September 2006 Archives

I have a secret to admit. It's probably not something a magazine art director should share with the world (or in my case, the three people who read my blog), but here goes: I dread -- and love -- doing our covers. Next time you see a magazine cover, know that the art director probably spent many sleepless, jaw-clenching nights getting it to that place -- success or failure.

There's nothing like the excitement I feel when I finally nail the perfect way to grab your audience's attention and convey the right meaning with a great image and nicely typeset hed our clever editors write-up. It's on that note that I'd like to present a sneak preview of our latest cover. We were fortunate enough to work with friendly and obscenely talented illustrator John Hendrix, a generous soul who really went above and beyond for us. Enjoy!

Now here's a group project that I can get behind -- a shared, virtual scratch pad! Lunchtimers.com has three different "Big Pads" you can view and draw on at their Web site. But don't wait too long to leave your mark because you only have a couple minutes to contribute before the page refreshes and you have a new sheet to "decorate." It's a timewaster to be sure, but an interesting one at that!