Wednesday, February 23, 2011

What I Did for a Living

When I was a graduate student at the University of Kansas in 1992, I was offered a job producing a map for disabled students. I recently discovered that this map is still actively used on KU's website.


I remember spending 13 hours uncompressing the original CAD drawing from Facilities Management to a useable format. Back then there were no status bars to tell you how long it would be or if it was even working. Just 13 hours of waiting and hoping something was actually happening. I converted the file to an eps format and brought it into Free Hand - a product that appears to be going out of use.

The map uses blue (I think they've darkened it a bit) to indicate the accessible buildings because it's the color of the handicapped signs as well as the color of the Kansas Jayhawk's uniforms. It's not the best color for sending a clear message but it basically works. The blue arrows point to the accessible entrances. My (misspelled) name appears in the credits at the bottom of the page.*

*Update (December, 2013) - They changed the web page. I no longer see my misspelled name but I'm surprised that they're still using it rather than some googly thing.


1 comment:

Michael5000 said...

Place looks smaller than I remember it.