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Muscle Beach “Which way to Muscle Beach?” one might ask when they first see this image. I’m able to tell you how to get to the beach, as well as you how we got the job done for the “Chicago Creative Directory 2007”, in the city of big shoulders, and big arms! Kurt Hansen, the publisher and president of The Chicago Creative Directory, came to me one day and presented the idea for the cover of the 2007 CCD. I told him, “You really came to the right place”. Ever since I was a fourteen year old, I’ve been an avid lover of bodybuilding and healthy living. Being as passionate as I am about it, I send a weekly newsletter titled Don Levey’s MuscleHeads to certain individuals close to me who want to improve their lives through fitness. By keeping myself on a strict workout routine and spending time with that industry, I’ve come to know many of it’s people and resources, so the casting for this shoot was going to be a piece of cake (fat-free of course)! Shortly before our shoot, my friend, Brian Smith, our muscleman just won the Masters in a bodybuilding competition. So he was willing and more than ready to be our model. The original idea was a simple line drawing of an arm, “Making a Muscle”. Kurt said it was only a layout …I love this kind of freedom, where I’m given an idea to fly with. During the shoot, we tried various poses to provide a palette for Jason Mills, our graphic designer and tattoo artist. By physically showing the poses to Brian, we each had a pretty good workout. He did exactly as I had wished…perfect for the flaming heart tattoo. I’ve included some outtakes, showing where even the turn of the hand will either shorten or lengthen the bicep muscle. Jason had done a terrific job of molding the tattoo around the arm. We all then joined Brian in the championship arena, with bringing out the muscle that Chicago has as a creative force in the world.
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