AIGA FIFTY Exhibition

Those closest to me know that I have spent a lot of my free time volunteering on the AIGA DC Board of Directors as AIGA FIFTY Co-chair... there's still more work to be done, but the event is coming closer and invitations were mailed out to AIGA DC members this week.

For those who don't know, a lot of work has gone into this two hour event. It's basically like planning a wedding. I joined the board in June of 2007 and have pretty much been planning AIGA FIFTY since then. Luckily, I have Dian Holton, as Chair, and we have been a great team. I have known her since my internship/freelance stint at USA WEEKEND Magazine, so we get along like peanut butter and jelly.

Planning this event required tasks like: securing three diverse judges, mailing out a call for entries, receiving over 500 entries, sorting the entries, working with volunteers, obtaining payments, judging set-up, judging day, judge's thank you gifts and travel preparation and lodging, follow-up letters to winners, finding lost pieces, typing out the winners credit information, working with Catalone Design (for the CFE, invitation, catalogue, and certificate design), picking up and dropping off the winners to various locations (for photo shoot or storage), finding sign language interpreters, finding a caterer within a budget, finding a venue within a budget... and much, much more! Thanks to anyone who has helped along the way!

That said, now it's time to pimp this event out to the world. Tell your friends, tell you co-workers, tell your family...

AIGA FIFTY Exhibition
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
6:30 PM - 8:30 PM
National Postal Museum
2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE
Washington, DC 20002

Join AIGA DC and your fellow classmates for a reception, exhibition and awards ceremony celebrating the 10th edition of the AIGA FIFTY biennial competition.

AIGA FIFTY showcases 50 of the smartest, prettiest, wildest and strongest examples of design produced during the past two years in Washington, DC, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia.

Our faculty of notable judges evaluated more than 500 entries in print, interactive media and environmental graphics. See which 50 made the grade for judges:

* Steve Hartman of Creativille, Inc., Edwardsville, IL
* Gail Anderson of SpotCo, New York, NY
* Kaan Atilla of Motion Theory, Venice, CA

Don’t miss this chance to relive old memories, meet the superlative winners and learn what inspires the region’s creativity, vision and success. We encourage you to invite your clients and friends in the business community.

Prices (Online)
Member: $10
Student Member: $10
Non member: $25

Prices (At The Door)
Member: $15
Student Member: $15
Non member: $35

Register Now

Photos: New York Comic Con 2008

We came. We saw. We conquered. New York Comic Con is over and I have a mild case of post convention depression. It was so nice to meet new people and reconnect with friends I don't get to see all that often. Overall, I'd say NYCC was a success. I'm sure Joe and I will record an episode of The Carolyn & Joe Show soon to give you a review of NYCC, but for now I'll type up some memories and share with you some photos.

On Thursday, the day before NYCC, I worked, then stayed up all night packing and preparing a few last minute things. We left at 2 AM on Friday from northern Virginia to make sure we'd be okay with parking and setting up our table. So we are running on like no sleep here, folks. We made a pit-stop for some hash browns in New Jersey. Yummy. Toll booths are horrible. We got to New York in a timely fashion and were some of the first people to set-up in Artists Alley. I think a lot of people came in later, but at least we were there and ready to go. One of the first purchases came from a girl who really is into toasts. She showed us her toast and toaster tattoos and she purchased a Toast Silkscreen Shirt. It was cool to see someone really into toast! Also, one of the first things we saw in New York was a scattered loaf of sliced bread on the street. For some reason, things like this make me happy.


On Friday, the first day of NYCC, Joe met Joe Quesada randomly in the crowd. I think he was pretty excited to run into him. I met Darwyn Cooke, Cliff Chiang, Amanda Conner, and Jenna Jameson. I think Darwyn is the best artist out there today. He was wearing a kick ass hat. That hat rules!

I attended the "Girls Who Kick Ass" panel. I know there was a lot of controversy over it... but really people, I know Jenna was a porn star and all that... but if she's into comics, why not let her into the clubhouse? I think she has the right to be here. After listening to Jenna speak, I could tell she is very intelligent and had a lot of encouraging things to say. She is probably one of the most confident people I've met. I got my picture taken with her and had a brief conversation with her about how happy I was that she was in the industry, even though I had doubts at first. I'm okay with her being here. I think we both could have looked better in the photo we took, but oh well. It's Jenna Jameson and at least I got the opportunity to meet her. John, the senior copywriter I work with, says about the Jenna photo: Carolyn, you're like, "Don't get too close, bitch." Awesome. I know we can both take a better photo. Maybe next time. Or maybe for something like... oh, I don't know... The Hot Women of Comics... I can see it now. What happened to Louise Simonson and Colleen Doran in that panel? I think Colleen may have had a scheduling conflict, but I'm not sure.

