The Skilled Workman

I've moved this blog: this will be the last posting here

noreply@blogger.com (Chak) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 22:01:00 +0000

I've moved to a WordPress blog on my site. You should go there to continue the madness

Christian digital publishing Apprenticeships available!

noreply@blogger.com (Chak) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 13:38:00 +0000

As these things usually do, the structure and policies have changed quite a bit since I first mentioned them. We had to make a major distinction between the font designer apprenticeship and the digital publisher apprenticeship at Radiqx Press. The font designer apprentice is available at http://bergsland.org Here at Radiqx, everything is ready to go. Thorough instructions are available on the site, but the official policies are in the 2009 Radiqx Academy Apprenticeship Handbook. This handbook is available for download at Lulu. If you pay the registration fee, you get a free copy of the handbook in PDF. The Program description starts here in the Academy section of the Radiqx site: Postulant Novitiate Apprentice The Guild It's a multi-year process resulting in an impressive portfolio, lots of experience, and an ongoing income.

Email me if you have any questions

The freedom to allow creative dirt...

noreply@blogger.com (Chak) — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 14:01:00 +0000

All my life has been spent in the pursuit of accessing the creativity of God. At least it feels like that from inside here. To day I saw an article from the best of all Web design sites: A List Apart. In the article "The Elegance of Imperfection" by David Sherwin I found these concepts expressed beautifully by what we would consider a non-believer (I think) using Zen as a primary source.

Of course, that is true in my life also. The incidental enshrined in the best you can do becomes a growing, organic perfection that accurately expresses who you are. You need to read Sherwin's article. Applying what we know of the creativity of God to what he understands about the beauty of reality should be an inspiration to your output.

Future May Be Brighter, but It's Apocalypse Now

noreply@blogger.com (Chak) — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:05:00 +0000

This is a must read article from Advertising Age on the immediate impending death of cable, newspaper, network TV, and more. As publishers we really need to keep on top of this.

We haven't really comprehended how much is going to change.

Status on apprenticeships...

noreply@blogger.com (Chak) — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 20:50:00 +0000

One of the font design apprenticeships is taken so far.

There is one more of those.

There are still two publishing positions to be filled.

Email me for more information.

Apprenticeships are arriving... (have arrived)

noreply@blogger.com (Chak) — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 19:51:00 +0000

I just posted the following on my Font design and typography blog. I wanted to make sure that you who read this one are aware of it also. As of today, you can email me if you are interested in one of the apprenticeship positions at either Bergsland Typography (the font foundry) or here at Radiqx Press.

Bergsland Design is gone!

Your bookmarks to the old site will still work, but things have changed a lot. It really does not cover what I am doing now. There are now two websites where you can find my stuff. My facebook name is Chakham Lev, and you can follow what I do there. There's a link to it here on the blog. Also, please let me know if you find broken links and the like.

http://bergsland.org: Bergsland Typography

This is now completely Bergsland Typography: my font foundry. At present, most of my work and income comes from font designs. This is a growing area of my work and needs a separate site to handle all the goings on. This blog services that site.

Very shortly (actually starting now) we will be offering two apprenticeships for the foundry—minimal cost (just books & materials), paid for by doing work for the foundry, all online. There is a lot of work to do, an excellent opportunity to learn how to design, produce, release, and promote new fonts. Fonts done while working as an apprentice will share part of their royalties with BT to help cover the costs of training. The result will be a journeyman's certificate in font design and typography.

http://www.radiqx.com: Radiqx Press

This is my Messianic on-demand publishing house and gift shop. It is built off my history as a pastor, writer, teacher, and book designer. For years my heart's desire has been to have a publishing house to publish strongly Messianic stuff, with no punches pulled, and no ties to any organization. As our modern society has degenerated to the place where churches are merely a mission field, I really have a strong desire to speak on those issues and train graphic designers to function under the guidance of the Holy Spirit producing work that is genuinely useful, completely non-judgmental, accurate Biblically, and the whole nine yards. To that end we will be offering four apprenticeships for publishers.

