Carbon Treasure

This piece was for Corporate Knights about capturing carbon and turning it into something useful.
I was really excited to get this assignment, because Pete Ryan, who is a brilliant conceptual illustrator, was art directing it.

Treasure was in the headline, so I made to cover that angle if need be. But of course Pete went with the idea with the most visual poetry, the horse! I knew I was in good hands.

 

 

My German great-grandparents came to America, first Colorado and then Utah to work in the Murray Smelters, so I made the towers look like those brick smelter towers I remember as a kid.
Except I left off the giant Colonel Sanders that was painted on one of them. (Because the first KFC was a mile away)

Here's the spread. Kudos to Pete and Jack Dylan, for grabbing the bull by the horns and designing this magazine!

My Side Bias for the Atlantic

 I always wanted to work for the Atlantic and I finally got my chance a few months ago. I was waiting to finally see it in print before I blogged about it. Anytime you can spoof a Rodin, go for it! And I was excited because my printmaking texture has always felt good for statues.

The piece was on a study about how both liberals and conservatives do poorly on tests about certain subjects because the answer the questions according to their biases.

And I have since got to work for them again, I'll post that in few weeks...

the Efficiency Paradox

For Bloomberg Businessweek for a book review of the The Conundrum, by David Owen.

On the interesting problem that increased efficiency in green technology seems to lead to just more overall energy use.

And thanks to Chandra for the great looking page design.

University of Kansas lecture

Anybody near Kansas City? I'll be speaking at KU this monday.

Digital Agreements (with no roughs) Wall St. Journal

Never had a job like this one before. It was on how we so easily agree to online legal forms (itunes etc. etc. ) without even realizing the harsh consequences contained in the legalese.

But that's not the real story.

This is.

Apparently the writer had dropped a story on the art director at the last minute. Since I was super busy at the time AD David Bamundo at the Wall Street Journal told me to just send him a final, no roughs, no art direction, no nothing! And I had never even worked with him before!

Whoa, that's trust.

I think if I had less experience I might have thought "Sweet!"
But it sunk in pretty quick I was going to have to do both jobs, illustrate AND art direct.

Of course I always edit and art direct myself as I go along on every job, but in the end I always throw in some surprising ideas that may or may not work and hand it off to the art director to make the final decision.

And making good decisions is work, no doubt about it!

So thanks for nothing Dave.... just kidding, I learned a bunch.

Christoph Niemann says you've got to stay in touch with you inner-art director, so you don't waste everybody's time. So actually, thanks Dave! For letting me turn "my inner art director" to "outer" on this one.

I'm just glad I don't have to do it all the time.

Organ Traffickers

This one for a weighty story on international organized crime's move into the trafficking of organs, mostly kidneys. In Bloomberg Markets magazine.

I was excited to get this one, I knew it would have potential so I went a little nuts concepting.

The main victims and criminals in the story were Ukrainian.

Here's the spread, I decided to visually relate the kidney tubes to his gold chain and wallet at the last minute.

Racial Definitions in America

 

Got to do a illustration for a dual book review by Gwen Ifill for the Washington Post.

Here's an excerpt: 

Decades later, Americans are still struggling with racial definitions. Is the president black or biracial? Are we Latino or Hispanic? Is the n-word an insult or an affectionate term? What does it mean to be authentically black? And does any of that
matter anymore? Didn't the 2008 election signal that the country that elected its first black president is now post-racial?

sketch and color study

Two new books take radically different approaches to these questions of race introspection - one academic, the other anecdotal. Both are mature and serious works that seek to get us past our laziest assumptions about race. Each managed to expand my notion of what it means to be black in America, and why it matters.

Art direction by Kristin Lenz.