About Physics Posters
Who am I?
I’m Trevor Johnson-Steigelman. I am a physics professor at Finger Lakes Community College just outside of Rochester in upstate New York. I earned my Ph.D in experimental condensed matter physics at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Since the days when I tried to draw pictures of my Star Wars toy spaceships, I’ve always been interested in science, math, and art.
How did Physics Posters start?
While building my website physicsthisweek.com, I came across an available but undeveloped domain named physicsposters.com. I thought that there might be a small market to sell scientifically accurate posters to other physics teachers. The domain was very expensive, so I kept it in the back of my mind.
Since I was building a website from scratch, I didn’t want to use publisher diagrams. I also found that the process of changing textbooks in my classes led to the need to recreate all of my lectures using the new publisher’s diagrams. During my lectures, I tried to have pieces of the diagrams show up while I explain a concept, but this was difficult with publisher provided diagrams. I didn’t want to violate any copyright rules either. I really needed to create my own diagrams. After a lot of years experience, I got pretty good at using the built-in tools of PowerPoint, but needed a more powerful tool.
Making my Art
I eventually stumbled upon a program called Inkscape that gave me fairly good control of the drawing process. The measurement tools gave me fine control for accuracy. I could import graphs and equations. At some point, I thought it might be fun to design a few posters to decorate my classroom. I then realized that other teachers or physics students might be interested in them too. At that point I remembered that domain name, physicsposters.com. Apparently the seller wasn’t able to get the price they wanted for it, and they gave it up. I was able to buy it for the standard price of a fresh new domain.
After a bit of searching, I found Printful.com, a print-on-demand service that would allow me to offer my posters to the world. While learning the ins-and-outs of print on demand, I realized that I could also make stickers, t-shirts, mugs, and other products as well. That’s when physicsposters.com morphed into the website you see today.
About Physics Posters
I’ve tried to put together a range of pieces that allow you to spruce up your physics classroom, your dorm room, your office, or your home.
There is geometric art, posters explaining physical concepts, and coffee mugs. If you like to display your love of science and math in public, there are t-shirts, hats, and stickers. You can browse by topic or type of product.
Thanks for stopping by. If you are a physicist, scientist, engineer, or mathematician, I hope you find something you like. If you are looking for a gift for your favorite scientist, I hope the same.