Martin Gee, the page designer who posted a Flickr photo essay on the emptiness created by layoffs at the Mercury News, was himself laid off by that newspaper last week, according to visualeditors.com. That Web site also reported that Gee’s father died earlier this month following a battle with cancer. Apparently, Gee had been going around the Merc recently describing himself as a future layoff victim. (Photo from visualeditors.com)