10.28.2007

Top Secret

It's no secret that my favorite TV show, maybe ever, is The Office. Because of a standing Thursday commitment for church, I miss a new episode every week. So tonight Wes watched with me, as I caught up on 2 weeks of missed episodes. If you are ever interested, you can watch episodes from the current season 4 here: http://www.nbc.com/The_Office/video/episodes.shtml
In the show, Pam, the receptionist, is an aspiring graphic designer. I like that we have that in common, because I, too, am a graphic designer. It says it right there in the right hand column of my blog. So in 2 episodes now, Pam has been hit on because of her graphic design talent. Apparently guys find it attractive when a girl has creative skills, especially those of a design nature. So I know I've got that going for me. Ha! And come to think of it, Wes did seem extra smiley around me on my thesis show gallery opening night. Must have been those skills.

Anyhoo, lately I have been cruising other gals' blogs, only to find some really crafty girls out there! I mean top notch. I am not crafty. I repeat NOT CRAFTY. I can be if I have to be, but I am really more the latter in the term arts and crafts. So "artsy me" finds it hard to sew things more complicated than a baby sling (see earlier post), or make delightful ornamentations for every holiday to adorn my house. I appreciate those who do these things, but it's just not for me. I don't even scrapbook (gasp). But I do, ironically, design scrapbook PAPER. OK, I went to a technical school (Rochester Institute for Technology in Rochester, NY), I love and crave the modernist design movement and all things modern, and I relish perfect design exactness. I spent over 6 years doing layout design for various publications that involve things like document grids, picas and locked guides. I kern type for a living. And I love it.



So when the girls from Glitz design, a new local scrapbooking company (www.glitzitnow.com) came to me and asked me to design their scrapbook paper (among other things), I was a little nervous! I mean, I knew I could do it, but I kept reminding them that I had only been in a scrapbook store maybe 5 times to buy a paper cutter and Kolo portfolios for the strictest of uses. But I took on the challenge and I have to say it's awesome! I spend hours basically illustrating fun and pretty paper. I use a program called Adobe Illustrator to "draw" designs, and of course there is Photoshop for some "after effects." It's a great complement to the rigors of typesetting and layout design. It's artsy without having to be crafty. And I really wanted to post some examples of current projects. But guess what!? Not only do I have a job that men go crazy over ;) but it's also TOP SECRET. Double whammy. Are you intrigued? I can't share any of our new designs until January 1st, so that no one will steal our stellar new paper ideas. But I am including a scrapbook paper and chipboard design from last season's cutting room floor (both copyrighted, of course). And for a look at more of last season's designs, visit Glitz's website listed above (or at right). Let me just say that if you are a scrapbooker, you'll flip out over next season's stuff. It's almost enough to make me a crafter. Almost.


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KatieJ said...

Did you recolor all those things? Very pretty- I can't wait to see the new Glitz stuff! And I LOVE the Office. It's our favorite too. And have you tried digital scrapbooking? Oh my goodness- you could make the most awesome pages!

Nichole said...

Dude, you rock! :)