DESIGN A MAGAZINE BACK PAGE...for real.

This is why I love Layers Magazine. They also have their ongoing Design Makeover submissions, taking on the scary of the scary in bad design. Check out the layers web site for more info.

But if the mood strikes you and you wanna get crazy with the photoshop, you should enter the bi-monthly contest-you could win some moola ($300).

I TOOK THE EASY WAY OUT...THE TYPICAL POSTER DIAGRAM

It's amazing how much I depend on the internet. I spent last week in a branding meeting for a global manufacturer, and with limited internet-I about went crazy. My IT department really needs to update their loaner equipment to wireless access latitude laptops. I had to plug into a phone jack to actually get online. This of course was the solution as my laptop died in Carmel, IN (the Dell precision is still no match for my big-ass graphic files) and I was given a "loaner"-which translates to a machine that I can just play solitaire on or write a rough draft of my suicide note before dying from lack of internet and adobe software in Davidson, NC.

Well, I made the best of it.

If you want to check out some local and regional music head out Birdy's on Aug. 16--Detholz, Red Light Drive, Beta Male and Thunders will be "sashaying" all night long.

ARE YOU FEELING LUCKY?

This came out last week...Getty's is now using Flickr as a new means of finding fresh images. So when you post those shots of Grandma's eightieth birthday, the Grand Canyon or cousin Seth's bar mitzvah--you could be contacted to use your photos to populate it's many clients stock libraries.

WARNING: Getty's has to pick you, so more than likely if a rep contacts you, be sure you know what to ask for in rates and read the fine print about the rights of the client and how they will use your photos. Royalty free is great for a client, but if you want to keep a rights managed license (a fee is payed to you for each time-or number of times, the image is utilized in a visual medium or project) you may not want to give up your photos. You'd be wise to check with an intellectual property lawyer to make sure you know what you should be getting for your work.

I'm sure there's a fee that's already in the minds of Yahoo(Yahoo owns Flickr) and Getty but it doesn't hurt to see what negotiating room you have.

On one last note--it looks like someone else has already tried to sell photos from Flickr on istockphoto--ILLEGAL PHOTOS. What a nightmare.

TEMPLATE DESIGNER FOR HIRE

I've been toying with an idea my marketing/photographer friend, Kristen Leep, had suggested a few months ago: creating templates for people to purchase.

I've always been a staunch believer in original form verses manufactured facsimiles. If you can make it yourself and improvise with your imagination, you will always have a one-of-kind piece of work to offer a client/friend or anyone who wants something different from what all their other peers have.

I know templates make it easier for people (and me) to execute projects and ideas in the visual medium without the pain of creating everything from scratch--i.e. web pages and literature. What becomes heart-breaking is when everything starts to look alike because everyone has the same look and feel for their web sites or their personal/business promotional materials based on pre-created templates. That's where my job get's interesting.

I'd be willing to start a contest in August where I create a different type of template every week, and see who really would be interested in purchasing it. And it would be a one of kind available to only to that person-for a reasonable price (I'm not out here to get rich-so depending on the template it might be a couple of bones or less than forty dollars for a template.)

I'm not sure really how much activity I get on this blog, because I can only see the metrics on who views my profile without unique ip addresses being counted (and really it could just be me logging on and checking my vitals every day.) So if I try this for a month (creating four templates -one per week) and I get a few bites, then maybe I'm getting more interest than I think, and I'd be willing to expand to more offerings.

We'll see what happens in August...I'm a busy little worker bee right now and my day job is royally kicking my butt on the time-clock until August.

Feel free to post/comment your thoughts or suggestions. I'll post more later-and remember to keep on keeping it real.

Is it a Z-Fold or a W-Fold?

Well here is my first draft of the baby announcements for my baby nephew. I'm thinking the centerfold might need to get a little more fluid, with the wrapping of the blanket across all three photos to give more a sequential effect.. I prolly spend way too much time on this project, but it makes me happy and it will make my brother and sis-in-law very happy too!

I'm going to the gym and if the obsessive compulsive in me doesn't get tired out, I may have to do a second version.

Adios!

COULD IT BE.......MURDER?

I found this crazy book cover of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazines and I had to play with it. The stories in the book are full of wild detective tales (including one that is fictionally written by Abe Lincoln).

As for the book cover image-- Murder by Death is coming to town late next month to Birdy's. They never disappoint, so it will be a good show.

MY BABY LOVE

My little nephew is here, and I had to take some baby photos for his announcement. William Richard Hughes is a whopping 22 inches long and weighing in at 9 lbs 4 oz. If he were a boxer, I'm sure he'd weigh in as a heavy weight contender.

I'm currently designing the announcements-so they'll be a related posting soon. I'm not usually baby-crazy but he's quite an adorable little guy.

You Suck at Photoshop!

