Reunion In China?

At our 50ish Hawthorne High School Class Reunion, a photographer was there to take photos with a machine that made photo strips.

It dawned on me earlier today that the design of the photos makes it look like they were shot in Communist China. 

I wonder if anyone else is thinking the same?

Russian Christmas Card

The mail service between the Russian Federation and the U.S. is on the slow side.

I received today a Christmas card from Asya in St. Petersburg, Russia. She mailed it in December, but only now arrived. I knew it was coming as she sent a photo of it in December.

Like the one she sent in 2018, I was impressed by the graphics and print quality. Their graphics and printing are more impressive to me than what is made here.

Below is a scan of it, which doesn't really do it justice.

100 Years of Designing For U.S. National Parks

Above, the current national park and monument brochure design. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Since 1968, I have visited many of our national parks and have noticed over the years the changes made to the brochure designs of the parks.

It appears that others have noticed, too. A new book, Parks, takes a look at the graphics used for national park ephemera over the past 100 years.

CityLab has an article on this book and it begins with:

From the beginning, the history of America’s national parks has been indelibly linked to images. In the 1870s, Thomas Moran painted dramatic views of Yellowstone, prompting Congress to make it the country’s first national park; some 50 years later, Ansel Adams’s photos of Kings Canyon, California, led to the protection of that remote region of the Sierra Nevada. Since then, park maps and brochures have become essential in more quotidian ways—helping visitors navigate the premises, providing valuable safety information, and serving as beloved souvenirs. 

The new book Parks ($55; preorders start shipping on September 23) collects a century’s worth of paper National Park Service ephemera, illustrating the outsized role these items have played in people’s experiences of the park system. Viewed together, they also serve as a quirky tour through the past century of American graphic design.

So if you are a fan of our national parks or of graphic design, this book is for you.

To read more, go here.

Need Art?

Above, Asya with the completed "Three Mesas" painting. Photo courtesy of Asya.

One has to count themselves as fortunate in meeting someone who has the artistic talent to be able to create artwork or graphics to suit the needs or wants of clients and is easy to work with.

Such is the case with Asya Lipovetskaya (or just "Asya") of Chakra Graphics.

Above, Asya and Armand at the 2016 portrait unveiling party at the
Odyssey Restaurant in Granada Hills, California. Photo by Lori Thornhill.

I first enlisted her services two years ago when I commissioned a portrait painting of yours truly. I was curious to see how an artist would "interpret" me in an oil painting. I've always want to have a portrait painting done.

Next, I had her make the "masthead" (or header) for this blog using a photo that I took of "The Mittens" in Monument Valley.

Recently, since I could not find a painting with a Southwest theme that I liked, I commissioned Asya to do an oil painting of the three mesas that are across the valley from my home in Jamestown, New Mexico.

The painting that resulted is, in my opinion, her best work to date. I think the met the challenge with (pardon the pun) flying colors.

Above, her logo for her Chakra Graphics business.

Asya is quite talented in many facets of art. From oil and watercolor paintings to graphics (including logos). Her website has examples of her past work. 

She is open to work commissions. She generally works from her home in St. Petersburg, Russia, but does occasionally travel to the U.S. for work projects. She can be contacted through her Chakra Graphics website.

To access her Chakra Graphic website, just hit the log graphic for it on the right side of this page or go here. 

Second Header Version Is Up!

Above, the second header version by Asya.

As I had mentioned previously, just before this blog reached 2 million views, I had Asya create a new header for the blog using one of my photos of "The Mittens" in Monument Valley.

I had also mentioned that she did such a good job on two header versions, that I decided to use both, but interchangeably.

I have changed the header to the second version that Asya did. I will have it up for a while then change it back at a later date and vice-versa. (After all, variety is the spice of life, right?)

Above, yours truly and Asya at last year's portrait unveiling party at the Odyssey Restarurant. Photo by Lori Thornhill.

Besides fine art (portraits and other paintings), calligraphy and header designs, Asya does excellent logo work and other graphic works (such as flyers and invitations). If you are in need of any of these, I have a permanent link to her website at Chakra Graphics on the right side of this blog (just scroll down until you come to her photograph). You will see many samples of what Asya can do.

However, for this blog post, the link to her site is here, since you've been kind enough to read this.

Header Reactions

When I switched to the new blog template weeks ago, I looked through what Blogger has to offer.

I already had the new header design in mind when I was looking. They had several new ones and the one I settled on was one of them.

During the process of selecting the template, I looked through many blogs on Blogger. For the most part, a lot of them were just dull-looking to me. Blogger has so many nice templates available, so I was surprised that many blogs did not take full advantage of them to create an attractive blog. I noticed that many blogs included photographs that were posted in small sizes. I don't know if they fear someone ripping them off or what, but, to me, why bother posting photos if they are in such small sizes?

I liked the blues in the new template as they would compliment the blue sky in the photograph of "The Mittens" in Monument Valley as well as the earth tones of the rock formations.

This birthday greetings by Kirk Hastings got me thinking about using a photo of "The Mittens" in the new header:

I looked at other photos I have on file and experimented with different ones, but I decided that one from Monument Valley would work the best. After which, I enlisted Asya to do the calligraphy and lettering.

I am very pleased with the end results of the template with the new header by Asya. She actually came up with two variations that I liked and will use both interchangeably. She did a great job!

So far, here's some of the reactions to the new header and template:

• Nice!

• Very pretty though!  Makes me think of all those lucky folks buying land in Sedona where the sky is apparently usually like that.

• Wow!  You really redid it very nice!

 

• My congratulations!

 

• Actually, I love it how you made it with blue font over white background for the blog! It's easier for the eye to read posts like that! Yeah! And matches the new cover:) How are you feeling about the new appearance?

Hillary's Boring "Hospital" Logo

So Hillary Rodham Clinton announced her campaign (surprise!) for president in 2016.

Politics and ideology aside, her campaign logo has to be one of the most boring and unimaginative I have ever seen. It looks like a sign you might see on a street or freeway indicating that a hospital is nearby. The only thing different from such a hospital sign is the red arrow pointing to the right. Does this mean Hillary is moving to the right?

Is this the best that "Madame Big Buck's" campaign team can come up with?

Here it is: