"Faded"

I designed this catalog to promote programs at the county park district.  It was pretty radical because prior to this naturalists typed their programs and mimeographed (yes, mimeographed!) copies for the handful of people who actually signed up for programs.  Old-timers were offended that I would do something as radical as color, let alone fuchsia.  Keep in mind that this was decades after most normal people had abandoned mimeographs as relics, but some people at the parks felt that it was more pure, less tainted by commercialism, than using a printer.  They wanted me to use “natureful colors”.  Hey, what color are flowers?  Aren’t they part of nature?  Life can be hard when you’re a trailblazer.  I got a lot of flak until the county-wide mailing started making the phones ring with hundreds of people who wanted to participate in programs.

I’ve had this old mail order catalog on my desk for a long time.  I kept thinking I wanted to post some of the pages so everyone can see that there was a time when you could buy a “regular corset” for $1, but up till now I didn’t know how to fit it into any IF words.  “Faded” fits because the catalog is definitely faded.  If I lived in the old days when artists slaved away making catalogs like this maybe I could’ve saved up and gotten a Manchurian Wolf  fur stole, complete with dead animal tails, for a mere $5.97.

But wait, I have worked on catalogs.  Lots and lots of them, and I couldn’t afford a Manchurian Wolf stole on my salary after figuring inflation.  Drat.  I could afford the corset, but that wouldn’t bring me any happiness.  Well, I’m not so sure animal tails would make me very happy either in reality because I’d feel sorry for the tail-less wolves.  The catalog just makes me fantasize about life in a different time, and since it’s a fantasy, I don’t have to think about any of the realities about actually living back then.  I can just think about the days when everybody wore a hat, and cool hats only cost $1.50.  It sounds a whole lot better than saying that I cleaned house today by finally taking the catalog off my desk, doesn’t it?  Excuse me a moment while I peruse the now uncovered origami book… hmm… I’m sure I must have a green piece of paper somewhere to make this frog…

Sometime later, I have rescued my good scissors from the car and put away yesterday’s project, and put away the pastels I used a few weeks ago.  Alright, I’ll admit I probably wouldn’t be any better about regular housekeeping in a different era, but at least I’d have cool hats.



Okay, here's a better frog for "faded".  Let it not be said that I was too lazy for Illustration Friday!  Housekeeping is one thing, but art is important :)