On June 27 Donnie Hoyle and his bitter Photoshop tutorials will return to YouTube with new tutorials. I tried to get my students to use the tutorials (with tongue in cheek)--because I am that sardonic, nice and sweet on the outside but devilishly cruel teacher on the inside. One of my students said the techniques were too hard and he didn't get the humor. Well, not everyone can embrace genius...and these tutorials are genius...MAD-TWISTED GENIUS.

The co-creators, Matt Bledsoe and Troy Hitch also have a uber-sweet,pimpin' ad agency that I would love to work for or just have a smaltzy cocktail with them. Check out Big Fat Institute Ad Agency.

Here is a taste:

IT'S A FAMILY AFFAIR

Every June my family has a reunion of it's stubborn, proud and loving Slovenian members. The Turks and the Zores. This was my mother, Evelyn's idea and well, I had to help out the woman who gave me life by turning it into a marketing campaign. It's a labor of love really...

I've started a blog (which has very little activity), I've mailed out postcards and I've had t-shirts made. Even if it's only for my Slovenian family, I'm proud to make this happen. I'm in my third year of helping my mother motivate the 100 or so Slovenian American family members to come and join us every year at the NASH picnic grounds. If you want to know more about the NASH check it out here.

The NASH plays host to Slovenefest or "Sausagefest" every year...and well all I can say is I'm a vege-quarian(only vegetables and fish) and the homemade sausage that my godmother and her husband (and the rest of the Jaggers men's club) make from real venison, beef and pork make me and any other vegetarian-friendly person salivate with lust and a hunger that cannot die. I digress...

Well, I've been working on my family's reunion for the last six months and I believe the word is getting out. We have Turks and Zore's coming in from Michigan, Florida, California and Ohio--as well as the hoosiers who live locally around these parts.

I love doing the advertising for this cause I get to use photos like this one:



This photo is of my hot Slovenian number of a grandma, Louise Zore Collins. My Irish grandpa was not kidding when he said he would only marry the prettiest girl in his Haughville neighborhood. Can you believe their marriage in 1947 caused a scandal because it was thought that an Irishman marrying a Slovene was considered interracial by my grandparent's Catholic archdioceses?

My grandfather was a member of St.Anthony's parish (mainly Irish and Italian) and grandma was a member of Holy Trinity (mainly Slovenian), and well even my grandmother's parents almost boycotted the ceremony. It's crazy how times have changed but still society has some weird hang-ups about marriage--like now with same sex marriage--if two people love each other, leave them alone and let them be happy.

Well the reunion is next Saturday (6.21.08) and if my brother/sista in law have their baby by then it will be a very interesting and rejoiceful event!

Na Zdravje! (may god give you life!)

TIM RUSSERT DEAD AT 58....

Why must the good anchormen be the ones to go before someone like Nancy Grace or Wolf Blitzer?

I'm pouring my forty on the floor right now as I type this. My Sunday mornings will be sad and empty without Mr. Russert to fire away intelligent, ballsy and beautifully crafted questions to politicians and media moguls.

His shoes will be incredibly hard to fill.

ART DIRECTION-DAILY CANDY STYLE

Yesterday it was Twenty minutes of art direction and creating an InDesign rebate postcard template for a co-worker to use for the assemblage and now Philedelphia Daily Candy subscribers get to enjoy the perks of possibly owning a keypad deadbolt or keypad lever (kpd or kpl as we lock linquists call them.) Fast, branding affective and ON TIME.

THE WORLD'S TINIEST VIOLIN

I've been pretty depressed and restless lately due to the focus of my recent work. It's not bad work...I'm proud of the recent corporate collateral and merchandise materials I've been creating, my only regret has been the lack of time or the lack of energy to focus on my own business.

So I inadvertently enlisted signed up for the help of the Franklin Covey people. When the representative for the time management seminar I registered for mentioned that I can also sign up for other FC services, I signed up for one of those life coach-7 habits of highly effective people programs. I didn't realized that I signed up for several awkward phone calls that keep occurring in front of my bosses and inappropriate times of work.

Twice today I've had the Franklin Covey lady -"Linda" call and ask me to right down on paper some rather personal answers about, "my weaknesses,""my in-ability to say no to work requests" and "difficulty in compromising my personal priorities with the constant requests from others." Supposedly, the answers I submit to "Linda" will determine if whether or not I make the admission to this "life coach" program thru Franklin Covey.

So far I feel like I might be exposing myself to some sort of Scientology cult for time management and leadership skills. The pessimist in my thinks I'll wind up with Tom Cruise as my life coach.

Harold Lee Miller and tales of the County Fair.

This guy just rawks. Back in January, I was having trouble lighting some brushed metal for a product photography shoot and he was the only photographer who responded to my e-mail, gave me some encouraging words and made my day. If I could have a mentor I'd seek out this guy. He's all class and he has a book coming out later this year about County Fair culture.

