A quick run to the grocery story yesterday found me waiting in line for an extended amount of time. Bored at the prospect of spending half an hour in a line, my eyes wondered to the magazines perched on both sides of the aisle. To my left, OK magazine. To my right, US Weekly. At first, I thought my eyes were deceiving me in some way. But thankfully, I hadn’t gone mad. But someone at one of the magazines’ headquarters sure did.

So, which portrait is the original? To my eye, the OK magazine cover looks to be more natural. The US Weekly cover just looks flipped to fit the layout of the cover. Even more interesting, the color scheme is the same for both magazines: pink, white and yellow. And yes, US Weekly took it upon themselves to slim down Mrs. Palin’s face.

So, which magazine is doing the ripping?

I don’t have much experience with purchasing portraits for magazine covers. Usually, I hire a photographer and art direct the session. If I were to ever find myself needing to purchase a photo for a magazine that was distributed globally, I’d make darn sure that I got exclusive rights. Especially if it is going to be sitting on a magazine rack next to my competitors.

After talking to a few of my friends, I was finally able to pin one down long enough to do an interview. I’ve interviewed people before, and while most interviews ended up as a podcast, I did publish one article based on an interview. And I was able to make the story as long, or short, as I wanted.

Having only a maximum of 250 words for this assignment is going to be a real challenge for me. I would never have thought I’d admit such a thing. The challenge for me is usually getting started on structuring a profile, and making sure I hit all the major points from the interview. With the word limit, the profile needs to be short, sweet and to the point. And also interesting. Very challenging!