Andrew Ferguson
Rejecting Your Reality and Substituting My Own Since 1986
Subscribe to RSS FeedDesigning The Brunton: 2009-2010
Earlier this year, I was asked if I would like to work on designing the front cover of The Brunton. Despite everything I was trying to get accomplished, I took this task on a way get some creative exercise. Working with the Student Activities Office (the department responsible for publishing The Brunton), I was able to come up with a pretty spiffy design:
I was also able to draw on my extensive collection of photos to pick 12 photos for display on the inside:
Left to Right, Top to Bottom: Andrew Ferguson ‘08 as an Enginerd, Mines Women’s Rugby, an Engineer participates in Engineering Days activies, Eileen Sullivan ‘09 bores a hole in a rock during Engineering Days, Audrey Nelson ‘07 enjoys a powder day, Lance Atkins ‘09 and Nicole Zambon hiking Mt. Democrat, the Mines Marching Band during Homecoming, Ben Keiser ‘07 stands in the Orecart during the march to the state capital, Blue Key member Corinne Johnson ‘09 gets doused in whitewash while supervising the M-Climb, new LED lights on the M, Paul Johnson ‘08 is Marvin the Miner along with Blaster.
It was a pretty fun project and didn’t take too much time. The Student Activities Office was kind enough to give me a lot of creative control, with only a few requirements. I also got a credit and a short biography on the first page of the The Brunton, which I thought was pretty spiffy:
Front cover and calendar photos taken by Andrew Ferguson, 2009 CSM graduate with a Degree in Engineering, Electrical Specialty. Front cover designed using a USGS topographic map of the Golden Quadrangle (7.5 minute series).
Over the course of his five years at Mines, Andrew amassed a wide variety of photos through his work with The Oredigger and personal projects.
After graduating, Andrew returned to the Seattle area to work in the aerospace industry. You can follow him on his blog and see more of his photos, from Mines and around the world, at http://AndrewFerguson.net.
All of the photos used in this year’s Brunton are of Mines students or places related to Mines
Update: I found some of the original designs I was working with. This was after the stage where I picked the initial photo to use on the front:
Version 1
Version 2
Version 3
Version 4
Version 5
Version 5b
Tags: Audrey Nelson, Ben Keiser, Corinne Johnson, design, Eileen Sullivan, Golden Quadrangle, Lance Atkins, Matt Matteson, Nicole Zambon, Paul Johnson, published work, rugby, Student Activities Office, The Brunton, The Oredigger, topographic map, USGS
Campus Benefactors: Simon Guggenheim
My latest article for The Oredigger is up. It’s been several years since I wrote a bona fide article for The Oredigger.
My article this week is about Simon Guggenheim, a campus benefactor. One of the oldest buildings on campus is named after him: Guggenheim Hall.
From media.www.oredigger.net:After becoming a multimillionaire, Guggenheim moved north to Denver in 1892 and married Olga Hirsh on November 24, 1898, at the iconic Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York. To celebrate their marriage, the Guggenheims provided a Thanksgiving dinner to 5,000 poor Manhattan children.
I was also able to get some pretty good photos too, which is the real reason I took the article. I tried a couple of new techniques with balancing the light. First, I adjusted the exposure to just barely clip the highlights (pure white pixels). Then I adjusted the blacks to just barely clip the shadows (pure black pixels). This, in theory, maximizes the contrast ratio of the photo; which is important because photos already have quite a bit less contrast than the human eye does, so we best make use of all of it. Next, I tweaked the fill light to bring out the body of the photo. Some of the photos almost ended up looking sort of HDR-ish I think.
Nikkor @ 18mm || 1/60 || f/11 || ISO200
Nikkor @ 18mm || 1/500 || f/3.5 || ISO200
Nikkor @ 38mm || 1/80 || f/4.2 || ISO200
As always, there are some more pictures over on Flickr: Guggenheim Hall set
Also don’t forget to read the article: Campus Benefactors: Simon Guggenheim
Tags: blacks, Colorado School of Mines, contrast ratio, exposure, Guggenheim Hall, HDR, highlights, shadows, Simon Guggenheim, The Oredigger
United States Military Upgrades Weapon Reticules
This was in the the Garlic section1 of the February 2nd issue of The Oredigger.
United States Military Upgrades Weapon Reticules
Luther Sloan (AKA Andrew Ferguson)
United States Military officials have announced that new weapons are currently being distributed to military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The new weapons were designed after several soldiers complained that after playing Halo 2, they thought the reticule on their real assault riffles should also light up red when an enemy combatant was in their sights.Department of Defense officials agreed and fast tracked the technology to get it in the field as soon as possible. Master Chief Andrew Collins, based out of Fort Lewis, Washington, said, “These weapons are awesome! I can practice my skills on Halo when I’m at home, and then use my newly acquired skills in the field. It totally rocks!”
Department of Defense officials are hopeful that the new reticules will help eliminate so-called “friendly-fire” incidents. Some reports estimate that had Bungie released Halo 2 last year, when they originally planned, up to 2/3 of the deaths since then could have been avoided.
In addition to making combat safer, some officials predict the new assault riffles will help keep the United States Military strong by recruiting current Halo fanatics who want the exhilaration of firing the real weapon. And that’s the way the cookie crumbles.
1 The Garlic section is like The Onion. That is, it’s satire.
Tags: Andy Collins, Bungie, Garlic, gun, Halo, Luther Sloan, military, satire, The Onion, The Oredigger, United States, weapon