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I’ll be filling in details for these illos, and previous posts’, within the next few days. Just a few notes about the assignments and publications.

I did this illo for Johns Hopkins magazine. The story is that two Johns Hopkins computer scientists had the idea of “mining” Twitter for very current public health info. They look for keywords that suggest increased use of over the counter cold and flu medicines, as well as symptoms of allergies and sickness and so on. They believe there are lots of potential uses. The idea of a flock of birds came very fast. Then it was just a matter of conveying the data gathering and health concept and finetuning the composition. Lots of fun!

This illustration was for a story in Seattle Magazine on the city’s struggle and long delay choosing a Sounders soccer team mascot. And so I got to draw a flat fish man. In addition to a flounder, the writer also proposed a Viaduct (what?), a Geoduck, the “Squatch” and the Seattle sound itself. I think the Geoduck is also called a gooeyduck, is edible (yuck), is a kind of snail and is unarguably phallic. I was not asked to draw the Geoduck.

Smith is putting together a new sustainable food concentration (education lingo for a suite of courses I guess). This went with the Smith Alumnae Quarterly article, designer, Ronn Campisi.

This was used for the cover and for the story opener on the inside

Used at the page bottom

Cover layout

2nd accompanying illustration

Last week I discovered I’ve gotten no emails from my contact form 
for 3 whole months. From 12/10/10 to 3/11/11. I’m horrified and outraged. Squarespace SENT the emails, but my domain host bounced them back to Squarespace with a coded message. Neither of them noticed nor alerted me so I could do something. I wish either had a system for that. There are no forensics to get them back, so my apologies can’t be personal and I sure wish they could.

I guess no email from my form for so long should’ve been a red flag. I wasn’t notified and I didn’t see the alarming pattern myself. If I had I could/would have fixed it sooner.

It won’t happen again, and I’ll be watching the form like a hawk now. If you contacted me in that period, I am so very sorry. Direct email always works.

Oh love, true love, pray, how do I find thee? 

This illustration is for a college magazine article on OK Cupid, the dating service that matches people using algorithms – which means: asking you a lot, LOT, LOT! of questions to pin down exactly who you are, and who you might like. I signed up – just for background, all right? – and believe me, OK Cupid will keep tossing questions as long as you keep answering. Phew.

It was a big hit judging by both the kids and their parents (waiting on the sidewalk). It also made me feel ridiculously happy.