Nicola Ginzler

Senior Graphic Designer

Author: Nicola Ginzler

Recent protest signs and posters

Horizontal protest sign. Black background with text: "ICE learned terror tactics from the NAZIS. The Nazis learned them from America’s JIM CROW SOUTH." "ICE," the first occurrence of the word "NAZIS" and "JIM CROW SOUTH" are in large white caps in a distressed typeface; the rest is in smaller and yellow.

A bright island in the current flood of terrible news and events is the creativity that’s coming out of it. Here are some of my recent protest signs and posters. I’m also including work from other people in the various communities that are fighting against the current regime. I’ve indicated what isn’t mine and credited […]

Happy Valentine’s Day 2026 – 3 of 3

Cropped photo of toy kittens carrying a heart-shaped candy made of black and white chocolate. Pale blue background.

It’s Valentine’s Day, and love is in the air! Or a coffin? Love is probably better though. Whatever you’re celebrating* (or not), Eights the Cat and I hope you have fun doing it! Big hugs, Nicola and Eights *E.g., being in a relationship, being single, having great friends, loving your kid(s) and/or pet(s), fighting against […]

Happy Valentine’s Day 2026 – 2 of 3

A grainy closeup of a dead mouse or rat against gray asphalt and a gray wall. There are three bright red hearts with black outlines above the animal.

Eights the Cat and I got you a Valentine’s Day present! I’ll just tuck it in your shoe in the closet so it’ll be a nice surprise. Big hugs, Nicola and Eights

Happy Valentine’s Day 2026 – 1 of 3

Tight crop on the ribbon of a wreath on a gray-green door. The wreath is a brown wicker circle with pale pink maribou feathers and a red metallic heart garland wound around it. There's a red ribbon bow at the bottom.

This is the Valentine’s Day wreath on my front door. It’s a wicker circle with pink maribou feathers and a red metallic heart garland wound around it. Whatever you’re celebrating* today (or not), Eights the Cat and I hope you have fun! *Being in a relationship, being single, having great friends, loving your kid(s) and/or […]

Late for Boxing Day—Eightses in Boxes

Photo shot from above of a gray and white cat with light green eyes, looking up at the viewer. The cat is in a cardboard shipping box.

Whoops! I got distracted by life yesterday and forgot to post this Boxing Day photo of Eights the Cat in her new box, previously containing presents. Yes, I know every day is Boxing Day for cats. Here are more photos of Eights in things.

In praise of family and friends!

Illustration of a dark winter's night with stylized stars and conifer trees. In the right center are a polar bear and cub, wearing red Santa hats. The "mama" bear also has glasses drawn on, and the bear cub has whiskers drawn on, both in red. Below the illustration is text in red: "Wishing you peace, joy, and the company of your favorite beings. Xoxo, Nicola and Eights the Cat."

Whether you celebrate specific holidays this season or not, I hope you’re able to spend it in the company of those who mean the most to you. Eights the Cat hopes you remembered to put squishy puréed meat treats in your cat(s)’s stocking (I did). Both of us hope for better news here and worldwide […]

My beloved first cat Lucy (RIP), ready for Christmas Eve! 

Closeup photo of black cat with yellow-green eyes wearing tiny Santa hat. Light background.

Lucy was the only cat I’ve ever had that would tolerate wearing hats. She died many years ago but I still miss her like crazy. Isn’t she beautiful? Here are some other photos from that same photo session on December 4, 2007. Happy Holidays!

Vintage kittens!

On left top - black background with white sans serif type: "May your holidays be filled with wonderful things!" On left bottom - white background with red fancy script type: "Nicola & Eights the Cat." On right: black and white Victorian photo of a smiling woman holding a cat.

What’s cuter than a kitten saying “Hello”? A kitten in a Santa hat? A kitten buying treats? Two kittens in a basket? You be the judge… Whatever you decide, Eights the Cat and I send love and wish you Happy Holidays!

Elegant Butch/Femme Tango Dancers On Ice!

Colorized vintage black and white photo of three smiling butch/femme couples in elegant formal dress, wearing ice skates on a skating rink. They are in the midst of dancing the tango. Black text at center bottom: "JM Tango-Club - Revue der modernen Tänze."