We have started slowly and carefully. There is one major book published so far. It is called "The Letters", by Art Moreno, Jr. It is the letters of the New Testament published in the same order in which they were written. Using the Act of the apostles by Luke as a general framework, the letters grow out of their chronological context.

Another book in the works, is a piece by Dawn Devine (yes, that's her real name). Their son had major brain damage at birth, was never supposed to walk or talk, This was a boo she putt together to help the local schools and the children in his classes understand how to relate to Jonah. It's a wonderful inspiration to see how this family has rallied around Jonah and how he has become such a blessing to them. I'm hoping for a release this summer.

I am also working on a radical rewrite of my "Publishing With InDesign". It is being transformed in to advanced training in typography and page layout using InDesign CS4. I hope to have a release for this in April or May.

We have many other projects in development to use for the apprentices. If you are interested, email me. Again, it will be minimal tuition and cost (books, software, a basic font set, and the like), but a lot of work for the publishing house to build up your portfolio and generate income for Radiqx. We will also publish and promote apprentice's work for a portion of the royalties. The result will be a journeyman's certificate in on-demand publishing.

Cities using artists to help their retail areas

noreply@blogger.com (Chak) — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 15:08:00 +0000

I found this article about Philadelphia in Art Bistro today. They are filling empty stores with artists for the price of utilities only. What a concept!

I wonder how much this would help areas like Mankato's South front street and the new road to Sibley park? Even old town has some ugly empty storefronts that could be filled with art in this way.

Marketing to the Mature (we're not senior, we're now the norm)

noreply@blogger.com (Chak) — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 19:22:00 +0000

There was an excellent article in eM+C today on design tips for Websites used by seniors.

I've been talking about this for years, but now I are one. The modern mature adult (don't like senior, elderly, old man, & the like) is a very different person than our youth-driven culture is used to. Things are going to change radically now that we are becoming the majority. I think I recall that those over 50 become the majority in Minnesota this year.

Like I said, the article is good, but I wanted to offer some of my observations about the habits of my wife & me and the friends we know who are our age.

We value Quality and Service over cheap and quick: Studies I have seen suggest that we are willing to pay 10% to 25% more and wait several extra days or more to get the quality and service we require.
Disposable is no longer a desirable attribute
Fashion and coolness mean very little
Character and integrity mean more than celebrity or following
Valuable experience counts much more than entertainment

From ArtBistro.com: it's a Minnesota thing, an amazing ice festival

noreply@blogger.com (Chak) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 15:13:00 +0000

Watch out Firefox's Google bar made the title into a linnk to itself. The Coolest Festival Lake Shikotsu - ArtBistro.com I got this link from an Art Bistro newsletter this morning. As a scandahoovian Minnesotan, this is really cool! But then the Japanese tend to take things over the top a little. I won't grab their photos for the blog, but trust me, it's a fun thing.

Scientific study on the effects of good font use

noreply@blogger.com (Chak) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 16:19:00 +0000

A Recipe for Motivation: Easy to Read, Easy to Do: Scientific American Of course, they used two horrible fonts. Their good font: Arial is really very poor. It is just good when compared to Brush. What if they had used Amitale, which is designed for readability or even that old standard Garamond or Caslon, or Bembo, or even Baskerville? Imagine what would have happened if they not only used readable fonts, but a layout designed for readability? This stuff is really important.

I wrote a little booklet on making separated PDFs

noreply@blogger.com (Chak) — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 18:50:00 +0000

You might not need this often, but when you do, here's how to do it.

You can find it in our Lulu storefront if you need the $3 download.

Here is a link for the small booklet at $9.95

Understanding the difference between your burden & your load

noreply@blogger.com (Chak) — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 17:46:00 +0000

The key to understanding burden and load is the words of Galatians 6:

Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load.

Here you can clearly see the differences. We each have our own load. Let me list some of the factors in our lives that can constitute a load:

Wealth
Health
Intelligence
Beauty
Race
Sex
Creativity

These are all things we are born with. It's not a complete list — it's just what came to mind while writing this. They are characteristics that make up who we were designed to be by God. We each have our own load. Some loads are pleasant, some are not. Supposedly being rich, beautiful and smart is a pleasant load (I wouldn't know).

