Haitian Woman and newborn

Early illustration from my newspaper days

I had been working at the Deseret News for about one year when I decided to try my hand at creating an artistic illustration using a pressure sensitive device. This wasn't entirely new to me, I had already owned a Logitech pen tablet for several years already and had produced several personal works with it. For this I decided to take an image which had already been published, draw a sketch on paper, scan the sketch into the computer, then render out a digital painting from the original reference.

Ultimately this was an attempt to show the management at Deseret News (In late 2010, right after a major layoff of a huge portion of the staff) that I had the chops to do illustration work. After creating this and showing it around, no one seemed too interested in the more traditional look. Which is fine. In the years that followed the Deseret News, like every other surviving Newspaper publication, would water down everything with their physical content. Currently you can subscribe to the, vastly reduced newspaper, and have it delivered in your mailbox. But about 99% of us just hit the internet on our mobile devices.

Mountain View Corridor and the Mitt Romney Visit

Couple months ago, Mitt Romney came for a visit to check out the pieces of military property that needed to be transferred into state hands so they can finish building the MountainView Corridor. I was asked to generate a couple maps to make clear what is being proposed. Went through multiple revisions. Used Adobe Illustrator to produce these. 

Logo for Solid Point Engineering

Over the past couple weeks I had the opportunity to do up a logo for my Brother-in-law Taran and his wife Lauren. I wont bore you with the details. Suffice to say all these were finalized in Illustrator. I used Photoshop to assist in the beveled look of the lettering.

 Below are all the several incarnations of the logo, with the last being the one they selected.

First draft

2nd Draft

3rd Draft

 Final logo design

How do you think I did? Do you like the final logo better than the others?

August Graphics in review

And the top 10 for August are ....

1. Stress in America graphic

Graphic done for a Story Written by Lois Collins.

2. Your body and media

Graphic done for a story written by Chandra Johnson. Good read for any teen or parent concerned about how the media is affecting your teen's body image

3. Teens, Tech and friendship

Graphic done for a story written by Chandra Johnson.

4. Religion in the Bay area

Graphic done for a story written by Mark A. Kelner. Story About Religion and stress at work in the Bay area.

5. Body image illustration

Did this for a feature about a series of stories on Media and Body image among teens written by Chandra Johnson and Kelsey Dallas.

And here it is in context of the page

6. Original A2 graphic

Only reason this is here is because I researched and created most of the imagery. I just pull most of these from from a news service. But this one is all me.

7. Photoshop job for Church News

I composited these elements together in Photoshop. I made some alterations to the labels of the box and calligraphic text on the book.

March Deseret News graphics in review

Here, again, is my top 10 picks for graphics done for the Deseret News for the month of March. Enjoy!

1. Big business verses local business

This graphic shows starkly how local chains stack up against national chains in how much money is recycled back into local economies. Couldnt find this story online, which leads me to believe it was only published in print. Sorry 

2. Timeline on depictions of Christ in media

I found this interesting for how many different ways in which the Master is depicted in our culture. Obviously some more accurate than others. Her is link to the story by Deseret news writer Mark A. Kelner.

3. Orthodox Jews are stalwarts

This is one of those rare times in which I was able to incorporate a visual element of the story into a graphic in a practical and pleasing way. This is a great faith-promoting story by Kelsey Dallas for the Deseret News

4. We still want better and bigger things

This really shouldn't come as a surprise to any of us. Who doesn't want to improve their quality of life? I certainly do. But where does too much become too much, and too big become too big? This is a Great story on Money and happiness by Lane Anderson for the Deseret News

5. Print! Its Alive, Alive!

Had fun with this graphic. Though perhaps a little cluttered. This is perhaps proof that books, you know, those dead tree sheets you can hold in your hands and read from, might be around for a very long time.

6. Fun Layout

Yes, I know it promotes Disney, but I had fun doing a small cutout of this air surfing whelp from Disney's Treasure planet. This is still one of my favorite Disney films from the early 2000s. Overall I think the layout turned out quite well.

