Photoshop! :-)

I love photoshop! Yesterday i spent about 3 hours making a picture of a woman's shirt on a man form look like a woman. I had a lot of fun doing it!

Waiting for the New Year already! :-)

The person that had my job before me had a completely different idea of what good design  is (Theirs is a little dated). Everyone is different and i understand that, so I'm just working with what i have. In our OFFROAD magazine I have to work with a lot of their old designs because we don't want to just completely change the magazine in the middle of a year. So I have to wait on a redesign till the beginning of the next season... BUT while I work with his design I'm coming up with tons of different ones for the future. I love doing this kind of stuff. 

Right now the only thing I can really make mine is the cover and even that has it limitations (the logo)...  

Any who here are two different covers. One is the old designers and the other is mine. Can you see the difference?

Sometimes.... *Venting

I just want to scream when someone who knows nothing about design comes in and tells me to do something differently with my design. (I work for a publishing company that puts out ATV and Snowmobile magazines of which I am the Art Director). 

I'm totally open to suggestions and criticism don't get me wrong! I thrive off stuff like that and it helps me grow. The only reason why it ticked me off today was because the last magazine I had to put together was done in about 2 full work days. Which is not enough time for a 40 page magazine. This last magazine was only the second one I had done for this company and it was the most unorganized mess I have had to deal with EVER (When I started this job I was fully warned of how it works here but I apparently had no idea)! All the ads just trickled into me one at a time and placed here and there. The layout of the magazine was changed 6 or 7 times in those two days, and the biggest section of edit was not given to me until 5 hours before the magazine had to be done and out the door!

This magazine was like trying to put a circle peg into a tiny square hole. I ended up getting everything in there that needed to fit about 45 min before my deadline and was still getting ads in while I final pdf-ed the mag.

So today we got the color proofs back and I am getting ready for changes because there are always a hundred changes, and my Editor walks in and says "I know you were just trying to get everything to fit but I need you to remember to make the products some of the biggest images in this magazine." I just looked at him and said ok....

(Meanwhile In my head I was saying...) OF COURSE I KNOW THE PRODUCTS HAVE TO BE THE MOST EMPHASIZED IMAGES IN THE MAGAZINE. THATS WHY IN THIS ONE INSTANCE YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT I DIDN'T HAVE THE SPACE TO MAKE  ALL THE EDIT AND IMAGES FIT . SO I EMPHASIZED THIS ONE PRODUCT IN A DIFFERENT MANOR. THE IMAGES ISN'T BIG BUT IT IS NOTICEABLE! GRRRRR

(Images to come)...

Me vs. World

It may not look like it but I'm going to win!

Phonetic spelling is the only way to go!

God blessed me with many things but writing and spelling is not one of them. 

I communicate much better through images. To bad hieroglyphics aren't still used i would totally rock that boat!

Marriage for all! *Rant

So I have been thinking about marriage a lot the last few months for one reason or another. Two of my friends have announced there engagement. They both have asked me to do something for them. One asked if I would video tape the wedding the other asked if I would make the invitations and RSVPs. I of course said "YES" I will help anyway that I can. I love weddings and I love helping people with them. 

I have always dreamt of my own wedding sense i was a little girl. Originally I pictured myself in a white dress with my Dad walking me down the aisle... Who I was getting married to has always been a blur. Funny to think even as a little girl it was never a man nor a women, but it was definitely someone I was in love with. 

Now I think about my wedding and I know that legally I can't. I can have a commitment ceremony but I can't legally marry  her and have same benefits as a straight marriage...  Love is love, marriage is not something that should be exclusively for the majority.

We as americans came to this country to  get away from religious persecution correct? We wanted a separation of Church and state as well... if I remember correctly from my history and government classes growing up. So why is it now the government can tell me I can't get married because the bible says its wrong. I want the same tax benefits as those who love someone enough to marry. My love is no different then there's, Its just as real! 

I don't care if the government wants to call it a civil union or a marriage. But I want the same rights as everyone else. I can not stand the fact I am discriminated against because I have fallen in love with a women not a man. 

Its just frustrates me. 

SLUSH GIRL?

So I'm having a moral issue at  my work. I know that I am now working in a sport related industry and SEX sells but I'm not sure I'm comfortable designing it into our new and upcoming website.

I guess my place of work once had a pin up girl called a "SLUSH GIRL". In the magazine she was scantily dressed and on a snowmobile or ATV....

Here is an example of the magazine QUADS pin up girl ...

There really isn't anything I can do to stop it from happening... 

Can you see what I see?

So I was looking through some images of trees for my last blog and I came across this one...

Looks plain and ordinary right?...

But this is what I saw...

The tree looks as though a ballet dancer has sprung up out of the ground in a form of a tree. I love that humans mimic nature or is nature mimicking us?

These are a few of my favorite things.....

trees...


birds...


Weiner dogs...


the moon...


color...


Minneapolis in the summer...


United Kingdom...


ice cream...


Ace of Cakes (Food Network show)...


Mercury Cougars...


Scion XD...


letter press work...


letter press books...


antique swirls/elements...


graphic design...

Which of these is not like the others?

Photo #1



Photo #2



Photo #3



Photo #4



Photo #5

So I was watch the News the other night and a feature story came on about a woman who was protesting the billboard of a young lady making a snow angle on the Target logo in Time Square (photo #1). This women ranted and raved about how offensive and provocative this ad is. Apparently she belongs to an organization that protests ads that target young girls in a inappropriate manner. I'm not going to say i disagree with what this organization stands for but they really need to get there priority's straight.