But think about it. I seems to me that the richer, prettier, smarter you are the less likely you are to be in the kingdom. It is up to you how you react and what you do with your load. It's how we react to the call of God in our lives.

Burden, on the other hand, is a special thing that happens to a person, a trial, temptation, pain or blessing. A burden can range from winning the lottery to a horrible accident. The variety of burdens is endless for we have a very creative God whom we serve. We also have a very nasty enemy. It can be confusing. Where is the boundary between poor health and a specific medical condition? Where is the border between creativity and tempting opportunities given to the creative person?

What is clear is that we are to help people around us bear their burdens, special circumstances, trials, and situations.

What is equally clear is that trying to change a person's load is a fruitless endeavor that does not help the individual. This is why winning a lottery rarely changes a person's life. This is why the ravages of cancer enable some people to glow with the fruit of the Spirit. This is why Job went back to the life of Job after his trial.

'tis a puzzlement... It can only be approached in prayer and answered by the Holy Spirit within us.

But it needs to be carefully considered as we minister. A lot of ministry tries to change loads instead of lifting burdens. We need wisdom.

4 Tips for Marketing to Baby Boomers Online | eMarketing & Commerce (eM+C)

noreply@blogger.com (Chak) — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 18:53:00 +0000

4 Tips for Marketing to Baby Boomers Online | eMarketing & Commerce (eM+C) This is going to be our major market for the near future (and maybe longer). There are some very interesting statistics and ideas here. For example, boomer customers do not see brand loyalty as relevant... Let me know what you think.

Christian Publishing: Marketing from Hell

noreply@blogger.com (Chak) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 14:07:00 +0000

I got another one yesterday — rather, my wife did, an unsolicited DVD and coin. Now I know that I am not obligated to do anything other than toss this type of junk in the trash (which we will). BUT it re[presents what we see a lot of in Christian circles theses days.

This was not some fly-by-night ministry of theft. I suspect it is "legitimate" (it came from one of the many tentacles of "Focus on the Family"). BUT it is evil!

Why would I say such a thing? Because, even though they offered a prepaid envelope to return the DVD if we didn't want it, the guilt and pressure to purchase from this type of marketing lowers marketing to new depths.

Why I say it is from hell is that it is , at best, a worldly marketing technique. We know who runs the world. It's not a very good technique either. It leaves a really bad taste in the mouth, spirit, whatever. It is simply manipulative and nasty.

We need to stop this kind of worldly crap!

My recommendation is the one first posited by that crazy man in England in the 19th century. I can't remember his name (It may be Mueller) but the position of he and his wife with their ministry of orphanages was very simple.

If God is going to supply all our needs then we don't need to be begging from people — either in the world or in the Kingdom. I realize that this is not very popular in modern America where we expect God to give us all our wants as well as our needs. But remember, he doesn't promise to give us unlimited disposable income. He promises to meet our needs.

The scripture that applies is probably the one out of 2 Cor. 4: 2 & 5

"we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God... For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake."

If what we are doing is actually the Lord's work, He will cover all the costs in abundance. Lighten up people!

Mid-life crisis? No... it's just winter

noreply@blogger.com (Chak) — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 18:35:00 +0000

I've been spending quite a bit of time for the past several months trying to determine what the Lord wants me to do with the rest of my life. Talk about a waste of time, as if He is going to give me the plan in advance...

However, it is a far larger waste to go blithely on with my plans — assuming that they are somehow blessed because I chose them. If there is one thing I have learned for sure, it is that we have little idea what is coming this afternoon, let alone tomorrow, next week, or next year. But then this is the time of year to be planning. There's not much else to do with mid-winter. We plan for spring, hoping for summer, that the harvest of fall will be good.

As a nation, we just went through a lousy harvest. The crop produced by greed is not good stuff. We are all reaping that.

But what does that mean for the future? As we look toward spring, what are our plans?

Obviously, we really need to take a close look at ourselves to make sure that we are thinking clearly about who we really are and what we really have to offer others.

My prayer is that the Lord will bless you with wisdom in that pursuit. My favorite definition of wisdom is: knowing what to do with the knowledge we have. Don't we all need that?

