In this day and age, most people are concerned with their own vanity and “Photoshopping” away their imperfections. I however had an opportunity this past week to do quite the opposite. For the first time, I was asked to age a photo so that the subject looked a tiny bit older and more mature. This stock photography was destined to be used on an advertisement targeting middle aged women. The client loved the photo composition, but felt that middle aged women couldn’t relate to the youthful subject. They asked that some minor modifications be made in Photoshop in order to make this photo acceptable.

It may be hard to tell, but I added some wrinkle lines on the forehead as well as a few crows-feet around the eye. I tried to make the skin a little less shiny as well. Finally, I removed the black nail-polish for a more sophisticated french tip style nail-polish. I had to get this done quickly, so I did what I could. It was fun though to do something completely new.

My coworker is getting married, and I had the opportunity to help with the design of the invitations. These are a little different from anything I’ve done before. She wanted something simple, and modern, but to have a bit of a retro flare at the same time. We used a monochromatic theme which I think makes it look very elegant.

The most fun part of it though was the opportunity to print on Touché Paper (produced by FiberMark). This paper is so beautiful, and has an amazing texture. It feels like a silky velvet, and is thick and impressive. It added another layer of interest to the over all look of the invitations. The photos were taken by my colleague, Joe Wilson, which turned out very nicely.

I have an affinity for Apple products because I enjoy their clean lines and elegant design. I often try to mimic their products in Adobe Illustrator. Here are a few of the items I have recreated. The first is the venerable iPhone 3G.

The next is a Mac Pro with Cinema Display. This took a long time (especially the perforations on the front)! But, the end result exceeded my expectations.

And lastly was the first Mac I ever bought; a PowerMac G3 Blue and White. It was a great computer, and I still have it. I was annoyed that Apple didn’t provide an icon for it in the finder as they do for every following PowerMac, so I decided to create my own in the same manner as Apple does.