This delightful colorized photograph was taken in Berlin, probably in the late 1800s–early 1900s. Text at the center bottom reads: “Jm Tango-Club – Revue der modernen Tänze” or “Jm Tango Club – Revue of modern dances.” Text in the bottom right corner reads “PHOT. WILLINGER – BERLIN.” The original photo was definitely black and white […]

Transforming a vintage holiday kitty into Eights the Cat!

Two square vintage-style illustrations of a gray tabby kitten, sitting in a red Santa boot, side by side. Behind each kitten is holiday greenery. The kitten on the left has a small, unsmiling mouth and blue eyes, and is holding a card that says "From ME!" The kitten on the right has a larger, smiling mouth and yellow-green eyes, and is holding a card that says "Happy Holidays from Nicola & Eights"

This is the original image I bought from a vendor on Etsy. The kitten’s mouth is so small and sad—we can’t have that! Plus, although she’s gray like Eights, she has blue eyes to Eights’ light green. I liked this kitty’s smiling mouth much better, so I silhouetted and copied it. Here’s Her Royal Highness, […]

Happy Winter Solstice! (Northern Hemisphere)

Illustration of the Earth in space, orbiting around the sun, and showing the tilt of Earth's axis at the December and June solstices and the March and September equinoxes.

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_solstice: The winter solstice, or hibernal solstice, occurs when either of Earth‘s poles reaches its maximum tilt away from the Sun. This happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere (Northern and Southern). For that hemisphere, the winter solstice is the day with the shortest period of daylight and longest night of the year, and when the Sun is at its lowest arc in the sky.[1] In each polar region, there is continuous darkness or twilight around […]

Happy Cthulhumas 2025!

Illustration of cheerful man in a winter coat and hat carrying an armful of red and green packages. Writhing green tentacles sprout from the package on top. In red text to the left of the man is the following: "Share the gift of eternal, gibbering madness with all your loved ones this Cthulhumas." at the very bottom right is small text: "votecthulhu.com."

I found this cheery holiday image a number of years ago on the website votecthulhu.com, now https://cthulhuforamerica.com. The image is no longer there but there are many other inspiring “Cthulhu for President 2028″-, politics- and madness-themed images on various products at https://cthulhuforamerica.com/shop/. As the site’s landing page states: Vision for a New Reality The American […]

1906 “Christmas Greetings” Postcard: Kitten with Holly

Yellowed vintage 1906 illustrated postcard. Front: a black and white kitten with a green ribbon around its neck. The kitten is in a light blue vertical oval with a gold border, and holly leaves with red berries below it. In the bottom left is "Christmas Greetings" in gold type. In pencil in the center bottom is "From Adrian [?] Hallowell." In the bottom right is the manufacturer's information in faint blue print: "Copyright 1906 by H. J. Robbins, Boston." Back: addressed in faded black ink to "Master Ralph Springman, Palmyra, Nebr." Postmark is "Lincoln, Neb. - Dec. 24, 1906 - 11 AM." A green 1-cent stamp is cancelled with wavy black lines over red type that says "Post Card."

This charming postcard was printed and mailed in 1906. I found the image years ago and finally did a reverse image search. It appears in a number of places, but the one I liked best was in an eBay listing at https://www.ebay.com/itm/226684767282 for $8.97. The printed text and handwriting on the front is as follows: […]

“A Surprise for the Holidays” — Season’s Greetings from Innsmouth, Massachusetts

Blurry color painting of huge monstrous tentacles coming out on either side of a country bridge in a snowy New England holiday scene. A horse and sleight is heading straight for the bridge. Red border.

The monstrous tentacles in the image are a nod to the Cthulhu Mythos of the “father of American horror writing,” H.P. Lovecraft; the fictional town of Innsmouth appears in his novella, “The Shadow Over Innsmouth.” (It should be noted that Lovecraft was a confirmed racist, misogynist, and antisemite. Later enthusiasts have salvaged the framework of […]

Award-winning political protest signs

Frame at top: Light teal with "#TeslaTakedown" in white and "AWARDS" in yellow. Frame at bottom: In white banner "Winner: Best New Sticker / Nicola G." Inside frame: Protest anti-Tesla sticker (vertical): white background with cropped black and white photo of the front of a Cybertruck in 3/4 view. Above the car is red all caps type "FINALLY"; below the car is black all caps type "BIRTH / CONTROL / FOR MEN." In small gray type at bottom: "Photo © Mr.choppers - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=152037030"

