About this Blog

RW Illustrator is a blog about Adobe Illustrator and design topics in general.

The name RW Illustrator is derived from Real World Illustrator, the title of a book that I authored for Adobe Illustrator version CS2, CS3, CS4, and CS5. I initially created this blog in an effort to provide ongoing supplemental information about Adobe Illustrator that I was not able to provide in my book. It was also meant as a way for readers and the community at large to provide feedback, ask questions, and engage in discussion on the use of Adobe Illustrator. There are no CS6 or CC versions of the book as the publisher made the decision not to publish updates. I am unaware of any plans for future versions of the book. This is due much in part to the fact that book publishing for technical topics in general has been in decline for some time now. In addition, Adobe has adopted a subscription model for their software and they release new features on a constant basis, making it non-economical to maintain a printed book on the subject. I've since embraced the world of online video-based training, specifically with lynda.com.

Who am I? My name is Mordy Golding. People often ask me what I do for a living, and I find it difficult to provide an answer. Perhaps this brief history will help establish a better expectation for what you'll find on my blog.

I "met" my first Mac in 1990. The person using it was designing a flyer in Adobe Illustrator 88. I have since been thrown into a world of technology and design of which I have yet to emerge.

My first job was as a typesetter for Mesorah Publications LTD (the publishers of the English Judaica ArtScroll series of books). After a year, I left to fully-embrace the desktop publishing revolution. I bought my first Mac (a Quadra 700) and building upon what I learned as a typesetter, I taught myself graphic design (with the help of John McWade's awesome Before & After magazine) and spent every waking hour trying to decipher powerhouse design applications like Illustrator, Photoshop, and PageMaker (later QuarkXPress). In 1995, I joined a design studio as a production artist covering both print and web design projects.

During this time, I was an active participant in the design/technology community, regularly attending conferences like MacWorld, Seybold, and ThunderLizard, as well as participating in online forums and discussions (primarily on America OnLine). I landed a book deal and before I knew it, had become an authority on using Adobe Illustrator. At a MacWorld conference in Boston in 1998, I got to hang with Guy Kawasaki in the speaker room, and I did a book signing alongside another celebrity making a splash in the web design community named Lynda Weinman.

In 2001, I joined Adobe as the product manager for Adobe Illustrator (versions 10 and CS). It was a dream job that lasted 3 years, where I had the opportunity to learn about Illustrator from the inside out, and interact with the millions of people who use the product every day.

In 2004, realizing our family is better suited on the east coast, I left Adobe to start my own consulting firm, Design Responsibly. For years, I literally traveled the world helping people use not just Illustrator, but all digital tools on the Adobe platform. I had the opportunity to work with incredibly talented design teams at places like Random House, Macmillan, The New York Times, USA Today, Time, Newsday, Landor, Draft FCB, Sesame Workshop, Cline Davis Mann, Sony Ericsson, Movado, Coach, Nike, Cabelas, Pink, NBA, and more. At around that same time, a friend who had just joined a company called lynda.com asked if I would be interested recording my Illustrator training in video form. I had known Lynda from before and I liked the format better than writing.

In 2011, after recording more than 25 video courses, I joined lynda.com as a full-time employee, currently servicing as VP of Content. In May, 2015, lynda.com was acquired by LinkedIn, so I'm officially an employee of LinkedIn, although my role is unchanged -- focused on delivering the best quality video and on-demand training you can find.