Give 'Til It Hurts

Though it may be early for Halloween, I just found out that every year, Lionsgate promotes the Red Cross and its new SAW (VI, if you aren't familiar) film with the "Give 'Til It Hurts" blood drive. And as part of the ad campaign tradition for this event, they include the SAW nurse... yikes!

This year's ad campaign was created by Ignition Print and was photographed by Co-President of Marketing Tim Palen - and is considered the wildest yet with the SAW nurse sporting a uniform you won't see at just any old doctor's office. The corset, designed by The Blonds, looks pretty sharp to me if you know what I mean. The Blonds have been designing and outfitting celebs such as Britney Spears, Beyonce, Rihanna and Katy Perry.

Though the image may be uncomfortable to look at, it does the job grabbing attention and getting the point across. Furthermore, you can see the craftsmanship and quality of the garment, the makeup and the lighting to make this an incredibly striking and beautiful image.

Oh, and of course I can't forget to let everyone know this too: Happy 19th birthday little brother!

Photo courtesy of current.com. "Give 'Til It Hurts" 6th Annual Halloween Blood Drive advertisement. Ignition Print - Tim Palen. Syringe corset by The Blonds. 2009.

Echo-echo-echo-echolocation

Echolocation is a complex process and an even more difficult one to illustrate since most of the mechanism works with air, sound waves, and nerve impulses. However, I wanted to do something with my favorite animal in a biological illustration, so I was determined. Working with my newly experimented graphic style was much easier this time so that wasn't much of an issue like last time. Another factor that made this illustration difficult was the lack of accurate bottlenose dolphin anatomy; most of my findings were schematic in nature. This was why my initially-planned first illustration became my last. I needed to do lots of research to find what I was looking for.

What do you think?

Echolocation mechanism of the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus). Lindsey Pionek. Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. 2009.

Do you have LowT?

Hint: Only males go through this! Now there is a reason behind the mid-life crisis. Yes, decreased levels of testosterone in men create a "male menopause" more formally known as andropause. I was intrigued by this more recent finding so I wanted to create a print PSA dealing with this subject. Since there are many physical and mental changes when men undergo this time in their life, I decided to play with the idea of the "spice of life". I am satisfied with the idea, but it was difficult using numerous images and making them cohesive in one image. Yes, each one of those bottles are different images, as well as the shelf and the reaching hand. I used a few techniques in photoshop to create shadows to make the bottles seem close together and "grounded" on the shelf. Creating a homemade set-up and shooting the image and tweaking in photoshop afterward would have been a better solution in my eyes. If only I didn't have a budget (or maybe a high-end camera)!

"IsItLowT?" print PSA. Lindsey Pionek. Adobe Illustrator. 2009.

You find out a lot about someone.... on a bus

On my way home from work, I always take the same route. There are two sets of buses that pick up and drop off at the same location after I get off the Pink line so I don't have to wait long. However, I usually end up on my way home during the rush hour so the bus usually has standing room only. I'm fine with that, plus I don't want to wait any longer than I have to since it is approximately an hour commute. The bus that came up first was more packed than usual, like I mean me and 2 other people where the only ones that could get on. I thought it was a little funny, especially since being crowded in a bus bring out the best, and worst in people. There were plenty of complaints on why people were still trying to get on, there wasn't any room, couldn't get off, but seriously people? Everyone is trying to get home just like you. And if you are tourists, well welcome to Chicago on a weekday at 5:30 pm. Plan accordingly next time. All I could do is smile and pretend to not pay attention.

On the other hand, I found out some great things about people too. People sacrificed their seats for others, were very polite in this uncomfortable situation and I even was able to strike up a conversation with a woman that I was standing by (She was right by the driver so I was trying to give her some more space... yeah, it was that crowded.), and I think doing the same people watching that I was doing. Sure there were a few more complainers and the snobs that wouldn't move for the elderly, but I was impressed by others even more that were positive in the situation. Who would have thought that a bus ride could be an eye-opening experience? Life's little experiences and lessons happen when you least expect it.

Photo courtesy of mctavish.eu.

And the Beat Goes On

The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago just replaced their old, yet cherished, walk-through heart with one that holds interactivity in a modern fashion. This new 14-foot steel wall hanging has the image of a human heart beating projected onto its surface. Place your hand on the pulse station's hand grips and the animated heart will match your pulse. More interactivity of this heart displays the inner anatomy and the electrical function that will keep education entertaining. This technological wonder is part of the new, 15,000-square-foot permanent exhibit pinned "You! The Experience". Scheduled to open October 8th, the exhibit is designed to showcase for visitors how the human body works and how to make better decisions regarding health and mental well-being.

