People Are Alike All Over

I saw a few episodes of the Twilight Zone as a kid, but I didn't remember much about it until I started watching re-runs on cable with my husband. I love show and its bizarre flavor of sci-fi. I love the little twists and turns and trying to figure out just what is going on in a particular episode before the reveal.

The episodes that stick in my mind the most are the ones where things go badly for the main character. With that in mind, I created a poster for a certain zoo on a nearby red planet...

Poor Samuel Conrad found the Twilight Zone, and he'll be in that zoo on Mars for the rest of his life.

A Dragon for a Special Lady

I love dragons. Dragons have been one of my favorite creatures for as long as I can remember. It's something I got from my mom, who introduced me to Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern series when I was in middle school.

Her birthday was Sunday, and instead of buying her a generic card at the store, I made one just for her, featuring our favorite fantasy creature.

She loved it. :)

I used Illustrator to create the dragon and swoops and Photoshop to bring it all together.

Come to Quark's...

My goal with this blog is to try to do a fun, non-work related design project every week or two. This week, I merged two of my great loves, beer and Star Trek.

I love the look and feel of old Guinness ads. They have a really fun, playful style, and I wanted to combine that with my love of Star Trek by creating a retro-style ad for Quark's. Quark's, of course, is the bar at the heart of Deep Space Nine, a show I watched about 10,000 times as a teenager. Quark's was more than just a bar--it was a home away from home for a lot of the characters, and it was a place where they would gather to relax, celebrate, and mourn throughout the series. So I wanted my poster to have a warm, playful look, with just a touch of class.

 I created the logo and glasses in Illustrator. I brought them into Photoshop, where I created the background and beverages. I added some age and weathering to give it a "lived in" look, and ta-da--an ode to the best bar, restaurant and gambling facility this side of the wormhole.

Well, I've finally done it.

I've finally gotten up the motivation to start a blog. The catalyst for my sudden motivation? Losing my job of four and a half years.

It was a rude surprise to lose my job. I know the economy sucks right now, but I'd always seen my job as fairly reliable. It was at a small company, sure, but we were growing fast, and there was always work to be done. So, when I was called into the boss's office on a Friday afternoon and told I was being laid off, I was shocked.

I drowned my sorrows that night, then went out the next day with my husband to escape reality for a few hours by watching Planet of the Apes. I was feeling better, and hopeful, by Monday morning when I filed for unemployment and started sending out resumes.

Good news came on Thursday, when my former supervisor called me to tell me he knew someone who was looking to hire a graphic designer. I called the company and had an interview the next day. It went fabulously well, and that afternoon and over the weekend I worked on a test project. By Monday afternoon, I had more work. Hooray!

So now, I'm contracting with an awesome branding/design company based in Salt Lake City. My work has much more variety than it used to, and I feel like I'm challenging myself and learning new things every day. I'm excited for the future, and I'm looking for ways to expand my personal and professional boundaries.

Hence the new blog.