7. Low pay in Salt Lake for sitters

I am not terribly surprised by this. Freelance work in general, is lower in Utah than the national average. Is this a result of savvy business dealings or just plain cheapness? I have no idea. Here is the link to the story by Matthew Jelalian for the Deseret News.

8. Death for those who deserve it, still favored in America

This graphic was published in an article that focuses on the 6th commandment. This and other articles are part of a series on the Ten commandments and what they mean to us in modern society. This article was written by Eric Schulzke.

9. Single parenting

One of the greatest indicators, in my opinion, of a failing society is how many children grow up in a single-parent household. I have personally seen how much more difficult it was for children to grow up without a father in the home. At best many turned out OK, at worst many go off to prison or worse. While  father is no guarantee that a child will make all the right choices, fathers are an undeniable stabilizing force for boys and girls. This transfers into the greater society. This is the link to the story by Lois M. Collins

10. Making babies better through genetics

Is it morally right to genetically alter babies? As medical technology and processes advance this question will need to be answered. Being a Star Trek fan I can't help but wonder if genetic manipulation could be used to create super-humans (Star Trek II, Star Trek: Into Darkness). Would said super-humans seek to eliminate who they deem unsuitable to continue the human race. Who knows. Here is the article by Kelsey Dallas.

Here is the rest of March Graphics. Enjoy!

February Graphics in review

Following is the top 10 graphics I created for the Deseret News in February. Also included are pretty much the rest of the graphics I did in the month of February.

So without further adieu, here is my top 10 for February 2015:

1. Battleship Bismarck News in Education page

Top graphic for February goes to this charticle on the battleship Bismarck. I created all the graphics for this, and wrote all the text. Was a ton of work, but well worth the effort. I absolutely enjoyed learning more about this vessel and the conflict it was a part of. Click on the image to the image in more detail. 

2. Religious persection increasing

This is a tremendously important topic of our day. Recent violence against Jews and Christians is growing stronger. I highly recommend reading this article, by Mark Kelner, at the following link.

3. Extremely dry in the state of Utah

While everything East of the Rockies has been getting blasted by record snow, Utah, and most of the west, has had record dryness. Crazy weather to say the least. Is it global warming? Cooling? Man-made or part of the Earth's natural cycle? You be the Judge. Here is the link to the story by Emilee Bench

4. Depression among the youth

Simple graphic with tips for helping youth with depression. Not a bad read by Leslie Corbly at this link

Theodore Roosevelt: What a life!

Following is a News in Education page I recently had published in the Deseret News. I found the research of this man interesting to say the least. Looking through the lens of the 21st century it is easy to judge his positions and actions as being contradictory to modern Liberal and conservative thinking. But he lived and grew up in a far different time than any of us. He lived when the the wild west was truly wild, and DC politics were dirty in a different sort of way than they are now. He could be as mild and tender as a Teddy bear towards children, then be utterly masculine and sharp towards contemporaries. One of his

Fun logo alteration challenge

 Ah, the iconic Pacific Life logo. I always thought this was a wonderfully designed logo. Simple and elegant. Calling it 'elegant', is saying something too, when you consider the animal being portrayed.

Guilty pleasure

One of my guilty pleasures in graphic design is asking a simple question: "What if?" This inevitably leads to wild and silly ideas; most of which never ever result in anything tangible. However, Here before you is one of those silly ideas that actually made it into reality, using Adobe Illustrator.

The process

To create the Jurrasic version of this logo I found images of two Jurrasic-era creatures, a
Liopleurodon and a Pterosaur. The hard part was finding a Liopleurodon image that was in a similar position as the whale in the original image. I ended up flipping and rotating the image I did find. Then I took these images into illustrator and hand traced them using the bezier pen tool to produce the vector illustrations I needed to complete the logo. All these elements were put together, with those of the Pacific Life logo, to produce what you see below. I am quite pleased with the results. I could have spent more time on the look of the text, but that would have required more time than I had.

