The first decorated trees were adorned with apples, strings of popcorn, candy canes and pastries in the shapes of stars, hearts and flowers. In 1847, Hans Greiner, an artisan in Lauscha, Germany, began producing more permanent decorations – glass baubles in the shape of fruit and nuts.

To do this, he heated a glass tube over a flame, then inserted the tube into a clay mold, blowing into the heated glass to expand it into the shape of the mold. After the glass cooled, a silver nitrate solution was swirled inside, the outside was hand tinted, and the bauble was finished with a cap and hook.

The ornament became vogue in the late 1840s, when a photo of Queen Victoria’s Christmas tree was shown in a London newspaper, decorated with lights and glass baubles from her husband Prince Albert’s native Germany. Today, holiday decorations are second only to gift-giving in seasonal sales. Ornaments are mass-produced world-wide, and about 20 small glass blowing studios still exist in Lauscha, Germany.

2009 was a great year for me. Thank you to everyone who was a part of it. I look forward to starting something new, solving problems and making things in 2010. Happy holidays!

Some fellow techies and I have started Technical Illustrators.org, a blog and community by and for technical illustrators. We feature portfolios of colleagues and share tutorials, techniques, resources, tips & tricks of the trade.

With more and more of the traditional in-house technical illustration jobs moving overseas, techies are finding themselves out on their own. In a time when communicating information clearly, accurately & concisely is paramount, there is huge demand for their skills however their trade is relatively unknown. It’s our goal with this site to unite these independent professionals and raise awareness of this highly communicative medium.

For more, visit us at Technical Illustrators.org!

I recently had the pleasure of working under the exceptional art direction of Ryan Reynolds from MSDS on Electrification Roadmap. This report is a vision for an electric transportation sector and nationwide supergrid, published by the Electrification Coalition, a not-for-profit group seeking to affect energy policy to reduce economic, environmental and national security risks.

Electrification Roadmap Cover Concepts

I created lineart illustrations describing the different technologies that enable electric transportation: the different drive-train configurations (hybrid electric, plug-in hybrid electric and full electric) contrasted with conventional internal combustion engines, lithium-ion cells and battery packs, and home charging stations.

We also worked together on concepts for the cover that leaned towards editorial illustration, an area I’ve been exploring recently. The concepts play on the vernacular of circuit diagrams, information graphics and transit maps using symbols of alternative energy and transportation.

Despite the final above not being used, it’s always great to work on positive projects with forward thinking people.

Diagrams revealing the key components and features of different automotive drivetrain technologies: internal combustion, hybrid electric (HEV), plug-in electric (PHEV) and electric (EV). For Electrification Roadmap, a whitepaper on the electrification of America’s transport sector.