Graphic Designer. Occasional Blogger.
This is actually 2 photos I took out on my back patio with my iPhone. (I stitched them together in Photoshop.) It had been a really bad day, and the weather seemed to reflect my mood, but nature was there to remind me that after the storm passes, sometimes it leaves behind something beautiful.
Every year for our Patriots Football Weekly pre-Draft issue, we like to have some sort of design “theme” to it – this year we chose movies. After much discussion as to what to do with the cover, we decided to spoof the movie Superman and do a sort of movie poster look along those lines, but call it “Draftman.” We went and got a grey hoodie, put it on one of the writers, ripped it slightly, and snapped a few pics; one of which was this…
After much cleaning up, shading, rotating and lighting as well as adding in logos and some type, I got this…
Total Photoshop grunt work time: About an hour (not including hoodie ripping and photo snapping). I think Photoshop is such an amazing software! I remember when a cover like this would need a couple months to put together (as it most likely would have to be illustrated) – now it can be put together in a little over an hour.
You can buy the Patriots Football Weekly pre-Draft issue on newsstands now or online via the PFW website.
August 1, 1999 was my first day working for the Patriots. The issue of Patriots Football Weekly that you see above was the first one I worked on that had my name printed in it. Was I proud to see my name inside the front cover of a magazine under the title “Art Director”? Let’s just say I wanted to wallpaper my damn house with that issue so when people came over I could point and go “See? That’s my name. IN PRINT. RIGHT THERE!”
It was my first legit, properly titled job. Sure I had worked as a typesetter and ran the art department of a small printing company for years, but it was the first time I had things like a Title and Business Cards and a Phone With My Own Extension. I was finally in the print world version of Broadway – my name may not have been in lights, but it was there.
Back then we were rocking Quark XPress 3.32 and Photoshop 4.0. Digital photography was unheard of – we sent photos to our printer so they could scan them on their drum scanner. When I think back, I marvel at how we did all that grunt work and still managed to get the paper out on time.
Over the years I’ve seen co-workers come and go, players come and go, and I’ve personally witnessed the biggest wins and the most monumental losses. Perhaps it’s cliché (especially since it’s Jerry Garcia’s birthday), but the only thing that best sums up the past 13 years in my mind are the lyrics: Sometimes the lights all shinin’ on me; Other times I can barely see. Lately it occurs to me what a long, strange trip it’s been…
…and I wouldn’t trade away one second of it.