It's easy to say that wisdom comes from experience, but we know that's not true. If that were the case, then we'd realize that Castro, Osama, Letterman, and countless celebrities are wise. But there is ample evidence that this is not true.

The truth is that wisdom comes from inspiration. All we can do about that is ask.

The good news is that wisdom is promised to those who ask:

James 1:5 "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him."

We really need to realize the truth of this in this season of change while planning for the future harvest so dimly visible in the blaze of color that will be next fall.

Have a good year!

Merry Christmas!

noreply@blogger.com (Chak) — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 00:20:00 +0000

May the Lord richly bless you in the coming year...

As we approach a new year...

noreply@blogger.com (Chak) — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 19:35:00 +0000

Publishing is changing radically. It is interesting to speculate how long small operations like mine can last without going totally on-demand. The costs for small niches are too high to support traditional publishing at all any more.

What do you think?

Faith comes by hearing...

noreply@blogger.com (Chak) — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 16:29:00 +0000

I was studying this morning and came across a familiar verse in Romans 10:17

"So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." NKJV

We've all heard this many times. But how often have we noticed that word here is not logos but rhema?

Those who know me are probably tired of hearing this, but it is an extremely important distinction.

LOGOS: This is the overall word of God in its entirety. In John 1: In the beginning was the Word ... and the Word was God.. & with God... This is logos. The name written on Jesus' thigh when he comes back on the white horse is logos. The Bible is logos.
RHEMA: This is the specific word for the specific purpose. We commonly call this the anointed message. You know the routine. An anointed sermon touches everyone in the audience. They usually all hear a different message tailored expressly for their needs. The sword of the spirit in Ephesians 6 is rhema.

When you think of it, a rhema is necessary to generate faith. Simple recitation of scripture will not do it. Even the demons know scripture, they even believe, they simply refuse to accept Him as Lord.

So how will this change how you present your messages?

Are Christians cheap, irresponsible, or ignorant?

noreply@blogger.com (Chak) — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 21:55:00 +0000

[Loud grunts are heard as Chak laboriously climbs onto his favorite soapbox]

It seems to me, as I look around, that Christian printing, publishing, and art is dominated by cheap junk and overly sophisticated, ridiculously expensive, slick marketing campaigns. There doesn't seem to be any middle ground. In most cases, the situation is really bad: large church or small ministry.

There are many factors in this:

Budgets are tight or there is more money than sense: Tight budgets are sometimes true. But the reality is usually that there is plenty of money but not enough knowledge to know how to be a good steward of the resources available.
Designers are volunteers: This is a massive problem. Commonly these volunteers know very little or they are using the ministry as an opportunity to produce a portfolio piece to help their career. Regardless, they almost never have any access to the budget or have any input into publishing choices.
Publishing is seen as an expense: It is rarely seen as the essential element of communication in our modern marketing-driven civilization.
Budgets are controlled by ignorance & fear: OK, so that's a bit of an overstatement -- but not by much in most cases. Printers, computers, copiers, and the like are purchased exclusively by bottom line measurements with no consideration of real costs or needs.
There is rarely a real strategy: Printing, publishing, & marketing are added reluctantly if at all by people who rarely have a plan other than preach the Gospel to the whole world. There is rarely any thought of local vision, community need, or what the heck does the Lord specifically want you to be doing now.

I know. My opinions here are dark, but we are living in darkness. So I have a few questions?

How much of a factor is excellence in these matters?
What does excellence mean here?
How do we bypass political correctness in favor of truth?
How do we reach people dazed by the constant influx of entertainment & noise?
How does "live quietly and mind your own business" apply today? Paul's actual words to the Thessalonians were: "aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands" ESV

What do you think about all of this?

Great deal on fonts

noreply@blogger.com (Chak) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 21:24:00 +0000

Radiqx is offering a great deal on its house fonts as a Christmas present through Christmas Eve at midnight.

$77 for 25 fonts (over $600 individually, & over $300 in families)

Free Publishing & Design Services

noreply@blogger.com (Chak) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 20:26:00 +0000

One of the major reasons I became involved with Radiqx was their intention of providing free design services to the Body of Christ as much as possible. I am happy to announce that this hope became reality today.

