What: Orts is a collection of new, never-used, and repurposed stuff from Patrick Merrell, reflecting the 38 years I've spent as a freelance illustrator, graphic designer, writer, and puzzlemaker.
Who: All the content — writing, art, and photos — unless otherwise noted, has been created by Patrick Merrell. (Exception: The Orts Shorts graphics are from my collection of copyright-free vintage images.)
How: Minutes, hours, days, sometimes years have gone into each entry. Less time may be required on your part.
More: To see more of Patrick's work, go HERE.
• He has illustrated, designed, and/or written more than 300 books, including 80 puzzle books.
• He has written 85 crosswords for The New York Times (including 20 Sundays).
• He's also written more than a thousand puzzles for People magazine, as well as others for Scientific American, Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, MAD, National Wildlife Federation, Crayola, the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, and the World Puzzle Championship.
• In 2015, he wrote, illustrated, designed, and published a humorous graphic novel, ZEP, funded through Kickstarter.
• He's one of MAD magazine's "Usual Gang of Idiots."
• He wrote for the New York Times crossword blog, Wordplay, from 2009 to 2011.
• Two of his crossword puzzles and an interview were featured in the 2006 hit documentary Wordplay (no connection to the New York Times blog).
• He's produced thousands of illustrations, cartoons, greeting cards, posters, book covers, logos, and articles for a myriad of publishers, ad agencies, national magazines, book, design firms, city agencies and ... well, you get the idea.
• He studied art, architecture, and editorial design at Syracuse University (BFA).
• He knows way too much about Grover Cleveland, was a semi-pro road bicycle racer for over 20 years, and is married with one terrific daughter.
Contact: go HERE.
