What you’ll find in the archives (KMK Archives category within the blog) is not in chronological order, and it’s certainly not comprehensive or representative of all I’ve done. Some pieces posted here are historically relevant; some highlight projects I particularly enjoyed; others you may find fun or interesting; and perhaps one will lead you to muse and consider a time period or event from your own life.
There are also many writings, articles, logos, designs, videos, case studies, and other examples I’m not posting publicly for reasons of copyright, respect of a person or organization for whom I did the work, or, quite frankly, because the work is not very interesting or germane to the general public. I’ve also discarded much work for personal and practical reasons.
Discarding old work is space-saving, especially when the original was not digital, and scanning or photographing items was not easy. Over the years, I’ve tossed most of the non-digital work I created without keeping any record. Yes, occasionally I wish I had kept a sample of this, that, or the other project — but the feeling passes!
Much old work is also just that: old. Articles were often geared to a specific event, or were so long most people are not going to read them now. Satires were so bitingly close to the truth that often they were harbingers of things to come or not understood as satire. Three-dimensional works I constructed in metal or fibers were interesting and unique, yet I have not maintained a continuing practice in studio art.
Training videos, instruction guides, user manuals, and how-to articles for software, hardware, and so on become obsolete soon after creation, and they are not very interesting to the general public. Neither are old project plans, program outlines, business plans, media kits, or status reports.
I rarely saved copies of my corporate work because employees and contractors are usually required to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) that state any work done for the corporation remains corporate property. In such cases, I didn’t even keep portfolio copies of what I created.
Just as written work was often tied to an event or timeframe, many logos, posters, and brochures I’ve created were representative of a specific era or design style. The two longest-used logos I designed were cutting-edge when I created them, but have now come to be seen as clichéd. One of those logos was actively used for more than 25 years, and the other logo is still in use after more than 30 years.
Ultimately, unless there’s a lesson to learn or person to thank, I prefer to be in the present moment and consider new ideas and projects rather than look backwards or rest on laurels.
~KMK