on mute. Earlier today, I called up our Tribune Tech Support to fix a problem on my Windows computer. While he remotely took over my computer and…

If you include the words “Bruce Banner” in a tweet, you could end up having a twitter conversation with @RealBruceBanner. I tweeted a picture of my shirt with a ripped elbow and said, “Do you think Bruce Banner ever learned…

Andrew Huff of Gapers Block posted this mysterious photo on flickr that leaves us desiring the ending. Finish this sentence: I have been trying to reach you about the possible sale of _________________. I have been trying to reach you…

What do all these logos have in common? They are all designed by Ruth Kedar of Kedar Designs. Notice how all the logos are very pointy. The sharp pointy aspects of Google’s logo has always been awkward. The serif on…

iPhone App Notifies Viewers When TV Ads Finish By Andrew Dodson TVNewsCheck – 07/31/13 As broadcasters continue to fight the ad-skipping technology found in Dish Network‚Äôs Hopper, a new iPhone app was released today that notifies viewers in real time…

The E-11 BlasTech rifle. It’s the standard rifle for Stormtroppers. But why is it called E-11? Is there an E-10? Or an E-9? A look on the official Star Wars Wiki reveals that there is: E-5 blaster rifle E-9 is…

What’s your favorite car ever? The Chicago Tribune asked this question on Google Plus. My favorite car ever is the traditional 3200-series CTA train cars. I’m not even joking. There’s plenty of room. Lots of headroom, you can even stand!…

What if we took another planet’s surface and grafted it onto part of Earth’s? Mars would make quite an impact. It would be like dunking the Earth in some powered chocolate. We’d have a ton more iron. I’d imagine with…

A friend recently asked online: How do i be persuasive at work without being seen as “difficult”, “uppity”, or “stubborn”? Is it the old “trick them into thinking it’s their idea” thing? Here’s my response: 1) Listen first. Always listen.…