Here are some signs I’ve made to protest against Tesla and the Trump regime. The “FINALLY” design was voted a “Best New Sticker” in the #TeslaTakedown Contest, with hundreds of entries and over 5,000 people voting. For the signs, I’ve been using Avenir Next Heavy for headlines and Avenir Next Condensed Medium for copyright information […]

Lucy’s the Cat’s “Memory Box” – (TW: pet death, grief)

Photo of a red heavy cardboard box with black corners on the lid, on a light gray patterned comforter. A label on the front of the box has a photo of a black cat lying on a flowered beige comforter.

This is Lucy’s “Memory Box,” where I keep mementos of her life. It usually sits on a shelf in my closet but I take it out once a year on the anniversary of her death, September 28, and go through everything. I’m posting some of the items on this page. Today is the 17th anniversary. […]

Saturate, map gradient, repeat. Manipulated photos from my collection.

Repeating pattern of a photo of a single Paris Daisy, heavily color-manipulated so it's orange and magenta.

“Concrete Bunny” started with a photo of a bunny face drawn with chalk on a sidewalk. A Paris Daisy in my neighborhood. They’re yellow in real life. A photo of Wax Begonias, flipped and rotated to make a repeating pattern, then heavily posterized. I cut the extremely complex shapes for this 18″ x 8″ steel […]

Flower and plant identification using the Seek app

iPhone screenshots using the Seek app. Left to right: sculpture of bird ID'd as Common Raven, plant with flowers ID'd as Ivy Geranium; yellow coaster with grey kitten illustration ID'd as Mammal; gray-and-white cat ID'd as Domestic Cat.

Lately I’ve been using an app called Seek, which identifies flora and fauna in your designated location. Seek is available for both Mac iOS and Android. It’s super fun! You just point your phone at a plant or animal and it tells you the scientific or common name (your choice). I know most of the […]

Forceps Font Friday

From BLDGWLF.com: Norway-based designer Daniel Brokstad’s “Medic Type” font uses forceps for the lowercase “v.” Also note blood spurting from a brain for the uppercase “Q.” Daniel Brokstad is a graphic designer based in Stavanger, Norway. Find out more about him and his work here.

Fuzztak Font Friday

The evolution of the Fuzztak logotype by Lebanese designer and calligrapher Joumana Medlej: The logo for Fuzztak, the game distribution platform operated by Quirkat of which I am part. Both companies underwent a rebranding in late 2010 and I needed to design a logo that would be game-related, iconic, convenient for use in print and online, on light […]

Flash Font Friday

Classic typefaces in tattoos, flash or custom, fall into two main groups: block capitals with thick, filled-in verticals and/or mid-height serifs, or swooping, unreadable script. Type in many classic knuckle tattoos and banners is in the former camp; type in classic large back and chest tattoos in the latter. See my blog post Foot Font Friday for script tattoos on […]

Political stickers

In the upper left, sticker artwork with a Progress Pride flag background and a black bar at the bottom. All caps white type in the black bar: "PROTECT TRANS KIDS." In the lower right, "Indivisible East Bay" sticker artwork. Horizontal rectangular peel-off sticker with rounded corners. Cream-colored background with Indivisible East Bay logo at top center: navy blue rectangle with "IEB" centered in cream-colored all caps type. Below type is stylized vector art of Bay Bridge suspension cables in red and turquoise. Below logo is black all caps letter-spaced type: "INDIVISIBLE." Below type is turquoise all caps "EAST BAY."

These are some peel-off political stickers I designed recently. The stickers on the left, with the Progress Pride flags, were for the April 5, 2025 “Hands Off!” protest. The theme of this event was that the Trump regime should keep their hands off various rights and public programs. I chose to highlight LGBTQ+ rights. I […]

Fake? Font Friday 5: Copyrights in the Age of AI

This short video, by artist Neil Blevins, gives a good explanation of a recent US Copyright Office document that covers the AI that is suddenly everywhere. I haven’t read the whole document, but the parts I have seem well-translated. The main point is that only work that is the product of a human—as opposed to […]

Three Arrows symbol

Photo of round pewter pin silhouetted against a white background. Pin is medium silver gray, slightly weathered, and has three parallel black arrows debossed across it. Arrows are pointing down and to the left at a 45-degree angle.