Logo produced by Aaron Thorup Using Adobe Illustrator

Detail of logo

Facebook and Marriage: a photo illustration

Had the opportunity a little over a week ago to produce this photo illustration for the main Editorial story for the Sunday edition of the Deseret News written by Scott Taylor.

The process

Image of the couple came from Shutterstock.com. Facebook logo was procured from wikimedia.org. Used Photoshop as the editing tool to produce the final image. To create the tear I selected the entire photo. Then used the polygonal lasso tool to deselect half the image, producing the jagged tear. Then I cut and pasted the selected half the image into a new layer.

After this I used the dodge and burn tools to produce the subtle tear effect, rotated the two halves and applied a drop shadow.

The Facebook logo was inserted in between. Also created a pattern in for the background using the single-letter version of their logo

I wanted to use a chefs knife in this, but realized that wouldn't fit in with the way the photo is torn.

Message of the Editorial

The primary message of the story revolves around couple's use of Facebook and how misusing it can effect marriages in negative ways. I essentially agree with the author; Facebook is a tool of communication and news. If used improperly the consequences can be harmful. My wife and I reduce the risks and potential for harm by sharing a single account. When I want people to know it is me speaking I sign my name at the end of the post (Most of the time).

Views of Conference Center spread

The week after General conference is an incredibly busy time for the staff of the Church and myself. We are tasked with producing a 24 page version of LDS Church News, covering all talks given by General Authorities of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

A little vacation from all the text

Most of the pages are quite templated, having only a single mug, and maybe an additional photo. As you can imagine this becomes very boring and monotonous. Therefore putting together what you see above is refreshing. It represents a pleasant break from the text heaviness of the publication. 

Love the children

Another aspect of this I find enjoyable is incorporating children into the layout. As you can see I enjoy putting any photos of children front and center.

First man to speak in his native language

One other unique item to this layout is the inclusion of the first Authority to speak in his native language over the pulpit. Yes, this will just be a blip in the grand scheme of historical things. But I am a part of documenting that one blip. I find that hugely satisfying. Here is a link to an article in the Deseret News if you are interested in knowing more about the first man to speak at conference in a foreign language.

The important aspect of Columbus you weren't taught in school

Today is Columbus day. This year I had the opportunity at the Deseret News to produce a News in Education page about the man. In school they taught about how he "discovered America." But this statement is narrow and deceptive. As a child I didn't think much of this statement. As with pretty much all history, children place the importance of such things pretty low on their list of important things. I was no different. As a teen I began thinking of the import of Columbus coming to the Americas a bit more. Again, no truly in-depth thought or study of Columbus occurred until I took on this NIE page.

As a Latter-Day Saint, an additional element to the importance of Columbus coming to the New world is found in The Book of Mormon. According to revelation given to a prophet, 600 years before the birth of Christ, Columbus was moved upon by the spirit to make his journey. I quote the scripture here:

1 Nephi 13:12

12 And I looked and beheld a man among the Gentiles, who was separated from the seed of my brethren by the many waters; and I beheld the Spirit of God, that it came down and wrought upon the man; and he went forth upon the many waters, even unto the seed of my brethren, who were in the promised land.

According to Firsthand accounts, as well as what can be drawn from his own writings, Columbus was an incredibly devout Christian. He believed unwaveringly that he had been moved upon by the spirit to seek out a new way to the West Indies. He sought tenaciously for support for an expedition because of being moved upon by the Spirit of God. I believe this. If you are interested in a more in-depth description of Columbus and his voyage please read this article published in the Ensign in 1992. The Author talks about the practical challenges, as well as the spiritual aspects of Columbus' voyages.

As for me I have a new-found respect for the man. He was by no means perfect. He lived in a barbaric time full of superstition and extreme antisemitism. He had to deal with Monarchs that held the keys to his even going on the voyage. Later in life he was branded a crazy man for believing that God had impressed upon him such a strong desire to go. Many in his day, and today discount the things he wrote about his spirituality.