...makes the day.

Christmastime. We are now in the thick of it - surrounded on all sides. I want to cozy up to it like a warm blanket or a friendly hug, enjoy it's warmth and biting coldness. Nights are now capped off with a cup of (soy) hot chocolate. Heavy on the marshmallows. Spiced up with a pinch of cayenne and cinnamon. Perfect drink to enjoy the human pinball machine outside my window - cars swerving and gliding along my icy road - {crash!}{slide!}{bump!}{crash!} "ssss! Ooooh! There goes another one!"

{photo by Leah Dankertson, 2007}

hunks for everyone!

Found this in the Stranger this morning - in an article promoting the 5th Ave Theater's production of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Not a full beard in the bunch (sigh.) but all that plaid is enough to make me giddy!

thanks.

{photo by Michelle V. Agins for the NY Times}

debut.

After much blood, sweat, and...well...yeah...it's finally here! - the 2008 University Book Store Holiday Gift Guide. Designed by my co-conspirator here at UBS, the lovely Liza, with all photography and styling by yours truly. Like I said earlier here on Rough Hewn, I'm really proud of the shots I took for this catalog. I'm able to see a significant improvement from last years work as well as the influence of all the expirimenting and photo research that I've been doing the last six months or so.

All of this shooting and styling has been really motivating as I begin building my first website (!) but it's also really showing me the areas where I still need a lot of training and experience. I was reading an interview of a great food photographer - Francesco Tonelli - who offered this advice:

"...while you’re still young and you are able to afford not to be paid--or not to be paid very much--and also while you’re still not threatening to professionals, try to go under the wing of some great master. That’s somehting I wish I had done myself at the beginning of my career. But it’s something that I failed in terms of A) not believing I could go so high, aiming for the best, most famous, most talented chefs, and B) being caught by some more rewarding salaried position where I’d have an important title instead of washing dishes for a master. Learn all you can—from the best. Wash dishes for a master while you can afford to."

I would love to begin working with/observing great photographers (DREAM: Roland Bello!, John Kernick or any of the photographers from Gourmet or Martha Stewart, for that matter!) and studios - soaking in as much knowledge and experience as I can. With such a small readership lately (patience, patience...), this is a total shot in the dark, but if you or anyone you know have a connection to a great photographer or studio who are willing to take an eager beaver under their wing....shoot me an email/comment.

Calling all Great Masters!!

[Excerpted from Radio Lab episode - Emergence - first broadcast 7/14/2008]

[Jad Abumrad] Think about a Seurat painting. The one where they're all on the banks of the Seine. You know the one?
[Robert Krulwich] I know the one.

[J] If you look at it up close all you see is dots.
[R] Right.
[J] You pull back and the picture emerges with all the ladies and their parasols. But the question with these systems - the big question - is whether there is a Seurat to make the dots, to paint the picture, or if somehow the painting just materializes on its own.
[R] Hmmmm....uh......well...You know that I have an opinion about this.
[J] I do.
[R] It's not a science-y opinion. Uh...I think it's not just fascinating that there are these hidden patterns and hidden rules. I think it's...umm...this is going to change the whole tone...I think its kinda...Holy. And I don't have, there's no scientific evidence because there's no science behind this, it's just an instinct. I think when you look at the way ants work or the way a Seurat painting emerges before your eyes...you're looking at an author.
[J] See, see, when you say that, all the air just gets let out of the balloon for me. It's like, the magic is gone.
[R] Really??
[J] Yeah, I think so.
[R] But, see, what you're left with then, everything you see when you wake up in the morning, as beautiful - and we all agree that its beautiful - is...empty of purpose. Is that okay with you?
[J] Yeah.
[R] Huh...

relief.

My roommate Becky, after seeing my Obama pin last night, said, "Hold on!!!" and ran to her room to grab this Kennedy pin that her grandmother was "just going to throw away". Looking down at identical buttons, I seriously got chills. That wave of history washing over you. If I ever doubt the power of design and image, I'm reminded that whoever designed my button had no doubt referenced the other in hopes to instill the same visual iconography and hope as there was needed back then. And today, this design makes history for a second time. We shall see what lies ahead, but I trust that God is soveriegn and am hopeful and excited to see history in the making.

{UPDATE! All of the rad Obama design pieces, including this button, done for MoveOn.org were by the folks at Print Liberation! Thanks, guys, for spreading rad design to the masses and helping impact history - both design & otherwise!}

cover therapy...

Music is for many, an inspiration all it's own. I know for myself, it's not only a passion it's the thin layer surrounding all of my work. Influencing it, whether I know it is or not. Even if I'm not even listening to it. It's there.

Art, design, and music have a long history together, I know, and I am often bowled over by beautiful cd packaging and LP covers. Secretly wanting to...er...lick it...it's so good! (Please tell me I'm not the only designer that feels this urge when they see great design!) But honestly, I haven't really been too impressed lately. Maybe it's just that I'm not looking hard enough or paying the right amount of attention. (Being poorish has a way of putting blinders on me.) So, I want to change this and offer to you today the first in what I hope to be a regular dialogue of great covers that are not only inspiring, but are just plane ol' "lickable"!

"So what, pray tell us, is the cover that spurred on this little rant?" It's the cover of The Walkmen album You & Me. Strong typography. Strong photography. I kind of don't want to mess it up with descriptive words that would only distract you from enjoying it. But I love it in every way. I'm doing a little detective work on the designer....and will update with my findings.

Question to the masses:
What covers have inspired you, lately?