The three arrows emblem was designed in 1932 in Weimar Germany for the anti-N@zi political group the Iron Front. I’ve adopted it as a general Anti-F@scist symbol, for these troubled times. The image above is a photograph of a pewter pin which I wear clipped to my jacket. I also have a black embroidered patch […]

Starting or revamping your preparedness go-bag

preparedness supplies:

With the fires in LA and the incoming Tr*mp 2.0 regime, now is a good time to start or revamp your emergency supply kit. (A go-bag is a portable kit you can grab and leave with in an emergency.) Make sure your emergency kit is stocked with the items on the checklist below. Download a printable […]

A signal of distress

An illustration of a circular section of an American flag with the white stars on a blue background at the lower left, i.e. from a flipped flag. Illustration is in a "grunge" style.

The American flag, flown upside down, is an historical signal of distress. Although the signal has been adopted by both left and right activists, I’m using it here to protest the unAmerican values and actions of the incoming Trump 2.0 regime. https://www.npr.org/2024/06/03/nx-s1-4987590/upside-down-american-flag-protest-symbol-history

11 Things to Do on Inauguration Day That Are Great for Your Mental Health

Misty forest scene with two people seen from the back, arms around each other, in the middle foreground. Across the bottom third is white type: "11 Things to Do on Inauguration Day That Are Great for Your Mental Health"

From volunteering to dancing, here are 11 ways Time Magazine suggests to boost your mood and/or fortify yourself for the fight to come! Not just for Inauguration Day, either—keep them in mind for the future. https://tinyurl.com/4jcwnhbz Give back The fact that Inauguration Day falls on Martin Luther King Jr. Day—a federal holiday, granting many people […]

Fur Font Friday 2

Photo of myself in the mirror, cropped to just the torso. I'm wearing a black T-shirt with a cat outline in white. Below that is white text: "I'M A CHILDLESS CAT LADY AND I VOTE." My gray and white cat "Eights" is photobombing me from her cat tree on the right side.

This T-shirt is a birthday present from my friend Chris: very on-brand for me.

Fur Font Friday 1

Vertical image of gray cat with white chin, on white background. Cat is lying with her back to the viewer and her head turned around to face towards the viewer. Her back fur has visible brush marks. Black text above the image reads "Odalisque, After Brushies" in an ornate script typeface.

This my cat “Eights” on her eighth birthday, after being brushed with her new purple brush (on left), a birthday present from Laura T. Various other typefaces I considered. I ended up choosing “Recherche” because it has flourishes but is still readable.

THIS IS NOT A TIME TO BE DISMAYED.

In the bottom half of the image is a black and white photo of Patti Smith from the neck up, singing into a microphone. Above her is text in acid green all caps in a stencil typeface: "This is not a time to be dismayed / This is Rock 'n Roll time / This is what Patti Smith trained us for." In small acid green condensed type across the center bottom: "Design: IG @nicola_ginzler - www.nicolaginzler.com - Inspo: Henry Rollins & Rasmenia Photo: Beni Köhler, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3390571"

Patti Smith (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patti_Smith) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter, author and photographer who’s still rocking at 77 years old. She’s been fighting for the right side of history longer than most of us have been alive. Please share this (with credits)! COMMIT to doing political work to organize and fight! COMBAT the forces that […]

(Queer) Flag Font Friday 2024

Overhead photo of attractively rumpled LGBTQIA+ Pride flag: From left: triangle of yellow with purple circle (intersex symbol); chevrons of white, pink and blue (trans colors); chevrons of brown and black (people of color); horizontal rainbow stripes of red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple.