Radiqx Press now offers free design services If you have a project that needs professional production to communicate with your audience, Radiqx is prepared to give that to you, for a percentage of possible royalties. It will cost you nothing up front. You can just let me know, and I'll get your request to the proper people.

This gives believers the capability of adding professional design to their published works that are supplied on-demand. That means that custom copies are printed after they are ordered at the same cost as normal printing. But the huge upfront expense is gone. If your project is approved, the design will be produced by Radiqx and published through them. There will be no expense to you. Radiqx will make do with a percentage of the royalties. If you sell nothing, it costs you nothing.

With over 40 years of publishing experience, Radiqx can enable you to be the best stewards possible with the resources the Lord has given you. Please ask about the possibilities.

Yes, you can print cheaper per copy. But, as you know, you can spend tens of thousands of dollars or more to get those cheaper per copy rates. This is not meant to appeal to everyone. Radiqx can also do traditional publishing for you. But this fills a need that has long existed.

Let me know if we can help you.

Does the Lord care about art & beauty?

noreply@blogger.com (Chak) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 15:20:00 +0000

Following the lead of Bezalel & Oholiab

We have a glorious calling that is not talked about, in most cases. As you know, if you are one, artists are not well understood by the general population. This is especially true in the church. The whole concept of creativity is seen with suspicion because [ya'know] we really don't know what they'll do. There is good reason for many of these suspicions.

But let's look a bit at a pair of artists we see in Exodus.

[Exodus 31: 1-6] The LORD said to Moses, "See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft. And behold, I have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. And I have given to all able men ability, that they may make all that I have commanded you:

When we think about it, the Lord who created Yosemite, Lake Como, Banff & Lake Louise, and all the rest would certainly care about the beauty of everything. So, after he gave all his instructions for th tabernacle to Moses, he made sure that it would be done to his standards and anointed the artists to produce it. That just makes sense.

But He Paid For it Too

He had Moses make the following announcement:

[Exodus 35: 4-5a] Moses spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, "This is the thing which the LORD has commanded, saying, Take from among you a contribution to the LORD; whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it as the LORD'S contribution

Listen to the list of materials

[Exodus 35: 5b-9a] gold, silver, and bronze; blue, purple and scarlet material; fine linen, goats' hair, and rams' skins dyed red; porpoise skins; acacia wood; oil for lighting; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense; onyx stones and setting stones

And he touched the people by His Spirit to give. In fact, so much came in that the artists and craftspeople had to beg Moses to have them stop.

[Exodus 36: 5-7] they said to Moses, "The people are bringing much more than enough for the construction work which the LORD commanded us to perform." So Moses issued a command, and a proclamation was circulated throughout the camp, saying, "Let no man or woman any longer perform work for the contributions of the sanctuary." Thus the people were restrained from bringing any more. For the material they had was sufficient and more than enough for all the work, to perform it.

Obviously, the Lord not only cared enough to specify the design but also to anoint the artists and provide the materials.

So the obvious question is:

How do we get that for our projects?

What do you think?

Greetings from Chak!

noreply@blogger.com (Chak) — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 18:13:00 +0000

You can see a little of my background in the profile. I have been an artist for well over 30 years now and a Spirit-led believer for nearly that long.

My goal with this blog is to provide a forum for artists to communicate about the things that mean the most to them as believers. As you do, I believe that my creativity comes from my likeness to the Father. It is one of His best attributes, as far as I am concerned.

More than that, in a society obsessed with creativity, the church virtually ignores us. As in the society in general, we are basically unclean, those untouchable weird people. You know: you can never predict what they will do next, they don't dress like us, who cares what they do?

My belief is that we are the core of an abundant life and we need to share our skills and talents with the body at large.

However, Christian art is NOT Durer's Praying Hands. I am convinced that God does not like schlocky kaka any better than I do. In fact, we are truly blessed that he has such a great sense of humor.

He is looking for reality and beauty. Here's a little quote from my favorite writer, Paul:

Finally, brothers & sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

That is our call. Are you interested?