i began college as a german language and english major. in my junior year i tried interior design. in my senior (and final) year, i went back to german (and participated in an immersion program as all of the credits i needed were german classes).

i regret never studying abroad, but i did visit my gal, kristi, in germany for two weeks during winter break of my senior year.

when i graduated i became the “accountant” for the museum i worked at, and continued taking photography classes through the art department and design classes through the college of design at the university of minnesota. eventually my job as accountant was sketchy and not what i wanted, so i took all of my design knowledge and and got an opportunity to be a full-time designer for the company i work at now. i’m in the marketing department, so i do webpages as well as print ads and special event materials.

what will i do next, i wonder? i’m not quite sure i’m ready to make a decision about my next step (regarding further career specializing), but it’ll be coming soon, i think.

Hi, my name is Amy.

I was born on Friday the 13th of November, 1981, in Rock Rapids, Iowa. I am the youngest of three children.

I lived briefly on a farm (i.e. I don’t remember it) in very rural Iowa until my family moved to Vermillion, South Dakota. I lived there until I ran off to college at Augustana College in neighboring Sioux Falls, South Dakota. It wasn’t quite the right fit for me (and maybe it wasn’t quite far enough away from home), so for my sophomore year in college I moved in with my sister in St. Paul, Minnesota, and began going to school at the University of Minnesota.

I worked as a student receptionist at the Bell Museum of Natural History through my college years, and when I graduated with my bachelor’s degree in German Studies, I joined the staff as an accountant. I continued going to classes in photography and graphic design while working full-time at the Bell Museum as an accountant and also “volunteering” for a role in designing publications and exhibits.

I was starting to think about getting a Masters of Fine Arts degree, but I was hired as a designer in the marketing department at a company that provides computer-based testing instead — and this is where I currently work.

I have two silly kitties, Ellipses and Ampersand. I live in “Nordeast,” in the upper half of a duplex, which I rent from my friend, Kristi, and her husband, Jared. Ampersand is currently trying to sit on my hands, so I better put the computer away and give her snuggles.

On Thursday I completed my “crash printing” assignment. I designed two prints using plates from the Bell Museum of Natural History‘s archives (from Francie Lee Jacques and Walter Breckenridge) and experimented with typesetting. I was so into it (and my hands were so covered in ink, anyway) that I forgot to take photos during the inking (pulling out the ink and applying it to my plates with a brayer) and pressing process. The photos below are my layouts and results.

This is what my final image will/is supposed to look like (after letterpressing):

Here is how my colors split:

So, unless I decide to make any other changes (more drastic stroke around the Munchkin? tail entwined with the DNA double-helix? any thoughts?)—I think I’m good to go!

When I started thinking about a simple two-color design I could create in relation to the phrase “custom made,” I thought about furniture and clothes and kitchen cabinetry… All very domestic things, but perhaps not such interesting illustrations. Then I began trying to think about “custom made” in relation to the place where I work, the Bell Museum of Natural History. Images of dioramas and taxidermy came to mind, but then I thought: natural selection. Of course, natural selection isn’t exactly customized—so I opted for something more along the lines of trait selection.

Munchkin cats are bred for their short legs, which is actually a genetic mutation. Some professional cat registries don’t recognize this breed (for show) for that reason.

My design incorporates an illustration of a Munchkin cat and a DNA double-helix. I will be editing this design to incorporate “custom made” more organically—the words might form the links between the two strands of DNA. “Couture cat” was a suggested label from a friend who is studying clothing design. I am still considering how to use this phrase, if I decide to keep it.