The Spring/Summer 2011 issue of Findings magazine, the publication I design for the UM School of Public Health, won a Gold award and the Fall/Winter 2011 issue won a Silver. In addition, The Inn on Ferry Street, a gorgeously-designed book from the very talented brain and hand of Mike Savitski that incorporated a number of my architectural photos, won both a Gold and a Judge's Choice Award. Savitski Design also won another Gold and a Silver for two other projects that I assisted Mike with—a brochure for the UM Institute for the Humanities, and a recruiting brochure for the UM Ford School of Public Policy.

Kudos also goes to University Lithoprinters, who printed every one of these pieces. Thanks, Marilyn!

The book was published at the end of 2011, and over twenty of my photos made the final cut, including the photo on the left-hand page above (the cover photo is by another photographer). Mike found out last week that the book, printed by University Lithoprinters, will receive an Addy Award at the annual Ann Arbor Ad Club party in early February.

A selection of the photos I took can be seen in the Architecture section of the Photography portfolio: http://hammonddesignco.squarespace.com/architecture/the-inn-on-ferry-street/

I was enamored with the model airplanes in part because they represented the up-to-date strength of the U.S. military, which had dispatched our foes in WWII and then Korea just a few years earlier; I was hardly the only American boy who was enthralled with the stories of the war, and many of the fathers of my friends had served in the armed forces during the conflict.

That doesn't explain the totality of my love for the plastic planes as well as the real items, though: I simply loved the way they looked. Their sculptural form, their metallic sheathing (even if simulated in plastic), the rivets and other construction elements, their identification markings, the way they looked taking off and landing—all of it was visual catnip to me. It still is, and I've attended a number of air shows over the last decade at the Yankee Air Museum at Willow Run Airport in Ypsilanti, and also at Selfridge AF base. While the Thunderbirds, Blue Angels, C-130s, B-17s, B-2s, B-1Bs and B-117s that have done flybys or extended demonstrations have been awe-inspiring, capturing compelling images of those craft in the air has always been a frustrating and fruitless task; if anything, it's detracted from the enjoyment of simply watching them.

For me, the real photographic joy begins with the static displays on the tarmac of the visiting craft, and with the historic craft on permanent display at the Yankee Air Museum. I have near total control over composition, and am free to focus on the whole form, abstract views, or small details; the only drawback is having to wait for other spectators to clear the field of view.

Over the last several years I've taken hundreds of shots of all manner of aircraft, from pre-WWII piston engine biplanes to Korean War-era MIGs to the V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor. The photos above were taken at two different events at Willow Run. As I get time, I'll be posting more images in the photography section.

And yes, the image of the mannequin in the cockpit is creepy.

The antlers play a role in the final scene; Falstaff has been tricked into wearing them by one of the married women he is trying to seduce, and is subsequently mocked and humiliated as his elaborate plans to swindle the women unravel, naturally to much hilarity and merriment.

The search for effective solutions to the problems of environmental pollution in Guatemala, the lack of accessible medical care in Haiti, or the horrific epidemic of rape in Congo cannot be carried out in isolation from the social and political problems in those countries, and this issue of Findings tells the stories of UM School of Public Health alumni, faculty, and researchers who are working in a wide variety of ways to improve the lives of people in those and other countries around the world.

The cover article details the heroic efforts of Dr. Denis Mukwege, the Congolese physician and surgeon who has devoted several years to treating the many thousands of women who have been raped as a weapon of war during the protracted conflict in Congo. Mukwege was awarded the Wallenberg Medal of Honor by the University of Michigan in 2010 in recognition of his work.

The composer of Armide was Christoph Willibald Gluck, whose patrons included Marie Antoinette and whose musical contemporaries included Antonio Salieri, later to be a significant rival to Mozart. The first performance of Armide was in Paris in 1777, and it prompted much heated debate among Parisian opera purists, as Gluck's composition supplanted an earlier Armide version by the famed French operatic composer Lully. Gluck sought to return opera to its naturalistic roots, believing it had become artificial and stilted.

Other major articles include a look by guest writer James Tobin at the groundbreaking long-term Tecumseh study led by famed UM SPH epidemiologist Thomas Francis, Jr., and a photo essay on the experiences of SPH students working and studying overseas.

The magazine is printed on Rolland Enviro100, a 100% post-consumer fiber paper that is manufactured using biogas energy captured from a landfill near the paper manufac-turer. Each issue represents a substantial reduction in the amount of virgin timber, solid waste, water, and air emissions compared to printing on virgin pulp paper. Findings is printed at University Litho in Ann Arbor, a Forest Stewardship Council-certified printer, using vegetable-based inks that are 91% free of volatile organic compounds.

The Fall/Winter 2009 and Spring/Summer 2010 issues of Findings won the gold award for Best Specialized or Unit-Level Magazine in the 2010 Pride of CASE V District Awards program. Part of the international Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), CASE District V encompasses Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin.