Square Bear Studio Blog


On Beyond Guttenberg

Many eBooks are simply books using a different delivery method. And that’s fine. I find it convenient to have a library of material that is easily carried around in my iPad. I like that I can read in bed without resorting to a clumsy book light. I’m all for it. But there’s nothing really new or special about eBooks like that. They are books read on glass rather than paper.

But Apple’s release of iBooks Author makes me realize that there is a lot of untapped potential in eBooks. The program is designed for textbooks, but as with many programs it has abilities beyond the ideas of the creators. And where children’s books are concerned, the ideas just keep coming. After all, you can incorporate audio, video, photo galleries, interactive maps and more. Things that can enhance and enrich a story. Things that can draw the reader more deeply into the experience. The ability to tap a button and have the text read aloud is obvious. To have it read by an animated character takes it a step up. And there are certainly more steps beyond that, awaiting only a fevered imagination to come up with them. Continue reading

Posted in Useful Information

Manga Studio: Realistic Pencils

Manga Studio from Smith Micro is by far the best tool I’ve found for emulating actual inks with pens and brushes. But I was always frustrated by the pencil tool. Sometimes that pencil look is what you want for your final … Continue reading

Posted in Manga Studio, Tutorials

Comics Simplifying the Hideously Complex

I love seeing this sort of thing: an MIT professor explains health care reform in comics form. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is around 1,900 pages and 400,000 words. I’m sure that most lawmakers have not read the … Continue reading

Posted in Useful Information

Vultures Everywhere: Domain Service Notice

If you’re the listed contact on your domain registration, you’re going to face scammers. They’re hoping you’re a bit nervous and uncertain about what it means to have your domain name registered. After all, it can be confusing to people … Continue reading

Posted in Useful Information

Sunni Brown: Doodlers, Unite!

Frequent Square Bear partner, the amazing Sunni Brown, talks about the value of doodling. I always knew that I listened better while doodling in the margins and that visual thinking was important. But as this video shows, Sunni is amazing … Continue reading

Posted in Useful Information

See the full Square Bear archives