News:
August 08
It's summer OR time again. Since I've been gone so long I didn't do too much this year to contribute to the event but here's a few small featured projects.
Minus 33
We updated the Minus 33 logo and made them a nice new retail poster.
The Mammutt bouldering Championships came to town again. I feel like I never get enough notice to design something spectacular but getting everything together takes alot of project management time.
One really exciting thing for a cool client of mine is that the bouldering championships wall didn't arrive in time so Vertical Solutions built them a new wall in only 10 days.
I designed Vertical Solutions logo when they first started out. Their logo captures the curves of the walls they create. http://www.girlfridaydesign.com/brand3.html
I find these wall so unique I just had to point it out. Great job VS!
Finally.... We updated the Comp Sponsorship Brochure for the Front.
June 08
I just came home from spending six weeks running in Europe and Africa. I thought I would blog more along the way but I was just having too much fun. Here's one account from a series of runs I did.
Running Toubkal.
While taking the train to Marrakech I met up with a group more familiar with the area. Marrakech is known for it’s mountains, and it just so happens that the second highest peak in Africa, Jbel Toubkal, lays just an hour’s ride outside the city. So of course… I had to bag this peak.
It’s written that this is a two-day trek starting from the village of Imlill, acclimatizing at the Refuge du Toubkal (10,522 ft) and summitting (13,671 ft) the next day. Being from the Rocky Mountain Region, I knew from experience I could summit in a day.
I negotiated a taxi to leave Marrakech as early as I could. As the sun rose, we climbed a winding road towards the city of Imlill. Before reaching the village we were stopped by a mass of rocks and falling water blocking the road. The cab stopped by a group of men standing in front of the mess. I knew this is where I had to start my run so I grabbed my things and jumped out.
After 8 km on the road I finally made it to Imlill. I followed the dirt road to the top of the village, found my way to the trailhead and started my run through winding barley, apple and walnut trees to another small village Aroumd. Just after this village I met with the rocky valley floor of the Atlas Mountains.
The Atlas Mountains separate the Mediterranean and Atlantic coastlines from the Sahara Desert. The route from Imlil to the summit of Jbel Toubkal is well-marked, following water. Its landscape is a luscious desert and is home to the many birds of the region. Crossing the valley floor I spotted a young Berber boy whom I followed at a distance, passing travelers with a donkey and guide up a zigzagging trail towards a ridgeline path overlooking water below. Once on this ridgeline the trail is easily run-able all the way to the Refuge du Toubkal.
You approach the tiny settlement of Sidi Chamarouch built around a Muslim shrine from above. To me, the shrine looked like a marshmallow blob and I found myself wondering, what makes a sacred shrine. Nonetheless, the people were nice and asked me to stay for tea. When I told them I had no time but I may stop by later that day they laughed at me, which only made me run faster.
With another steep and steady climb back to the ridgeline I passed a goat heard hanging on to rocky sides. They didn’t seem to mind me passing. Once back on the ridgeline I resumed my mindless trot. Waiting until I was just close enough to see their unique physique the birds would then hop up, jump and soar across the sky. During this section of the trail I felt like I was in an atrium, everything placed just perfectly including the birds posing just for me.
You can see the Refuge about a half hour before you reach it. It was grander than I had imagined but it was no chalet. I stopped there to eat my rolls and get more water. The refuge leader told me it would take me at least 5-hours to the summit and that I didn’t have time for today. It was definitely a straight steep climb to the summit but, 5 hours and no time for today? It was barely 11am. I told him I had no time to stay, I was summitting today and I would see him later. It is a steep scree field to the top of the summit and I am a klutz, to say the least, so I wanted to make sure someone would take care to notice if I didn’t come down.
Just before the summit I met up with two English girls resting in the sun too “wobbly” to go on. We talked a little. I asked them the basics but neither seemed to have altitude sickness. They were just a little out of air. They seemed a little humbled by my presence. I reminded them they lived at Sea Level and I lived around 8,000 feet so what they had climbed had been a bit more of a feat.
I reached the Summit at around 1:30 pm to I find I was not alone. A team of French men and their guide were there. They were so intrigued I had come alone just to summit for the day they served me a fantastic lunch of fish, tomatoes and cheese. It was the perfect summit on a perfect day.
April 08
Girl Friday has been working with a group of artists, writers and musicians to put out a monthly acoustic music and lifestyle publication Valley Tan.
The name Valley Tan was first applied to the leather made in the Utah Territory in contradistinction to the imported article from the States; it gradually began to apply to every article made or manufactured or produced in the Territory, and means in the strictest sense Home Manufacturers. It was later the name of an alternative newspaper started in 1858 by Kirk Anderson. Finally Valley Tan was was the exclusive Mormon refresher as written by Mark twain. "Valley tan is a kind of whisky, or first cousin to it; is of Mormon invention and manufactured only in Utah. Tradition says it is made of [imported] fire and brimstone. If I remember rightly, no public drinking saloons were allowed in the kingdom by Brigham Young, and no private drinking permitted among the faithful, except they confined themselves to 'valley tan.'"
I think that the name is pretty interesting so I wrote it all down.
Jan 08
Girl Friday is happy to have our brand new logo and our new website up and running. We will be attending the OR show today, a fitting activity for our new look.
Girl Friday has many goals this year, professionally and personally. We are looking forward to many successes and good times with friends. Happy new year to all of you.