Happy 20th Anniversary Tomorrow

[Scotty]

And I believe before Xara he was CorelDraw author..

[gwpriester]

Ack. I just assumed this thread was something to do with Xara.

Before TalkGraphics there was i/us which was started by Chris Dickman and Arlan Bartch and is long gone. Arlan Bartch was a former director of marketing for Corel Corporation and Chris was a graphics software authority and magazine and book author. Arlan and Chris started i/us and commissioned the original XaraXone. And they also started the conference site that is now TalkGraphics. When i/us shut down and Arlen and Chris started their new venture, I approached Xara to sponsor the XaraXone. Working with Kate Moir all those years was a pleasure. I think there were only one or two occasions when Kate specifically told me to do something. Basically I was on my own.

In the early years of the XaraXone I created the Featured Artists Gallery and Egg Bramhill was one of my first featured artists.

I started using CorelDRAW I think in the early 90s and co-authored a book with David Huss. OG (other Gary, Gary Bouton) and I met in Ottawa at a Corel World Design awards dinner. CorelDRAW at that time was the only credible design and illustration program for Windows, which at the time required a run-time version of Windows. Mary and I had our own graphic design company in San Francisco and I used CorelDRAW for all our design work. Bouton, and Dickman, and Huss and Altman, and I all wrote for CorelMagazine, a really fun time. I also met Alison Moore, one of the moderators here at TG at one of the CorelDRAW Conferences.

In 1996 at one of Rick Altman's CorelWorld Conferences, in Texas think it was, we saw a demo of a new application that Corel had just agreed to market, Xara. When the presenter from Corel, Leah Haymen demonstrated the Linear transparency feature by simply dragging across a photo with the Transparency Tool to magically reveal part of a photo that was beneath, I knew Xara was the design tool for me.

It was all so long ago. I'm probably wrong on a half dozen points.

Thanks all for your we wishes. Co-incidentally, Mary and I met 46 years ago today!

[handrawn]

steady on guys, you will be making him feel old at this rate

@Jono

Ewan MacColl's song ' the shoals of herring' was based on [the life of] sam larner, wriiten for the BBC Radio Ballards in 1960, when I were but a sprat, but Gary was already well on the way to being 'a fascinating historical record'

Gary you snuck in whilst I was writing - congrats to you and Mary - stay safe

[Egg Bramhill]

Happy 'meeting' anniversary Gary and Mary.

[Cloud]

I used to be on here every single day not too long ago but have not been back for a year or 2. For some reason, I decided to come back today and lo and behold, we're celebrating 20 years for this amazing site. We stopped using Xara products quite a while ago but one thing I will say, Xara users and Gary, in particular, have been amazing. Any success Xara has is, in my opinion, down to Gary and the others helping out. Congratulations all round.

[gwpriester]

Hey Cloud. Thanks. Your work both with Xara and with other products has always been a source of amazement and inspiration.

[Cloud]

Hey Cloud. Thanks. Your work both with Xara and with other products has always been a source of amazement and inspiration.

Thank you, Gary, your kind, encouraging words over the years have given me a massive sense of pride. When I first started experimenting with web design it was learning from the group here with webdesigner and at the time we were a printing firm and wanted control of our own website. We are now exclusively a web development and SEO company and have offices in both the UK and US with nearly 70 employees, and it would not have happened had it not been for your help - I'll always be grateful.

[pauland]

I used to be on here every single day not too long ago but have not been back for a year or 2. For some reason, I decided to come back today and lo and behold, we're celebrating 20 years for this amazing site. We stopped using Xara products quite a while ago but one thing I will say, Xara users and Gary, in particular, have been amazing. Any success Xara has is, in my opinion, down to Gary and the others helping out. Congratulations all round.

+1