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Gene Gable

Gene Gable has spent a lifetime in publishing and the graphic arts and is currently a technology consultant and writer. After a decade in commercial typesetting and design services, he chronicled the desktop-publishing revolution from his post as publisher and president of Publish magazine. With nine international editions, Publishbecame the leading global resource on the use of digital technology for print and Web production. Gable served on the operational boards of International Data Group's PCWorld and PC Games magazines and was earlier publisher of Sporting Times magazine.


During his tenure at Ziff-Davis Gable was on the executive team responsible for major business events such as Comdex, Networld+Interop and JavaOne. As president of Seybold Seminars and publisher of The Seybold Report from 1999 to 2002, Gable managed a global slate of conferences, trade shows and other graphic-arts educational products. During his leadership Seybold events featured prominent speakers such as Arthur Sulzberger Jr., publisher of the New York Times, Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer, Christie Hefner, president of Playboy Enterprises, Bruce Chizen, CEO of Adobe Systems, and Daniel Carp, CEO of Eastman Kodak.


Gable has spoken at events around the world and currently serves as chair for the automated-publishing track at the Gilbane Conference on Content Management. Gable has written extensively on graphic design, intellectual-property rights, and publishing production in books and for magazines such as Print, U&lc, ID, Macworld, Graphic Exchange, AGI, and The Seybold Report. Gable's interest in graphic design history and letterpress printing has resulted in his columns Heavy Metal Madness and Scanning Around with Gene here on CreativePro.com.

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Scanning Around With Gene: Les Merveilles Du Monde

Blog: Written by Gene Gable on July 3, 2008

For several decades, when European kids bought Nestle chocolate bars, they got an education along with the sugar fix. "The Wonders of the World" series featured unusual art and encyclopedic text.

Scanning Around With Gene: The Horse and Buggy Printer

Blog: Written by Gene Gable on June 26, 2008

Dan X. Solo spent a lifetime building Solotype, one of the world’s most interesting type collections. For three decades he ran his business with unparalleled character and panache.

Scanning Around with Gene: On the Colorful Road Again

Blog: Written by Gene Gable on June 19, 2008

Arizona Highways began with a mission to promote automobile travel. Along the way this colorful magazine became a leading art and photography voice in American publishing.

Scanning Around With Gene: Super-Saturated High-Intensity Highways

Blog: Written by Gene Gable on June 15, 2008

Thanks to a combination of outstanding photography, a specialized printing process, and a unique publishing model, the magazine Arizona Highways was often referred to as "the most beautiful magazine in America."

Scanning Around With Gene: PageMaker Memories from 6 to 72 Point

Blog: Written by Gene Gable on June 5, 2008

Recent announcements from Quark and Adobe are upping the ante when it comes to creative page-layout tools. Through that modern lens, the rudimentary capabilities of the original PageMaker look like stone knives and bearskins.

First Look: QuarkXPress 8.0

Features: Written by Gene Gable on May 29, 2008

Finally, the makeover designers have been waiting for.

Scanning Around with Gene: Drink Up to Summer!

Blog: Written by Gene Gable on May 23, 2008

Summer is almost here, and that means stocking up on a variety of refreshing beverages. Ahhhh, there’s nothing like a tall cool one on a blistering summer day.

Scanning Around With Gene: Certifiable

Blog: Written by Gene Gable on May 15, 2008

As far as humor genres go, the fake certificate of achievement has always been with us. But it certainly reached its peak in the 1950s, when chasing women, chain smoking, and excessive drinking was still considered funny.

Scanning Around with Gene: Jules Verne Meets Terry Gilliam

Blog: Written by Gene Gable on May 8, 2008

The Steampunk movement is bringing Victorian fantasy to the digital era. The results are often stunning.

Scanning Around With Gene: Double Your Pleasure, Double Your Fun

Blog: Written by Gene Gable on May 2, 2008

The Wrigley Company built its chewing gum empire in part by using striking graphics and clever slogans.

Scanning Around with Gene: The Islands and Bridges of Stencils

Blog: Written by Gene Gable on April 24, 2008

Stencil lettering may seem like the crudest form of marking there is, but at one time cutting attractive stencils was a true art form.

Scanning Around with Gene: When Families Licked Together

Blog: Written by Gene Gable on April 17, 2008

Pasting trading stamps into redemption books was once an important family activity, right up there with watching Ed Sullivan and playing a rousing game of Clue.

Scanning Around With Gene: Old News is Good News

Blog: Written by Gene Gable on April 10, 2008

Browsing old newspapers can be a great way to put current issues in perspective.

Scanning Around With Gene: Front-of-the Napkin Wisdom

Blog: Written by Gene Gable on April 3, 2008

From billion-dollar business plans to life-altering phone numbers, all sorts of important and trivial things have been written on the backs of cocktail napkins. Here’s a look at the other side, where the real art resides.

Scanning Around With Gene: How to Look Presidential

Blog: Written by Gene Gable on March 27, 2008

In this election year, candidates are all scrambling to look more "presidential." Could a printing process be the ultimate solution?

Scanning Around With Gene: And a Trophy for the Winner!

Blog: Written by Gene Gable on March 20, 2008

In the world of trophy art, over the years the materials have gotten cheaper and the gold even shinier. But one thing remains constant: Big winners get big trophies, like it or not.

Scanning Around With Gene: The Apple Brand You May Not Recognize

Blog: Written by Gene Gable on March 13, 2008

Back when Apple computers were still homemade, the company’s graphics were anything but slick. For one brief year, Apple Computer projected a style entirely different than the one we know today.

Scanning Around With Gene: Dymo-Mite! The Art of Labeling

Blog: Written by Gene Gable on March 6, 2008

Fifty years ago, the first embossed white letters came out of a Dymo label maker and on to a small strip of colored plastic. Millions of labels later, we're still trying to get organized.

Scanning Around with Gene: Happy Birthday, Peace Symbol!

Blog: Written by Gene Gable on February 27, 2008

This month, the venerable peace symbol turns 50. Here's a look at the symbol and its surprising origins.

Scanning Around With Gene: Pay Up, or Else!

Features: Written by Gene Gable on February 20, 2008

The current economic slowdown has resulted in many people having to stall on paying some bills. Gene Gable takes a look at collection stickers from days gone by and wonders just what motivates someone to break down and actually mail that check.