It's all in the game.

Fort Wayne, like many mid-sized cities, experienced urban sprawl in the '60s and '70s. After malls were built outside of downtown, retailers left the area, leaving it underutilized. Community leaders were looking for revitalization ideas. The suggestions that were coming forth intrigued the staff of Fort Wayne Monthly. Editor Connie Haas-Zuber, Associate Editor Bonnie Blackburn and I came up with a special pull-out section for our June 2006 issue. Called "Future Fort? The Downtown Game," this tongue-in-cheek insert was glued into the center of the magazine, to a page of cut-out cash featuring faces of local decision-makers. Illustrations were done by the wonderfully talented illustrator, Sam Minick. (samminick.com). Commemorative game boards were provided to those involved in the projects and selected advertisers. Eventually, a multi-use baseball stadium (one of the ideas featured in the game) was selected and is currently under construction.

Cover girl.

Fort Wayne Monthly is the city magazine of Fort Wayne, Indiana. And, from its premiere issue in September 2003 until the June 2006 issue, I was the Senior Art Director. I helped to conceive it (it was almost as painful as childbirth) and poured blood, sweat and tears into it for those many months. This cover is from the May/June 2004 issue, also known as "Lakes." When the weekend comes, people in Northeastern Indiana often say, "we're going up to the lake." The funny thing is, they're all referring to different ones (as there are well over 100 of them). Many families have gone to the same lake for generations. This cover was designed to appeal to those lakes people — of which there are many. Whether you were once a kid at the lake, or you take your own children to one, you can relate to the joy on this young boy's face as he experiences what it means to be a part of our special lakes community.