The document discusses the pronunciation debate of 'gif', with creator Steve Wilhite favoring a soft 'g' as in 'jif', while the Oxford English Dictionary recognizes both pronunciations as correct. It outlines the history of the gif format from its development in 1987 to its waning popularity in the early 2000s, and its resurgence as a storytelling tool on social media and in art. A recent major art exhibit featured gif art, indicating its growing acceptance in the high-art scene.

2. A word on pronunciation
• According to Steve Wilhite,
the creator of the GIF
format, the original
pronunciation deliberately
echoes the peanut butter
brand JIF, with a soft
ʒ
"G" /ˈdɪf/ as in "gin".
"Choosy developers choose
GIF” – Compuserve
Employees

3. • An alternative pronunciation uses a hard
"G" as in "graphics", reflecting the expanded
acronym.
Both pronunciations are given as correct by
the Oxford English Dictionary, which added GIF
as an officially recognized noun and verb in
2012.

4. There are multiple websites dedicated to
championing one pronunciation over the other.

8. • 1987: The original
version of the GIF format,
87a,developed by
Compuserve
• 1989: CompuServe
devises an enhanced
version, called 89a, adding support for animation
delays and transparent background colors
• 1991: Tim Berners-Lee opened the web to the
public

13. As the Web 2.0 movement started to take hold in early
2000s, the gif fell out of favour with designers who were
trying to differentiate their properties from the old school
style of web page popular in the late 90s.

14. GEOCITIES KILLED THE GIF

15. Okay, it didn’t KILL the gif…

16. But it damaged its reputation!
Via Geocities-izer

27. But there are MORE of them…
• More people online
• More tools to create with
• More accessible media to source from online
• More places to put it all

43. #WhatShouldWeCallMe?

49. Major news sites using the gif more often as a
storytelling tool.

52. Audience demand is high, with people
requesting gifs on Twitter the moment they
happen.

58. ART GIFS
• At Art Basel/Miami last month, a curated
show of GIF art made a historic foray into the
high-art scene.
• Judges for “Moving the
Still” included Rodarte,
Michael Stipe, Nicola
Formichetti

64. GIF/ JIF?
• http://vimeo.com/54568033