MicroDesign Plus

VincentGR · 19:01, 28 June 18

Oh, the second in the first row is amazing

ComSoft6128 · 19:53, 28 June 18

Understood.

Hoplite?

VincentGR · 19:58, 28 June 18

Yes!

ComSoft6128 · 09:24, 29 June 18

These are some of the font sets that came with the original MicroDesign from Siren Software, released in 1988. Supplementary font sets - MD Extra - were also released that year by Siren. Later other sets were released or converted to MD format, including the fonts for Windows 3.1 - that conversion was done by a MD+ user and as you can imagine was never an "official" release!

ComSoft6128 · 13:36, 29 June 18

Converted clip art. Again sourced from Stop Press, Goldmark Sytems, WACCI or other PD libraries. These files were (and still are) stored on 3.5" Romdos D20 disks, in user areas 1 - 10.

ComSoft6128 · 13:14, 30 June 18

1994.
More files from MD+ users. The two large 100 Squadron RAF badges look like they have been scanned and are in the high resolution strip format - stepping is minimal even when magnified.

ComSoft6128 · 07:54, 01 July 18

This dates from 91. 64K landscape format, printed using the Star LC-10. Images taken from BBC2 Sunday afternoon political programme "On The Record". The cartoons were created by the NZ born cartoonist Les Gibbard. I often digitised cartoons or, were possible, line drawings as these would give the clearest possible image(s).

N.B.
Cleanie = Cleansing Department E H = Environmental Health Department

Background information on Les Gibbard can be found here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Gibbard

And here:
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2010/oct/20/les-gibbard-obituary

ComSoft6128 · 16:16, 02 July 18

More font sets, fill patterns and borders. From the original release of MicroDesign by Siren Software in 1988.

ComSoft6128 · 17:04, 03 July 18

Photocopy of A5 advert for WACCI magazine, February 95.

VincentGR · 17:23, 03 July 18

I have that expression most of the times, like him in the picture...

ComSoft6128 · 17:25, 03 July 18

Then MD+ should take it away........................

ComSoft6128 · 08:07, 04 July 18

This dates from 1990.
I made this when I worked in the Glasgow City Council Cleansing Department H.O. In total there were 3 editions. It takes a humorous look at some of the issues affecting the department at that time. After printing the mastercopy I photocopied 20 further copies and used the internal mail system to send them to the various sections and depots of the department. It was generally well received but there were one or two negative comments. Which I ignored.
From the CPC perspective what is interesting here is that the image in the centre of the screen is not a MD file. It is a standard 17k screen file printed using the Advanced Art Studio or the Vidi Rom. A MD template was made up for the text and box lines, printed off and then fed back into the printer for the screen file to be added. This process took far longer/was more difficult than expected and was so frustrating I never attempted it again.

tjohnson · 19:25, 04 July 18

Looks great, i really wanted this sort of power to publish this sort of thing back in the day and messed around with lots of art packages but never got to dtp on the amstrad, now we take it for granted but then everything is moving online so less demand for printed materials these days. Which isn't always good. My company, mentioning no names recently issued a comms in some flashy Web based thing, however it was completely form completely form over function function and about the most frustrating way to receive information, terrible . I'm sure the younger staff thought it was great. Looked wonderful of you like that sort of thing.

Sent from my E5823 using Tapatalk

ComSoft6128 · 20:32, 04 July 18

Good point. Pre-net most of the communication of detailed information was done in print. In fact I had email (via the wonderful CPC) at home long before we had it in common use in the council office. So up to the mid to late nineties most of the offices I worked in functioned on a diet of paper instructions and faxes.

ComSoft6128 · 13:17, 05 July 18

Edition 2 and some background info. 1989. 64k portrait format, printed using the Star LC-10. This was created using the original MicroDesign not MicroDesign Plus. As there was no ASCII import option in the original MD this meant that the text was typed directly onto the design page. As a consequence a page like this was very slow to assemble.

ComSoft6128 · 15:16, 06 July 18

Edition 1 and cover page. 1989.
The 1st image/large graphic of the coast of the UK and Ireland was originally from MD2 PCW and came from the "Maps Libraries" collection licensed from Creative Technology Ltd.

ComSoft6128 · 14:50, 07 July 18

6 converted 17k screens created by an Amstrad Action type-in. 1994. Photocopies of the originals - these two files are still on disc but at the moment I have no way of printing them off.
If I remember correctly each time the Basic program was finished (took 10/15 minutes) the final graphic was displayed with the Ready prompt but no save option.
The DES App "Camera" which sat in memory (waiting for the right key-press) was then used to take a screenshot and save the graphic to disc.
Irfanview was used to increase the contrast of these scans as the photocopies were not best quality.
Landscape format, printed using Star LC-10.

ComSoft6128 · 16:01, 08 July 18

Stop Press Cut files converted to MD format, from Goldmark Systems. 1993. The subject matter is unusual but someone must have expressed an interest in these. This scan came from a low quality photocopy tidied up using Paint.

VincentGR · 16:35, 08 July 18

Oh, Harrier Attack

ComSoft6128 · 17:14, 08 July 18

Ha Ha

Good point!

ComSoft6128 · 05:38, 09 July 18

Another two files from a MD+ user. Printed at 1/2 size. 94/95? Again I am not sure what the circuit diagram on the right is for.
Any ideas?

ComSoft6128 · 04:39, 10 July 18

Review, by Jill Lawson, of the original MicroDesign released by Siren Software in 1988.
This page in the Wiki by MacDeath on Jill Lawson and her history with the CPC is
well worth viewing:
http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Jill_Lawson

Unfortunately the link at the bottom of the page to the mini-biography appears to be broken.
Any suggestions on how to fix this?

For clarity I would suggest downloading the two files and using Windows Photo Viewer to magnify the text.

ComSoft6128 · 08:39, 12 July 18

1991.
This is the cartoon character "Fidi Dido" used in a television advert for 7 UP in the early nineties. Image captured using Rombo Vidi, printed using the Star LC-10.
Information on the development and use of the character can be found here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fido_Dido

ComSoft6128 · 08:43, 12 July 18

And this is the short TV ad the image was grabbed from:

ComSoft6128 · 16:43, 13 July 18

This design was for home use and dates from 1988. Back then the radio might have had push buttons (!) but it certainly didn't have the luxury of a digital display to let me know where to find a particular radio station. The design itself is rubbish but it did give me the info I needed which is what mattered. 64K landscape, printed using the Amstrad DMP 2160.

AAFN (The YANKS) is the American Armed Forces Network.
The REDS was the Radio Moscow World Service which became the Voice of Russia in 1993.

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