Keep an eye on this guy, he may wind up taking over the world of photography.

VOTE FOR HILLARY'S T-SHIRT

Now here's your chance to vote for Hillary's t-shirt. The designs aren't quite the edgey or "hope" feeling I was imagining. But it's a t-shirt my mom would probably wear in public with pride or as she waded in the family swimming pool on a hot summer day.

My favorite is the one with the woman's business suit on it--I think I'll make my husband wear a tuxedo shirt alongside me when I rawk the town in my Hillary t-shirt.

CS4 Already?

I'm two months behind the leaks on the web but it looks like the beta versions of Dreamweaver CS4 and the talk of 64 bit process speed for Photoshop are already in the works.

And STONEHENGE? Couldn't Adobe's marketing department come up with a better name?
That really sounds clumsy and bulky, not svelte and fast. It's an image based program not a tank.

We'll see come Oct08 or Early Spring09..

SPRING CLEANING-SORT OF

I did a strange thing this week, I cleaned my office at home. I actually organized the million paper samples or so and threw away countless remnants of my past (the items I had no sentimental attachement to ). I can see the floor of my office and I've begun shopping around for a sign to be welded and created to put in the grassy dirt of my front yard. I have to go back to free-lancing soon. I have to start planning for the emotional well-being of my soul. I don't think there is anything wrong with working for the man, but I just wish I could figure out a way to keep the man out of my work space so I can create some amazing work without him and all his sales guys hunched over my shoulder.

I'm listening to Baxter Dury's Floorshow and working at my desk which hasn't been cleaned off in about two years. It feels good. so I'll leave you with this:

NOT WORK SAFE--

HOW TO TREAT OTHERS...

I found this fan at Midland Antiques on Saturday. What attracted me to it was that first it was a fan and second, it was from a mortuary. I thought it was going to be something Pentecostal related (like fire, speaking in tongues and snakes).

As I looked closer, I realized it included tips on how to act around others and carry yourself in rude situations. If you haven't figured out by now I'm a nice person with a rather cantankerous personality. I could probably learn a thing or to about how to interact with others by putting these tips to memory. I plan on taking this to work and hanging next to my monitor--I can use it as my St. Francis/Serenity prayer when I am working with others.

I'll still have my moments when I say the wrong thing, like when the Menards Account manager sneaks up behind me and just stands there with me hearing only his mouth-breathing, I shouldn't respond to him with "what's up darth vader?" I'm trying to be good, but sometimes it's a lot more entertaining being bad. I need to follow rule number one "keep skid chains on my tongue."

Awww well, I've had a fantastic three day weekend. I should be able to spring back to work with a new attitude, I'm going to try my hardest to follow the "fan."

MONSTER MASH

The Pink Spiders are coming to town and if you want to know what they sound like check them out here.

They also have a great song called "My Tennessee" on the Denver Dalley, Intramural (This is a Landslide) project -released back in October of last year.

TALKING BOOK

I am in love again with the world because of this album. Stevie-Mother F#$%ing-Wonder has the songs that I want to hear all the time. If I was hit by a bus and died with any one of the songs of this album playing in my head, I would be at peace with the world.

This has been my saving grace the last five days, because it's hell working in a cube next to the break room/coffee room and everyone and their mother wants to chat me up while they are waiting for the microwave to finish warming up lunch or the next pot of coffee to finish brewing. With Stevie on my side, I can keep my back to the distraction and jam non-stop with the ear plugs knocking out the world---oh and my usually handmade sign that I tape on the back of my chair: PLEASE DO NOT DISTURB, SEND AN EMAIL. THANKS, THE MANAGEMENT.

So far it's worked...I'm going to go this weekend and buy a velvet afghan, some Indian beads and a bunch of corn rows--it worked for Alicia Keyes back in 05!

SOMETIMES BEING A TEACHER FEELS GOOD

I had a rough semester this past spring-I wasn't sure if I was getting through to any of my students (presently and in the past three semesters of my fledgeling teaching career). Then one of my students from last fall, Jeremy Weddle sent me an e-mail last week, giddy with pride--he'd been chosen as a semi-finalist in the Adobe Design Achievement Awards with the submission of the following photo:




Jeremy spent most of the time in my class surfing the net and playing around in Second Life, but in a huff of my wearied patience I told him to work on the following photo he had taken from a downtown, Indianapolis graffiti spot. I don't take any credit for this happening, I just couldn't get him to focus on my lectures in class unless I encouraged him to use the techniques in class on his own images/digital photos imported from his camera.

I'm happy for him, and after receiving his thank you e-mail it made feel real warm and fuzzy inside. Maybe this teaching thing isn't so bad.