“Are these things really better than the things I already have? Or am I just trained to be dissatisfied with what I have now? Am I just under a spell that says nothing is ever good enough?”
CHUCK PALAHNIUK
from Lullaby

“Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim: well, there is such a thing as water. Men feel sexual desire: well, there is such a thing as sex. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing. If that is so, I must take care, on the one hand, never to despise, or be unthankful for, these earthly blessings, and on the other, never to mistake them for the something else of which they are only a kind of copy, or echo, or mirage."

C.S. LEWIS
from Mere Christianity

in the mean time...

Here's a sneak peak at what I've been working on the last few weeks - some shots from our Holiday catalog shoot. I've pretty much resigned myself to accepting that Christmas will always come two months early for me. Design. Retail. Publishing. I probably won't ever get away from it.

Downsides: stunted Christmas cheer, seeing the underbelly of the holiday as business, "Christmas...that's SO October!"
Upsides: First to know about cool stuff, endless tree decorating, anticipation, hot cocoa...
Serious Upside: More time for Christmas tunes. Yes, no shame, here.

yes it is...

portraits:::chelan

My dear friends were such good sports to let me take their portraits! I had decided before I left for Chelan that I was going to take each persons portrait, with the intent to create shots that were minimal, witty, slightly canned, and ironic - very deadpan. But in return, I was blessed with these pictures - which are much more raw and soulful than I could have ever tried to create on my own. Thinking about it now, I was probably trying to emulate someone's style that I'd seen and liked somewhere - I guess maybe I needed to just get it out of my system so that I could move on to the good stuff. I don't know, but I do know that these are only the beginning... {ie. what folks in the industry like to call..."the tip of the iceburg."}

Well, I have been frantically trying to finish up editing the photos from this weekend away - there are some real gems! - and will have them up on my flikr page shortly, but I couldn't resist sharing a sneak peak.

Today my co-worker Liza passed along this link to a great project that AIGA put together to get designers involved in promoting the importance of being a part of this year's election. I have posted some of my favorites - but this is only a taste, my friend! - there are some 255 submissions so far and many of them are not only beautiful, but also smart and impacting as well. Seeing these posters (which you can also download and print out at the link above) reminded me that while I may not directly affect policy in this country, I do carry a responsibility as a image maker and visual communicator. Think about it - the flag, the statue of liberty, the monuments - all designed by the artists/designers/Betty Ross's/Maya Lin's at some point to ignite and inform a distinct American visual identity.

I encourage everyone to check out these posters, print out a couple, post them, and not only be a part of getting the vote out in November, but of informing visual culture as well! Also, if you are in Seattle, 24 of these posters will be on display as part of the Ballard Artwalk on Saturday, October 11th- find out all the info here.

(PS. I could go on and on about this year's political spectacle, but I will spare you all the exciting details. But if you perchance are as interested as I am about making an informed decision this year, I would encourage you to check out a couple of sites I checked out this week: Don Miller's blog, his recent posts this week have been regarding his involvement in the Obama campaign. Also there, you will find this link which seeks to answer a lot of the fears many christians may have about Barack Obama - I would urge you to check it out - do the research and see where it may lead you. A little scary, I know...but trust me on this one.)

" The answer must be, I think, that beauty and grace are performed whether or not we will or sense them. The least we can do is try to be there."
-ANNIE DILLARD-
from Heavan & Earth in P@TC

"Your love is better than life...my soul will
be satisfied as with the richest of foods."
psalm 63:5-6

on today's forecast...

between the commas...

I was scanning the obituaries in the NYTimes this morning and saw this...

Connie Haines, Peppy Singer, Dies at 87

Got me thinking what few words might be used describe my life someday.

Leah Dankertson, Rider of Public Transportation,...
, Maker of Piles, ...
, Magazine Subscriber, ...
, Scarf Enthusiast, ...
, Aspiring Book Designer and Photographer, ...
, Church Attender, ...
, Avid Public Library Patron,
, Survivor Fan, ...
, Drinker of Too-Much-Coffee, ...

I guess my hope when all is said and done, is that however I am summed up in the end, one description might be: Good Friend.

What words would you put 'between the commas'?

I fell instantly in love with these wonderful illustrations by Tim Root (Crappy Comics) for Stumptown Coffee Roasters - the best coffee around. Ever. I have quite a collection of these weekly ads...so there are plenty more to come!

seen and overheard....

A man and (I assume) his young daughter walk into the lobby at work...

{DAD} It's all just a big SCAM!
{DAUGHTER} What's a scam?
{DAD} A scam is something you don't want to stumble into.

dear summer...

Dear SUMMER,

I can see you're busy packing and getting ready to leave, but I just wanted to let you know that I've appreciated you staying this long. I know it was a little awkward for you. But it made all the difference, for a lot of people. Like me.

Thanks and till next year,
LEAH

{photos from my weekend at Chelan...more to come!}

weekending...

Happy September Weekend!

This weekend I will be on the lake trying to recreate the scenes above. Yes, complete with hunky models and sublime food. Well....okay, maybe not the hunky models....but good friends and food are a guarantee!

While I'm photographing everything in sight I will also be:

Listening to Jose Gonzales, Otis Redding, Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver, Final Fantasy...
Reading Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek... finally finishing it, that is.
Playing for the first time, Settler's of Catan...which I've been told I HAVE to play. [Prediction: I will win. As I am the winner of all games.]
Loving lazily floating away the hours.

Look for new work next week...

{My weekend inspiration photos are by Quentin Bacon, for article an in the July 2008 edition of Gourmet Magazine}