I don't think this ad is offensive at all. The girl is fully dressing she is in the position of a snow angle and she has a pleasant smile on her face. Plus she is not the only target billboard in the area. She is surrounded by other men and women doing winter things like skiing and caring pine trees.

If this group is really going to protest ads maybe they should go after Sketchers who consistently has a provocatively dressed Christina Aguilera on it (Photos #2 &3). Or maybe Lee jeans where the woman is in a scandalous pose (Photo #4). Or finally why not protest the ads that reference teens and drugs with fashion (Photo #5). HELLO these are the ads you should be taking some action on! They are directly targeted to teens with there bright colors, there models/icons, and there props/settings.

Get a life woman before you start bad mouthing a relatively okay ad why not look at the ads that are really doing some harm!

HDT Tattoo

Through a number of different people I have meet Sally , she recently sent me a Myspace message asking if I would help her with her thesis about women and tattoo's so I happily volunteered to help. I have plenty of them after all....


Here is what I said:

Name: Paige
Age: 25
Date: January 17, 2008

My tattoo is of a quote by Henry David Thoreau (HDT) "Dreams are the touchstones of our character." I got the quote after reading his dream sequence books while living in England. Its in black in a scripted font from which I wrote out my self. The tattoo runs along the outside of my forearm between my wrist and elbow in a straight line. Its simply a text tattoo.

-What does it signify?
This tattoo singnifies how I was reacting to humanity during this phase of my life. HDT thought a lot about how humans lived there lives and why they do the things they do. I feel i am a lot like that. When I fist meet people I listen very closely to what they are say and how they react in the conversation. I use that information to not only get to know them better but to see how they interact with the world around them. I realize everyone is different and I love looking at those differences and how it effects their lives.

-Why did you choose to tattoo?
I chose this tattoo because it was a quote that was meaningful to me and I wanted to share it with other people. I ended up deciding to get the quote tattooed on my arm because I wanted others to see it and think about it. And because I am a fairly shy person I would never come out and just ask someone that unless I knew them pretty well already. I thought a long time about where I wanted this quote placed and how I wanted it written. Originally I was going to have it go across my chest in more of a block font so it was right there for people to see and read (Almost like a billboard.) But after a little more thinking I decided on my arm with a scripted handwriting that way its more of a game for people to see and read. If my arms are moving people can get little peaks of it. Most people will then move there heads around so they can see what it is and what it says or they will simply ask me whats on my arm. After they have read it I usually get some kind of reaction from them. Its amazing at how different people interpret and react to it. I love this tattoo, not only does it represent me and my thinking but it helps me get to know people and interact with them when they would normally never talk to me.

-How do you feel as a woman with a tattoos?
Honestly I never thought i would be the kind of woman to get a tattoo. And after I got the first one I said never again, but a few years later I was getting another and then another and then another..... I love my tattoos I feel like they are a visible time line to my life. Women that get tattoos are no different then any other woman. Its just a different way to express yourself.
I'm proud of all of them and i like to show people and tell them the stories behind each one. I also feel like they give me this power to come out of my shell.

My grandmothers final goodbye!

My Grandma was such a strong woman in her day. As I got older I could see time catch up with her and she slow down. About 10 years ago the family realized something was wrong with her. Which we later came to understand was Altzeimers.  She was placed in a home because she was to hard to take care of. We thought that was going to be the hardest day of our lives. But we were surprised there was something even harder coming our way. My family lost my grandma twice once when she forgot who we were and how to speak and second when she finally passed away on the 5th of January 2008.

There was a time I had such difficulty going and seeing her. It was not my Grandma anymore it was so hard to see. She became a woman I didn't even recognize, she was super thin with sunken in cheeks and no teeth, her eyes no longer focused and she just stared into space. The only person she really recognized was my grandpa which melted my heart. They were true soul-mates. 

I regret now not going and seeing her more. It actually makes me hurt inside because of it. I just hope she understands why I had such a hard time!

On New Years day the whole family meet at the nursing home to say our goodbyes and to just be with her. My Grandma would always squeeze my hand three times to say I love you. So while my dad was away for a little bit I sat next to her holding her hand squeezing it three times on and off for an hour. Before I left to go home I squeezed her hand three time, whispered I love you in her ear and  kissed her forehead goodbye.

I didn't get to see my grandma alive after that day. My Mom and Dad spent the rest of the week with her along with my Aunt and Grandpa.

The funeral was as nice as they can be and we all said our goodbye to her physical self.  But I was reminded just a few nights ago that my grandma will always be with me in spirt. 

I had a dream that my whole family was in the basement and my grandma came down the stairs like normal. She said goodbye and everyone said goodbye back, but I jumped up went went over to her grabbed her hand squeezed it three times and whisper i love you in her ear. She looked back at me and said I love you too with a silly giggle in her voice that said i have loved you always! I believe that was her saying her final goodbye to the family. 

I love you Grandma and thank you for letting me know you will always be with me in spirt.

I forgot to put out a WARNING!

WARNING WARNING WARNING!

I am not known for my articulate and creative writing and  I have a big problem with spelling...

So If you should read my blog and things are miss spelled and sound funny go ahead and poke fun I know there are a few people that do, but don't be too cruel please!