I think the guys and girls that take the time and effort to become an ACE (Adobe Certified Expert) are quite special. Too bad Adobe doesn’t seem the think so. A few weeks ago they decided sending out a printed certificate with the ACE title and your name on it was to much trouble. A PDF will do as well… Better for the planet and all that… I think that is a really Quark dumb way of treating your most loyal costumers. These ACE-people are your number one clients. They will probably eat, live and breathe Adobe. They help other people with design- or PDF-problems, not to mention they show a lot of other people (your potential new clients, Adobe!) your software. But, in Adobe’s own words:

“We recently changed to PDF certificates for ACIs and ACEs. You can print the attachment/PDF we sent you for [ACE CERTIFICATE NAME] which will serve as a hard copy of your certificate. If you’re having issues with the attachment we sent, we will send a replacement PDF soon.”

My thanks to Thike Soe for making this problem known in Adobe Software Users Linkedin Group. (Direct link, Linkedin login required).

Suppose you’ve got a client that wants you to turn the clock back to the 17th Centruy. To the ‘Dutch Golden Century’ to be more exact. This client sells dairy products and want you to create a photo to bring back to life that feelling of enthusiasm and momentum Holland’s Golden Century was know for. A key visual is needed to demonstrate a new type of cheese that will be known as ‘Old Dutch Master’. Sound like a though job doesn’t it? Read more

Good friend Eric just released his new iPhone/iPod Touch app ‘Infomaps Amsterdam’ (iTunes link). It’s a practical and beautifully designed tourist and public transport guide for Amsterdam with ‘a twist’. I’ll be talking with Eric about the new app, the design process and we’ll be showing some of the early – and final – designs. Read more

The photographer Sipke works and lives in London, but thanks to a mutual friend we teamed up in The Netherlands to do a photoshoot in order to let me introduce myself to the readers of this website. We talked a bit and Sipke’s story intrigued me: How does a young guy from the Netherlands end up working in the professional photo-industry in London? It’s not like there aren’t any good photographers over there. What’s it like to leave everything you know (including your language) behind and start from scratch in a very competitive industry in one of the largest city’s of Europe? Read more