Prop. 8

In the September 19th issue of 2008, the Washington Blade covered the ramp up to the now infamous Prop. 8 vote in California.  There was much optimism the week before, as was reflected in their opinion pages and the comments on the washingtonblade.com website, all of which added to the heart-breaking loss the following Tuesday.

I was asked by the editor of the Washington Blade to come up with imagery that reflected how the referendum on gay marriage was dividing the state. I create a multi-layered Photoshop document, using a single image of a hammer crushing a vectored state outline that I had broken up, colored and added iconic imagery from the previous court decision.

He was pleased, and my work landed the entire cover that week, my first full-page cover design in my six years at the company. Aside from the video work I did for BladeTV, it remains the stand-out piece from my portfolio at the Washington Blade.

• Sept. 19, 2008 cover of the Washington Blade
• Graphic Design: Aram Vartian