Tom Hennes, president of the New York design firm Thinc, is the new exhibit's primary designer. Furthermore, the "Inner Life of the Cell" creator David Bolinsky, and his team, XVIVO, were involved in creating this new exhibit. Wait, there is one more part: David Bolinski is visiting our program and in the main guest speaker in this year's Frank Armitage Lecture which is presented by the Biomedical Visualization to show new technologies in our field.

The UIC Biomedical Visualization program not only has ties with the new heart installation, but the old one as well. The 8-foot wide, plaster of paris heart built around a pillar was designed and created in our department by past faculty and others, including Professor A. Hooker Goodwin, the director of from the 1950s to 1976. Because of the construction, the walk-through heart had to be broken into smaller pieces. Some of the pieces have been given as mementos to the people or the families that have worked on the installation, so I'm assuming our department will have something somewhere. In our hallway, we have photographs of the construction.

I personally look forward to taking a look at this new exhibit when it is open to the public. I hope you do too!

Photo courtesy of msichicago.org. Heart in "You! The Experience" permanent exhibit. 2009. Museum of Science and Industry. Chicago, IL.

Oh Dura!

Here is my first illustration completed for Advanced Illustration for this past and long gone summer semester. This illustration depict the dural membranes and sinuses of the skull, which are vital to take waste products and extra fluid away from the brain (sinuses) as well as helping the brain stay put (membranes). I wanted to work with my new graphic style of line and transparencies in medical illustration. Needless to say, it was more difficult than I would have expected in the way that I had to practice my restraint in creating too much detail. Plus, the view is very different angle compared to typical anatomical illustrations and photographs, so finding references was a bit of an issue too. Osirix became an essential tool for obtaining an accurate view for the illustration. In the end I am happy about the end product and I like the clean lines and subdued color palette. It is a very different style than what you see in most anatomical illustrations today.

Dural Sinuses. Lindsey Pionek. Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. 2009.

I'm Back!

It is so unfortunate that I have to take my little "vacations" from blogging when the end of the semester is near. Instead, I work on assignments until the wee hours of the night non-stop and then wake up in the wee hours of the morning. Let me tell you, like always it was intense. I blame myself for some of it, but you know, that happens when I want to have a bit of a social life. Well, it is all done and over for now, for a week now (Sorry, I needed to get some R&R too!). In the next week you will be seeing what I did over the past summer session of 10 credits in 8 weeks. Again, it was well worth it. I received my grades yesterday and did another stellar job and I am very happy about it.

This last week was pretty good as well. I hung out with my cousin in Madison last Friday and Saturday as well as drunkenly calling a college friend to come out at bar close; she did, (I had a great time and I couldn't help but wonder what it would have been like if I went to Madison instead of St. Norbert College for undergrad (no regrets at all though).) , went home for a couple days, went boating (My brother bought a pontoon. Yes, he is only almost 19!), did a ton of reading (I finally succumbed to the Twilight series.... addicting! Plus, it is a lot more fun when you can read for pleasure.), and visited a hometown friend. Plus, our final assignments weren't due until this past Monday, so I saved just a little bit to work on for the past weekend as well. Needless to say, I kept myself busy. And just like that, I'm back in Chicago and back to work. Though I still have another week of no classes, I will be updating a website, as well as working some more of my project research (I didn't quite do what I was supposed to and now I'm making up for my negligence.... ugh Lindsey!)

Now to reminiscing a few weeks back. The images that I have here are for my Surgical Orientation class. We had plenty of lectures in the class, mostly with speakers and surgical protocol; we even had a lecture/demo on surgical instruments by Autosuture working with foam intestines and stomachs that was really fun and interesting. The assignments that we had to do was research a surgical procedure and do a few sketches as well as illustrating 3 surgical instruments in different categories in pen and ink: I chose cutting, grasping, and clamping categories and used a digital pen and ink process. The surgical procedure is not finished or course, but it works for what we were asked. Initially, I wanted to do the Whipple procedure, but yeah... way too many steps. Therefore, I decided to do laser varicose vein removal instead since my I have family that are having issues with theirs. Take a look yourself!


Surgical Instruments. Lindsey Pionek. Adobe Illustrator. 2009. Surgical Procedure on Laser Varicose Vein Removal. Lindsey Pionek. Graphite and Adobe Photoshop. 2009.