Here are some semi recent drawing of city scapes, most recently (this) "Big City" for the New York Times, which appears semi-regularly in the Metro section.
Then later, some work on a mural drawn toward the end of 2011.
If you peruse the Times with any regularity you may have noticed these (sans the red) that ran for a few years and have apparently been sent laid to rest. "We'd like you to do your thing, but really small, so it feels really really good" is what she said. So I did.
Big City in use
This one, which I think still runs on occasion is "City Critic".
This is the long-running "City Room" mark still in use. Andrew Kueneman and Khoi Vinh wrestled with me on it back on 07. I initially hated the type writer, but gave in. They were write. It still functions.
More recently I was asked to scribe a mural (via John Klotnia and Masha Zolotarsky at Opto Design) for Sisha Ortuzar and Tom Collichio (RiverPark Farm restaurant, NYC). Drawger alum David Flaherty helped weather the paint, sandwiches and impending hurricane
mid chalk. (always thrifty, I used my kid's multi colored sidewlk chalk to get it up there)
the idea we landed on was a city filled with fresh organic food. in this case the food is grown in crates and delivered onto your plate at Riverpark
Flaherty as Axl Rose. "welcome to the jungle, bitches"
This was my first mural. Maybe the first time I've actually touched real paint.
Thanks Heena, John, Khoi, Andrew, Masha, Flaherty, Sisha and the rest of the crew who put up/ and or witnessed my labrious manscaping. Its hairy out there folks. Especially in the city.
Here is a recent job for Winterhouse's Alex Knowlton. Had a great time on this, mainly because Alex and Fred Sasaki (at Poetry) are damn funny.
this was the offering sent out to illustrators. wait, it gets better.
tough to say no, right? the new covers include pieces by Cathie Bleck, Marian Bantjes and Micheal Bierut.
these are the ugly computer sketches. i wanted to treat the animal like a logo more than an illustration.
I probably did about 40 or 50 sketches before settling on a gesture that (re)captured Gill's original. Big honor to be a part of Poetry's 100th. My grandfather Sam is a published poet and I've been seeing and reading Poetry myself for a long long time. Cheers and Happy Holidays
A few weeks ago I visited OWS with the nudging of a nice guy named Justin via this post from the Daily Heller (thx Steve). The freebie logo was originally for Occupy LA but quickly dissolved into nothing (unsurpisingly) but I did manage to make a run downtown (in New York) with some friends and waited in line for the bathroom at Starbucks. I gave the silk screening dept a few screens (that I'll never see again) and headed off after an hour or so (no way I was hanging around with young kids in tow)
What made this job interesting, in one respect, was that I was finally able to use some old scrap from Hasbro's Monopoly redesign (that also went nowhere thx to lawyers). The monopoly man seems to have hit a nerve with protesters and seeing it again I recalled adding a "backwards Seymour Chwast pinky" to the refresh. Always disappointing to see a luminous banking mascot with flipper hands.
I couldn't come up with a decent image for OWS. The only idea with a seed of parody was filling the banker's role with Uncle Sam and going from Monopoly to Meritocracy.
If anyone wants to publish this idea let me know and I'll try to do a better job matching aesthetics (my Sam is a wee bit Manson)
I did not do this "official" illustration. I never knew thumbs looked like that. Notice the uneven stripes on the shirt (made in China?)
the old Monopoly typography had class.
this is where when the redesign ended. basically I tried to mesh (refresh?)several aesthetics into one, while maintaining the familiarity
some initial sketches for the cop and prisoner
some initial sketches for the cop and prisoner
at the time I was sharing a studio with Thomas Fuchs. He threw in officer friendly here at bottom.
comped board with icons in place
Since the death of mine there was another resurrection that seems to have passed muster with Hasbro's attorneys (they actually make these decisions believe it or not). It's' a circular design and the icons are even less characteristic and familiar thatn the old board. Times change. As does the game.
As I was doing the research for this article I did happen upon a decent redesign from a guy named Andy Mangold. It isn't as tactile but it puts some class (or diginity) back into the industry. What are your thoughts on these?
Here are some nixed ideas for iTunes icons circa 2004. You won't see anything outta Apple, it's employeess or suppliers that isn't scripted. Unlike Facebook (they don't even require an NDA) Apple has total control. Which makes sense because they sell a highly coveted product and need to protect their assets. This work was for a respectable design firm that signed away their ability to show Apple work in a portfolio, which means they signed a WFH contract.
I don't sign (WFH) Work for Hire agreements. If I do (VERY rarely) I don't sign away my right to show the work. If you are an artist and sign a WFH agreement not only are you diminishing your authority and ability to promote yourself, you're diluting the profession. Keep in mind, 99% of the time its not art directors or design firms or agencies that play the vilain here. It's simply an agreement between you and the attorneys representing the assets of the client. So don't take it personal.
Anyhoo let's get to some work. Most of it is crap but some of it was pretty good. And 8 years later, still decent.
This is what you've known as iTunes, then and now. It's interesting but completely non proprietary. They can't own a note in a circle but you know what? It works. It functions without selling or describing or promising or promoting. In that way, all the work I did for Apple was a total failure and I completely missed the mark.
This idea was kinda fun. Could see a great animation tool if the iPerson were to escalate up and down. But again, looking back, all the ideas missed the mark. iTunes never needed a sales pitch or promise or proprietary device. They just needed note in a circle. Boom. Done.
hey, there's a note is a circle. maybe i wasn't too far away. When you do this type of work it has to be seen very small.
of all the iTunes marks developed I liked the "handy" promise but AOK here in US means FU in 13 countries. So there goes that idea. In the end it was a fun job for Jobs. Flattered to be fingered.
Recently I was called up by one of Apple's main competitors (Nokia). They conferenced me in on a phone interview of sorts and began tossing out questions about Apple's process. Silly me, I assumed Apple did all kinds of research and focus grouping before they deciding which route to take. They don't. Which is what makes Steve Jobs so great.
Here is a "wonderfully emotional" interview by Doug Evans with Steve Jobs waxing logos, Paul Rand, function, meaning, and emotion. Rest in peace, Steve.
