Growth spurts
Ronn Campisi had an assignment for the Harvard Law Review about using the collaborative process to develop more effective law professors. The main thought was professors don’t just happen by themselves. They are created with the assistance of many peers and advisors in the process.
Ronn and I decided to go with an organic tree approach and the tree also had the feeling of diagram like branches which connect one person to another.
Ronn has used me since the Boston Globe days and was one of the earlier art directors who commissioned me on the national level. A lot of my growth as an artist and professional happened during those days so it’s always a pleasure when he gives a call.
Guessing tomorrow
Mary Shaub from Summit Publications called for a series of full pages about forecasts in the insurance sector. I’m a big believer that any subject can make compelling images. Paul Rand’s quote that there are no bad projects only bad solutions has been a mantra of mine for years.
Since it was for the January issue about the future, I decided the series should be a colorful series with a sense of fun to reflect the optimism we like to have for a fresh start. Mary and I were pleased with the final series.
Hopefully the forecast is for bright skies for all for the new year.
The eyes have it
Besides new beginnings, the New Year also means the scrambling to organize records from the previous year. Dan Smith called while I was in Hong Kong with a quick assignment about new auditing rules for corporations. Transparency was a metaphor we liked and Dan suggested retro x-ray glasses to add an element of fun. It was such a good suggestion I was embarrassed it did not cross my mind in the original sketches.
Green is not a color I use often but it has been making more of an appearance when appropriate and reminds me of the great science fiction and detective covers I used to see as a child.
Perhaps I’m now entering the green phase of my creative career :-)
Overlooked
It is appropriate one of the final projects printed this year was for SooJin Buzelli and PlanSponsor Magazine. We’ve worked on nice projects throughout the year and she had a story about financial advisors overlooking Millennials. The story boils down to feeling ignored so a metaphor of a giant eyed robot ignoring a “piece of the puzzle” seemed a fun idea. This was done during a week of judging work for the Society of Illustrators so I strangely felt more pressure than normal since entries for the competition were excellent!
Much thanks to SooJin for a nice pre holiday assignment.
Knowing we don’t know
Kerry Prugh, AD for Notre Dame’s alumni magazine called with a fun list of 10 things we don’t know. As this is the end of the year, it seemed like a perfect piece to feature because one of the best lessons learned last year was the value of being comfortable with knowing what I don’t know. Ironically it is a very liberating feeling when you understand this concept.
Perhaps this personal lesson made it easy for my to come up with a space metaphor which resonated with the idea of searching for answers which seem elusive.
Much thanks to Kerry for allowing me to add fun to a fun list.
Who needs a driver
DBusiness had an interesting story for an assignment. It seems the the big trend in the future is all sorts of transportation and delivery will be handled remotely. It could be very possible there will not be a need for drivers in the future. Stories about the future are always a treat to illustrate and my approach was a more fun and optimistic approach with a friendly benevolent bot. Much thanks to AD James Slate for the fun story.
Tepper Magazine Cover
Susan Limoncelli called with a request for cover and inside art for Tepper Magazine’s feature about visions for a new development soon to be built on campus. They had asked for opinions about how the development should serve various needs within the community. Susan also had a request for “Yang Orange” if it worked with my ideas.
Since “Yang Orange” is one of my favorite colors, I was more than happy to oblige. I played with the idea of blueprints as a metaphor.
Thanks to Susan for the assignment and for planting the thought I should patent “Yang Orange.”
