theology&geometry

Last week I applied for and secured a booth at Cooper-Young Festival, where I hope to sell photo prints (framed and un-) and stationery, as well as take orders for custom designs should people be interested in that sort of thing. I’ve also got some other artsy crapola knocking around in my head that I hope to be able to hammer out between now and then. I’ve never done a festival before so trying to gauge how much product I need to have on hand is, well, challenging. I’ve been ramping up my efforts to get new stuff in the Etsy shop, and hopefully I can build inventory over the coming months without stressing out too much. I can’t wait to sit under that September sun, my belly getting huge, begging people with my eyes to buy my stuff so that my (partially unpaid) maternity leave won’t sting my finances nearly as much. I daydream of some day being able to live off of the things I’ve designed and photographed, rather than having to punch a clock and work on a nightly deadline. I’m still such a baby when it comes to this stuff. So much to learn.

Anyway, here are some stationery-type things I added today:

If you’re feeling kind, I sure would appreciate it if you’d like my photography and design biz over on Facebook. Lord knows you can’t be legitimate these days without a bunch of digital thumbs up in your corner.

I’m trying my hand at stationery design because boy do I love stationery (despite the fact that I hardly ever write anything by hand anymore and when I do, it looks like a stroke patient transcribed what I was saying … mid-stroke).

Here are three folded-card designs I put in the shop today. Click the pic to be taken to the listing.

MZM2011 is on. Here’s our first flyer. I say first because my intention is to make a few others, since I had lots of pretty funny shots from a session with some local kids.

As always, you can follow the invasion on Twitter or Facebook, and check our official website for all the upcoming details.

I’m working on something cool and fun — so fun that it’s nearly 4 a.m. and I kind of hate to put it to bed for the evening but I have to get some sleep. I’ve got big hopes and big fears about this. I’m not sure where any of this will end up but I suppose it’s good practice regardless of where we land. What an adult thing to say, huh? We’re busting ass to make things happen — cool things, interesting things — but there always seems to be a bit of whiplash when we are confronted with the rift between what we want to do — which is always beautifully structured because I work with some amazing people — and what is actually feasible given the amount of time and the depth of resources we are actually granted to make these cool things happen. I’m a creative person who loves busting my ass to make cool stuff. Doing so is, I’ve found, pretty much the only path I have to actual eudaimonia. But I hate busting ass just to find out that my wish list was truly a pipe dream all along. Pouring my heart into something only to watch it come out mediocre time and time again is one quick way to snuff that essential spark from the inside out. But then again, that’s how a person gains a measure of strength, isn’t it?

I’m getting ahead of myself.

We’re aiming high here.

Trying to decide which — if any — pages to send to competitions.

[Project 365]

Don’t mind me, I’m just clicking and dragging and portfolioing.

Shelby Farms: Urban oasis
A story about the growth and change Shelby Farms is experiencing, accompanied by stunning photos.

Check out the story here, as well as Jim Weber’s beautiful photo gallery.

In the shadows
A follow-up to the shocking CA story about civil rights photographer Ernest Withers’ secret life as a FBI informant.

Check out part two of the Withers saga here.

The CA, for a few months now, has been receiving letters from self-identified jihadist Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad as he spends time in prison for his part in the death of one soldier and the injury of another at a military recruiting center in Little Rock. This past Sunday, we printed some excerpts of those letters, in which Muhammad describes his purpose and what he sees as an all-out war on Uncle Sam by those Muslims who have been called to fight. It’s interesting and pretty terrifying stuff. I figure most of all, it’s just sad to see someone give himself over to violence with such fervor and sense of moral duty. I don’t get it.

Read the story and take a look at his writings here. Here’s how the spread looked in the paper:

In other design news, I found out late last week that I won a Scripps third-quarter design award for the work I did on the Ernest Withers special section. Awesome! That brings me to three Scripps quarterly awards. It’s nice to know that the company is paying attention to how the paper looks, and giving our team some kudos!

Hyuk!

Also, make your own!

More news designs to share!

This small but fun package ran this past Sunday in Viewpoint. The story –which is a great read and might make you tear up a little or, ahem, a lot — is here.

The CA broke a pretty fascinating story on Sunday: Ernest Withers, the iconic civil rights photographer, was a paid FBI informant. It’s almost too crazy to contemplate, but most history is, if you think about it.

I was lucky enough to get to do the print layout, although that meant that I had to sit on such a crazy story for a few weeks. That’s nothing compared to Marc Perrusquia’s having to keep mum about it for the months — hell, years — leading up to publication.

I’ve got the pages, arranged by spread, after the jump:

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