rank my tin!

After about two months in my inbox, I decided to give an e-mail about Fossil's watch tin design competition a closer look. I haven't done much graphic design work but one of the first things out of a teacher or fellow student's mouth when they see my work (a.k.a. critique it) is invariably a comment on how "design-y" it looks. Like I told all of my mentees this summer, art is like curly hair. You can spend your whole life trying to straighten it or you can let it work for you. Why fight your natural style, you know? Easier said than done, but I thought Fossil's challenge might be a fun way to brush up on my Illustrator and Photoshop skills, especially considering I'll be the teaching assistant for a class called Publication Design this fall.


About my submission...When I first glanced at the e-mail, perhaps because I was simultaneously reading Susan Stewart's "On Longing: Narratives of the Miniature, the Gigantic, the Souvenir, the Collection," I immediately thought of clock towers and liked the idea of putting something large and public on packaging for something small and personal, if not private. The first clock tower image that came to mind was the recently renovated San Francisco Ferry Building. I miss California, the Bay Area in particular, a lot more than I thought I would, and my nostalgia reminded me of the many postcards I've seen of the Ferry building during various eras. I think the postcard thing might be a little overdone, so I let the inspiration be enough, just including "Greetings from San Francisco" on the bottom of the tin, as you might turn over a postcard to read the message. You can rank my design here. Unfortunately, you have to create an account and login to rank the designs, but there are a couple of boxes you can uncheck to minimize future junk e-mail. I hovered, mysteriously, between the first and third spots earlier this week, after I first posted my submission. Since yesterday I've jumped down to eighth place. At this point, I'm simply hoping for inclusion somewhere in the top 30 so I can get a free watch. I haven't worn a watch for years, just waiting for a competition like this one to come along.

In other creative pursuit news, I've been researching the crazed craft of scrapbooking, not so much for the purpose of creating scrapbooks. I'm interested in using some of the paper and tools used in scrapbooking for another ongoing project. It's a long story and I'll be sure to tell it here just as soon as I'm ready.

When not pursuing these interests, I'm avoiding my list of summer reading and studio projects to watch television. Last night, as some of you may know, was the first part of the season finale of "So You Think You Can Dance." I was satisfied with the top four, considering Allison was eliminated a couple of weeks ago. I think I would have voted for her. In the end it was difficult to pick one person to vote for. I almost voted for my top girl and guy but since Donyelle seems to have quite a following, I decided to phone in just once for Travis. It was a tough decision because both Heidi and Benji are incredibly talented and entertaining but ultimately pretty limited to their specialties. Travis is a lot more versatile and equally entertaining. Allison should've won, but I'll be pretty happy with any of the remaining four dancers. Now I just have to convince Neal to buy me tour tickets for my birthday!