Poster Designer Sees Newtown Everywhere She Looks

By Nancy K. Crevier

Jill Baimel, a freelance photographer, principal of Baimel Photographic Illustrations and a Newtown resident since 2001, has a special treat in the works for Newtown.

Ms Baimel, who received a bachelor of arts in communications from Chatham College in Pittsburgh and a bachelor of arts in industrial photo and color technology from Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, Calif., is creating a collection of photo images of the word “Newtown” that she will incorporate into a colorful poster. So far, she has taken over 100 photos during the past year, of which she estimates 90 will end up in the finished product.

It is surprising how often the word “Newtown” crops up, once she starts looking, says Ms Baimel.

“I find it in roadside signs, businesses, from license plates to sewer grates. The welcome mat in front of Newtown police station has a great image.”

The idea for the Newtown poster popped into her head at a meeting of Flagpole Photographers last year, when writer Justin Scott visited the club seeking photos to contribute to a coffee table book that will be put out by the Tercentennial Committee.

Ms Baimel had worked with Texas photographer Rick Vanderpool to create posters for New York state and New Jersey. Mr Vanderpool wanted to create posters featuring images from each county in every state, but, as Ms Baimel says, “That’s a lot of driving, a lot of time.”

He contacted Ms Baimel through the Professional Photographers of America, of which she is a member, to help him out.

“He got a hold of me at a great time,” she says. “[She and husband Gregg Baimel] were in the process of moving to Newtown, and I was in between jobs. I jumped at the chance and agreed to do New Jersey and New York.”

Her positive experience with those posters led her to believe a similar item would do well in Newtown, and be a special keepsake for Newtown’s Tercentennial year. With Mr Vanderpool’s blessing and an endorsement from the Tercentennial Committee, she has forged ahead.

“I find more [images] if I get out and walk,” says the photographer. Sometimes she is accompanied by her seven-month-old son, Jackson, but finds her husband and friends to be more helpful companions.

She says, “It helps to have a second set of eyes, and to have someone to share the driving and the navigating.”

Once the images are collected, she will follow the same process for Newtown that she followed to create the New York and New Jersey posters.

First the photos are pasted up on a plot of white wall in her home office.

“I let them sit,” she says, “and then come back to it.”

When the arrangement is visually satisfying to her, she scans the negatives into her computer and arranges them based on the collage she has designed upon the wall.

“Variety is very important,” stresses Ms Baimel. “I keep a mental note as I go, like if there are too many  road signs.” The more colorful, the better, says this artist, when it comes to spotting “Newtown” images.

The poster has segued into another project for Ms Baimel, as well. When Newtowners pick up a copy of historian Dan Cruson’s new essays this summer, they might recognize the book jacket as the work of Ms Baimel. In collaboration with Don Brooks, Mr Cruson and Mr Scott, she has selected some of the “Newtown” images to be used on her first ever book jacket design. 

Will the “Newtown” images continue to expand into other designs?

“Possibly,” says Ms Baimel. For now, her focus remains on completion of the poster and book jacket designs.

She is hoping to have the limited number, signed posters available by the end of July through area businesses and via her website, www.BaimelPhoto.com. The cost will be $20 for each poster. Newtowners can look for Mr Cruson’s book toward summer’s end as well.

“We’ll have to see what comes up in the future,” she says.