Exploring some more

Just a couple more from Explore Provo.

If you're a comics nerd like me, you may be interested to note that these were originally drawn using ancient technology — Radiograph pens on Bristol board, and a lot of the shading is done with ziptone film. It's so much easier nowadays with Photoshop!

Working it

With May being Work Zone Safety Month (I know it's marked on your calendar, isn't it?), I thought it might be good to revisit some of my Explore Provo cartoons. These were done as public service announcements during a project to rebuild University Avenue in downtown Provo — a couple of decades ago!

Takin' it to the streets

There's a story behind today's cartoons. As I'm sure you are well aware, May is National Work Zone Safety Awareness Month, an event to remind everyone to be safe when traveling through construction zones.

We at the Oregon Department of Transportation planned a big event in Portland, Oregon's media hub. We have several special guests lined up, including our new governor, Gov. Kate Brown. Our event was timed to hit the news cycle to get maximum coverage, an easy story on a quiet news day (someday I'll have to show you the infographic I made).

Then, the president happened. A couple of days ago, Pres. Obama announced that he is coming to Oregon. While it's not at the same time as our press event, the media is now focused on the arrival of the Commander in Chief.

We'll see what happens. Maybe we can get his entourage to drive through a work zone.

You may recognize the ol' Explore Provo guy that I did for the Utah Department of Transportation, when we rebuilt University Avenue in Provo. I dusted him off to have him give a few work zone safety messages. Here are a couple of examples.

So, yeah. Be safe in work zones. Slow down, pay attention.

Another lost soul

Here's another Explore Provo that was also hidden away. I think I held this one back because (1) It's kind of dated -- Bloom County? and (2) it was the last daily Explore Provo strip. Well, the last official one, anyway... I've done a few more supplemental gags since then. The Safari Guy (we never came up with a good name for him) can get away with things that other characters can't.

Sending in reinforcements

While cleaning out some old files, I came across an old Explore Provo cartoon!

This one was probably a little bit "inside baseball-y" for general consumption. It assumes that you know what reinforced concrete is, and why worms wouldn't really be a good addition to reinforced concrete. Perhaps that's why this one languished in the drawer for so long.

Thanks for humoring me. Just smile and say, "Thanks for sharing."

Oh, and, speaking of worms, that reminds me -- tonight's the spaghetti feed at the high school! Come on down!

Recycled: Explore Provo

It's time to do a little recycling! For the next couple of days, I'm going to pull out some of my old cartoons. I published some of these on the blog way back before anybody besides me was around to read them!

This is one of my favorites from the Explore Provo series that I did when I was with the Utah Department of Transportation.

Monday Sketchbook: Back to School

It's back to school time around here, and I just happened to stumble across one of my old sketches for Explore Provo. The University Avenue reconstruction project had progressed to a point right in front of Provo High School right at the same time that school was about to begin. We were able to work with the school district to work out access to the school. And wisely, we chose not to run this cartoon.

Color my world

I'm not used to seeing these in color (even though I do it myself). It just seems more natural for Explore Provo to be in black and white.

Moving on

Finishing up the University Avenue project was bittersweet. It was a lot of fun doing the public information for it -- and these cartoons. I also thought it was cool to get paid for hanging around the construction zone and watching the work get done. I enjoyed working with the folks from Provo City, the downtown business association, and Linda Walton, who was the business liaison (and fellow public relations practitioner). There were still plenty of other projects (and there are still more Explore Provo cartoons), but this one was certainly a highlight.

Ready to move on

When I was working on Explore Provo for the Utah Department of Transportation, there were a lot of ideas that I discarded. There were a few that made it all the way to a finished product, but I figured it was in my best interest not to publish. This falls into that category.

By September, the work zone on the project ran from the main entrance to campus to the University Parkway entrance, which was also the main access to the stadium. Football traffic was a big concern, and we worked with the university to come up with a traffic plan.

This was a time when BYU had a prolific offense, often scoring more points than the basketball team did. It was also a time when I home taught one of the offensive linemen, Dean Lott. He was huge. A nice guy, but huge. I wouldn't want to get on his bad side! All things considered, I thought it was better to let this one cartoon languish.

Until now.

I saw an article in the news about Arby's in Provo giving away free turnovers with a ticket stub from the game. I figured if they could do it, I could do it. And besides, Dean doesn't know where I live!


Normally after the rivalry game I'd publish something more like this.

Sequels happen

When we were in Provo, University Avenue was again under construction. Actually, it looked like a maintenance project, but there were cones and barrels blocking off lanes -- just like old times!

Flashing color

This is a little experiment. Although some of the ads for the University Avenue project had spot color, I hadn't colored any of the cartoons -- they were strictly black and white. You can see the original here.

Maybe it's just me, but I can't help but think of the colorized version of It's a Wonderful Life. It works, but I like the original better.

Not fade away

Highway stripes are one of those things that seem so simple, and yet they can cause so much grief! Almost every highway worker has a story about striping, whether it be dealing with roadkill, missed timing of the sprayers or failing to negotiate a curve. When they're done well you don't notice them, but when you can't see them -- watch out!

Open here

Have you ever wondered how they know where to make the cuts in the roadway during a reconstruction project? Now you know!

Actually, it's not too far from the truth. There are supposed to be plans that show what's under the road -- usually utilities like water, sewer, gas, cable, etc. They have crews that go out and locate where the pipes and conduits are, and they mark up the roadway with spray paint.

Sometimes there are surprises, like on University Avenue they uncovered some old trolley tracks that weren't included on any plans. And there are quite often archeological finds. That's one of the things that make road projects interesting!

...at least to some of us they are.

Food for thought

One of the best things about working on this project was the variety of places to eat. Most of these places are gone or replaced now, but it was one of the more enjoyable projects to work on.

Some of the places handled the construction better than others. One day Subway brought out free sandwiches for all the workers. And surprise! A lot of the workers kept going back to Subway, even when the sandwiches weren't free!

Red, white, blue and orange

Happy Flag Day!

Searchin' so long...

In case you hadn't noticed, Blogger had some issues the past couple of days. Here's today's, albeit a little late.

Fair warning

You've probably seen the banners or at least heard rumors about the group that says the world will end on May 21. I saw a couple holding one of their signs downtown the other day, and it reminded me of this Explore Provo cartoon.

The back story is this. We (the Utah Department of Transportation) had a project that was going to close down a major interchange on Interstate 15 in Salt Lake for several months. If some of the computer models were to be believed, traffic would be backed up to Levan if people didn't change their driving routes.

For part of the public information campaign, we mailed out fliers with this "end is near" guy to local residents and used him on some of our other materials. We thought it would be fun to do a little cross promotion down in Utah County, so we stuck the sign guy into one of the strips.

The end of the world never happened. On the day the project started, there was nary a car on I-15 around the work zone. People altered their routes or their driving times, and for the most part it was clear sailing.

Let's hope that it's also clear sailing on the 21st!

JK

For the most part, the folks who work road construction are good guys. But I don't think it would be a good idea to mess with them!

Falling for you

I've fallen victim to a few of these. In fact, I was taking photos of this very project when I tripped over one, and that's where this cartoon was born -- with me flat on my face!