I’m getting e-mails this morning asking me why we put Good Morning Texas‘ Amy Vanderoef on our July cover. Apparently she was on the show this morning giggling about how she didn’t even know that guy she’s standing next to on some porch in McKinney. Delightful. I had no idea that our cover model was the co-host of a quasi-news program. Here’s how it happened:
Our design director, the talented Todd Johnson, called the Campbell Agency and requested a woman, a man, and a child for a cover shoot. He asked that they be pretty but not too pretty. Not, you know, model pretty. This is how it’s sometimes done. We use models on our cover, and we photograph them as if they’re “real” people. I hope I haven’t shattered your worldview. There is no Santa. There is no Tooth Fairy. We use models to illustrate concepts–in this case, the concept of a happy family enjoying the good life in a suburb (the McKinney porch in the cover image, by the way, is a real McKinney porch).
So Todd had a look at the cute couple. As I understand it, they actually came to the office and cavorted around back in the art department. By all accounts, they were charming. At no point did Vanderoef say, “Hey, ever seen me on TV, doing the morning news?” Nor did her resume offer that morsel of information. And, obviously, neither Todd nor anyone on his staff–no one on our entire staff–watches Good Morning Texas. Because none of us recognized Vanderoef.
And there you have it. That’s the story of how Amy Vanderoef, TV news personality, wound up on our cover.
