Painting

My Grandfather Olsen called me up with a request about three months ago... a painting of tulips. I am not madly skilled with painting, but I thought I'd give it a shot. So I browsed online for an idea... and then I went from there. I am pretty impressed with myself. My Grandpa liked it! It is actually pretty large. Maybe 32 x 60.

My Cousins came over while I was finishing it up. They wanted to join in on the fun and painted on some canvas themselves for Grandpa's birthday. Cameron did a painting of the Columbia River Gorge. He did a great job with painting in the lines. He is an awesome artist. Jayden helped a little too.

Jayden did something of her own design. A whole bunch of G's in different colors. It was really well balanced with the colors and I thought it was pretty.

Cameron went to Utah for Thanksgiving to drop the paintings off.

I wish this was a joke.

What? Redesign! How fun... unless you are redesigning to totally destroy your company. WHAT THE HECK PEPSI? Coming to a grocery store near you in the next few months is Pepsi's redesigned logo and packaging. As a 'future' package designer I think I vomited a little in my mouth when I saw what this national brand decided to do to itself. Not only does it look cheap and poorly designed it is as if the quality of the soda itself degraded in less then a second.

The frosted bottle looks cool and refreshing. I'll give them that. But look at it. hideous. The two dimensional logo looks as if a first year design student sat down at a computer and moved the the lines a little and turned it in hoping for a C.

All I am asking is Who allowed this... and who is the mastermind that talked this thing up?

Uglies

These past two weeks I read the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld. They are science fiction teen novels. My Mom recommended them to me, and since they were on the bookshelf next to my bed I decided to give them a shot.

The books are based on a town that is in the future and feature a girl named Tally. She is 16 and awaiting an operation that will make her Pretty. When a person turns 16 they become pretty, all thier flaws are taken away and they become the ideal in both mind and body. As her birthday approaches Tally, who is a mischevious Ugly, meets Shay, who shares a birthday. Shay teaches Tally about a underground society who runs away from Ugly town before the operation to a place called the Smoke. Well the day before the operation Shay runs away... and to become a Pretty, Tally must find her. That's where the journey begins.

I wouldn't say these are the greatest books I ever read but they have a great plot and were enjoyable. The reasoning behind the operation and the world Tally lives in causes you to reflect on our own society and why we do, say, and act the way we do... and what happens when the right to freely think is taken away from us, or when we take that right from someone else.

Busy!

So I got a seasonal job at UPS. I think I'll look awesome in a brown uniform. If only I could pull of a mullet and mustache like this guy I would be set. I'll be a drivers helper. Cherie did this around Christmas one year and made good money. It should be fun.

Jenessa my youngest sister got her mission call. Italy, Rome! Another to Europe. She is the fifth and last of my siblings to go on a mission. We used to joke when we were little that one day if we all went on missions we could sit around the table and speak a different language! Now it is true. Jon my oldest brother went to Germany, Cherie to Uruguay, Kent to the Philippines, and I went to Norway. Craziness, eh? We are so excited for Jenessa. She is going to be an awesome missionary! She was just in Italy a month ago but her experience there was super positive so she is thrilled to return.

My Mom bought a new car for Jenessa and I to drive. A blue VW bug. It's super cute. I had a scary experience with our little golf. I was getting on the freeway and the steering went out and I did a complete 180. Staring at traffic coming towards you is never fun. I luckily got it on the side of the road with out to much trouble. Well Jenessa and I decided to never drive the car again and we protested for a new car. So we got this cute bugger.

I have a new design Blog. It is meant to be a portfolio of my work. Check it out and tell me what you think:

http://kristenmilesdesign.blogspot.com/

Vote

I did my civic duty. Did you do yours?

I decided to keep who I voted for a secret. I told Jenessa but that'll be all.