Not bad I'd say

Well, looks like I'm finally getting published in an academic journal. Except it's got nothing to do with engineering. And I haven't written any paper.

But I made the cover of the December issue of American Anthropologist! Well, "I" didn't make it, my design did.

About a month ago, Alireza D, with whom I had no prior acquaintance, sent me an email about a paper (on Persian weblogs) he was publishing in AA. He said they had asked him to give them a nice photo or graphic art they might use for the cover, since his paper is the feature. Having known me through my blog (?), or maybe referred by Webgard and/or Hoder, he was wondering if I could give him a hand. Except I only had a couple of days to meet the deadline.

So I put something together and sent it over. After an initial approval, we got the final word last night from the editors that they are going to use it.

I can't say I'm not delighted. I know it's not an arts magazine or anything, but to make the cover of one of the most prestigious academic journals is at least a personal acheivement. It's the first time I had sent anything to a publication I didn't actually work for, which doubles the fun.

About the piece itself, I really wish I had more time to work on it, and it's not my all time favorite or anything. It's mixed media, playing with photos and illustration (very rough, minimalistic illustration) and a lot of colors. I'll post it in December after it runs. And I gotta thank Alireza for this opportunity. Cheers.