Happy Pride Month to everyone, and Happy Pride Celebrations to folks in San Francisco and close by: today, tomorrow and Sunday. FRIDAY, JUNE 28, 2024—Trans Pride Today and tonight feature the Trans March at 6pm in Dolores Park in SF, with festivities starting at 11am. It’s the 20th Anniversary of the March, so wear your […]

Favorite Adobe Fonts, 2024 Sticker Fonts, Font Friday

On left, image showing type samples from Adobe Fonts. On right, type samples of Adobe Fonts in rainbow colors: 8 Heavy (hot pink); Barbra (red); Droog Heavy (orange). Glodok Display (yellow-orange); Sonsie One (acid green) TheCatHasAHat (green); Yink (cyan blue)

Here’s a little peek behind the scenes of how I created the design submissions for Burning Man 2024 stickers. The greeters at the gate of Black Rock City, the temporary city built by Burning Man workers and participants each year, hand out welcome materials to everyone entering. Among these are always stickers emblematic of the […]

Fun with AI Font Friday 1 – blending images

OK, I’m still playing with Midjourney AI image generation software, but this time using my own images to avoid copyright infringement. This round actually involves some fonts, or rather, Midjourney’s attempts at type. None of the image generation software I’ve found is currently good at reading, understanding or reproducing text, although it may (but doesn’t […]

artnet: Artists May Have a New Weapon in the Fight Against A.I. Generators—a Data ‘Poisoning’ Tool

In the midst of Britain’s industrial revolution, the Luddites protested the impact of rapid technological adoption on working people by sabotaging factory machinery. Weaving frames were smashed, engines jammed, and in extreme instances whole factories burned. Today, artificial intelligence poses a similar threat to the labor of creatives. Tech companies, perhaps a digital grandchild of Victorian industrialists, […]

FLG Font Friday – The Merch Edition!

This year I’ve been working with an art collective called the Flaming Lotus Girls. Started in 2000, FLG is a female-led, all-gender group that creates large-scale sculpture that moves and shoots fire. Interaction is key; we invite audience members to press buttons or pull levers that create a jet of flame or make an arm […]

Phasing-in Fauna Font Friday

On left: 2x2 images of a fox-bird hybrid, about 80% rendered; on right: 2x2 images of black-tailed jackrabbit, about 40% rendered

The images below are from Midjourney AI image generation software. Midjourney shows blurry intermediate images as the final art is being created. I’ve been capturing these as screenshots and using them as art in their own right. I’ve recently discovered that users can specifically tell the bot to stop at XX percent rendered by using […]

Flyball (the Space Cat) Font Friday

The adventures of Flyball the Space Cat are detailed in four charming children’s books by author Ruthven Todd and illustrator Paul Galdone. The original books are collector’s items now, but reproductions are readily available. Published starting in 1952, the books imagine a small, gray, intrepid kitten who stows away on a rocket to the moon, […]

Combining obsessions

Cats! Color! Chart of cat coat colors! I’m obsessed with both color (vocation) and cats (avocation). Here’s an exhaustive chart showing many (all?) possible coats seen in the average housecat, with notes about purebred distinctions. According to this chart, my cat Eights (below) is a Blue and White Tuxedo Short-hair. Scroll down for my kitties […]

First Nations Font Thursday 3 — Thanksgiving/Day of Mourning

Red-tinted photo of a single caribou with a white rectangle superimposed. Two lines of black type inside that: "Nurraq" in English letters and in the "Nurraq" Inuktitut typeface.

Nurraq Font Friday – Typefaces based on Canadian First Nations Alphabet. See also my posts First Nations Font Friday 1 and First Nations Font Thursday 2. To many non-Native Americans, Thanksgiving Day is a celebration of family, friends and the founding of this country, and an opportunity to think about the things we’re grateful for. […]

Pics ’n Vids from Nicola’s Burningperson 2023

Here’s a bunch of visuals from Burning Man (or as we should all call it, Burningperson) 2023. Follow the day-by-day retelling below, or just jump directly to the photo gallery or videos. This year I attended the event as a member of the Flaming Lotus Girls (FLG), a woman-run, all-gender art collective based in San Francisco. […]

FLG Fundraiser Font Friday: “Mutant Zoo: Monster Ball 2023”

Taking us back a bit to May 2023 and the Mutant Zoo: Monster Ball event presented by the Flaming Lotus Girls and Heavy Petting Zoo, at 7th West in Oakland, CA. Twelve DJs! (DJ Icon was a late add and didn’t make it onto the artwork.) The HPZ art car! FLG’s “Mutopia” and “Angel of […]

Would you like some OWEOs?

This year at Burning Man I’m gifting OWEO cookies in little packs of 2! OREOs, in name-brand packaging, you say? Doesn’t that go against the Burning Man principle of Decommodification? No, OWEOs! I designed special PARODY labels and had them made into stickers to put on packages of the real thing. Who wouldn’t want the […]