On Saturday, Joe attended The Spirit panel, which included Frank Miller and actress Eva Mendes. Saturday was the biggest day and so many people were dressed in costume. People really put a lot of effort into it! My favorite was a female Sweeney Todd, who I posed with as she slashed my throat!


On Sunday, the final day of NYCC, I attended the Amelia Rules! panel and met Jimmy Gownley. Amelia Rules! is an all-ages comic I recently got into this year. You should check it out, if you haven't already. One big surprise of the convention, was seeing Brendan Fraser! I didn't even know he was going to be at NYCC and found out when Joe showed me an ad in the program. Brendan Fraser is a pretty clever guy and probably in my top ten actors list. He was there to promote Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D. I was lucky enough to handle the crowd an obtain an autograph!

Frank Cammuso stopped by my table to say hello. That was very awesome of him. I've admired his work since before I started exhibiting at conventions when I was at SPX as a volunteer for two years... getting to know the scene... before I decided to give it a go. He gave me some good advice that I promise to keep and his book, Knights of the Lunch Table, will come out next month! I'll be sure to check it out.


The guys of Heartbreak, Jon and Nick, also came by to say hi at the Curls Studio table. Jon gave me a sample of ten new pages... I've read it and want to know what happens next! They are up to some good stuff and I'm looking forward to the next Heartbreak.


One of the best things about NYCC was the pleasure of sitting next to Rafael Navarro. I can seriously watch this guy draw all day long. He's work is super good... it's muy caliente. When I found out he worked on Stripperella... dang. That's one of my favorite shows! Rafael asked me to draw Captain America in his sketchbook and I think it turned out pretty well. There's a photo of that sketch on the Curls Studio Flickr page, so check it out when you have the chance! He drew me Stripperella and it's the best piece of art I own. It's freaking awesome.


NYCC ruled. I hope to be back again! And just so you know, I am my own booth babe.

Check out all the Curls Studio NYCC photos photos on the Curls Studio Flickr page.

New York Comic Con

The New York Comic Con is almost upon us! Check out Curls in her tribute to Milton Glaser. She hearts New York! Gotham City! The Big Apple!

Provided is a map of where you can find the Curls Studio table. We will be in space H32 in Artist Alley. We hope to see you there.

Professional Only Hours:
Friday, April 18 -- 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM

Open to the Public:
Friday, April 18 -- 3:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Saturday, April 19 -- 10:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Sunday, April 20 -- 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Kid Roxy #2: The Mystery of the Bouncing Ball

Curls Studio will be unveiling the second Kid Roxy book at New York Comic Con on April 18-20, 2008.

Here is a teaser of the story:

Kid Roxy’s first mystery begins here! “The Mystery of the Bouncing Ball” Episode 1 of 5 starts with our superhero… Wait… What? Our superhero? Isn’t Kid Roxy about a girl who grows up to become a world famous career criminal? Yes, but everyone has to start somewhere.

In Twilight Valley, the Sadie Hawkins dance is coming up, and everyone is losing their minds! Debbie, Roxy Monroe’s new loose cannon friend believes it will lead to the death of us all. And who’s to blame her? In Twilight Valley, dances do something to people. It messes with their brains, causes them to act irrationally. But what is it about this dance that causes mysterious accidents to happen at Shirley Walker Secondary School?

Roxy Monroe, on the other hand, has branded her twin sister, Trixie, a sell out and she continues to battle the forces of evil that are Trixie’s friends, Ashley and Stephanie. Along the way, Roxy realizes that Twilight Valley, and its people, are more than what you see on the surface. This town has its own mysteries to be dug up.

Kid Roxy: The Mystery of the Bouncing Ball
Writer: Joe Carabeo
Artist: Carolyn Belefski
28 black and white pages, plus full cover cover
$3.00

Curls Studio on Larry King Live

The creators and cast of Curls Studio (Carolyn, Joe, Toast, Curls, Pitter Patter, Conehead, Kid Roxy, Dean Casanova, Debbie, Stephanie, Ashley, Black Magic, Applause, Santa Turtle, Roxy Monroe, Trixie, and Turtle Neck) were all on Larry King Live to promote their upcoming tour date — New York Comic Con's Artist Alley. Make plans to see all the Curls Studio characters at NYCC, which will take place April 18-20 at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York City.