http://www.drawger.com/alexnabaum/ Mon, 22 Apr 2013 13:07:29 EDT FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://drawger.com/_images/drawger_leo_logo.gif http://www.drawger.com/alexnabaum http://www.drawger.com/alexnabaum/index.php?section=articles&article_id=14161

Did this for the April 2013 cover of the Progressive, but was waiting to post it until today. Article was on climate activism.



I don't usually go into color in roughs, but I had a favorite and wanted to make sure it would work and sell it a bitat the same time. Luckily Nick, the AD on this agreed.



I wanted to add more layers to the image, but pulled back when I remembered Nick had told me to remember to accomodate the address label and bar code in the design.

I wish I would have had a bit more time on it to make some subtle changes to make the smoke curl more naturally around the face and fist, but making the deadline was most important.

This poster on the wall at Facebook HQ always makes me feel better when that happens.

]]> Mon, 22 Apr 2013 17:07:29 EDT http://www.drawger.com/alexnabaum/index.php?section=articles&article_id=14101

This was a piece for the Huffington Post Magazine on Universal Music's takeover of EMI. Since the magazine is made only for tablets, in this case the user changed pages vertically, so this "spread" was the result, designed by Martin Gee. But it's not really a spread, that word implies horizontal expansion... There's probably a proper design term for it, but I don't know it. A stack?....

]]> Fri, 22 Mar 2013 17:19:22 EDT http://www.drawger.com/alexnabaum/index.php?section=articles&article_id=13837

As some of you know, to celebrate their 100yr anniversary Poetry magazine decided to commission different artists to do a version of their Pegasus covers from earlier years, for every month of 2012.



Old covers with some very beautiful and charming drawings. The call for me came in March so I got to see the covers already posted here on Drawger by Cathy Bleck, and Felix Sockwell (worth revisiting just to see Cathy's embossed card!) And I was told there would be upcoming covers by Milton Glaser and Yuko Shimizu.... So no pressure ;)



I knew I wouldn't be able to add anything comparable in charm, beauty or design among that group of artists. So the only thing I could think of was to approach it conceptually.



First I focused on the concept of poetry sometimes being mysterious like a riddle.



Second I tried to reduce the pegasus conceptually rather than visually. I sent both in, just in case the reduced one was too different. The editors went for it, but really felt like it couldn't have any gradations, which was too different in execution than the other months. So I quickly rolled out a more graphic one in under an hour.



Both of these pieces actually started out the same way, as an embossed line drawing on heavy paper board. It just depends on how thick, thin, wet or dry I apply the paint to my brayers and then how much pressure and speed I use when I roll them over the embossed line drawing. It's simple enough but almost impossible to really control and it involves alot of frisket and swearing due to complete wash outs and having to emboss a whole new board or trying to fix it in photoshop... BUT the best part was being able to see what everyone else did. And that's why I waited until December to post this, so I could show the variety of the total year. A real selling point for the variety you can get with commissioned illustration.



Cathy Bleck, Felix Sockwell, Michael Bierut and Milton Glaser.



Marian Bantjes, Yuko Shimizu, Melinda Beck and Oded Ezer.



Bernard Williams and Art Chantry.

Surprise-wise Melinda Beck's July/Aug cover is my favorite. Design-wise my favorite is Yuko's June cover, I guess I'm a sucker for symmetry. Art direction and cover design by Alex Knowlton.

]]> Fri, 07 Dec 2012 18:22:54 EDT http://www.drawger.com/alexnabaum/index.php?section=articles&article_id=13376

This was for a book review panning "The Art of Fielding" in the Atlantic.



The reviewer thought it didn't live up to all of it's hype. The headline the editors really wanted was "A Swing and a Miss" so I had to include a basic batter swinging and missing.

They choose the one that went with the headline, but I really wanted to add a concept to it, so I thought it would be fun to spoof it's striking cover, designed by Keith Hayes at Little Brown.



In researching the cover I came across this blog on the process of designing this cover, which is was the most interesting part to me. Looks like Mr. Hayes explored alot of directions. I like what they went with, but maybe that's because I'm predisposed to bold and graphic hand done type.

And here's the piece in print.

]]> Tue, 29 May 2012 13:45:14 EDT http://www.drawger.com/alexnabaum/index.php?section=articles&article_id=13270

Catching up on some recent work. Here's a full page on the "World's Greenest Banks" for Bloomberg Markets, Lou Vega AD



For the New Republic's Inequality Issue. Story was actually about a rich trust fund girl and a poor boy and their rocky domestic relationship. Joe Heroun AD.



Now that the "Fair-Trade" label has value, corporations are trying use the label for profit, but not exactly the practice.... For Tuft's University. Margot Grisar AD.

Spread for Corporate Knight in Canada. Art directed by the brilliant illustrator Pete Ryan.

Another spread for Bloomberg Markets. I'd been trying to use this pie idea for a year and it finally found an article that fit.

"Rehabilitation" for the social cooperative Arcobaleno in Torino, Italy. Andrea Bozzo AD. If you've never seen his design work, check it out, he uses a ton of illustration. www.andreabozzo.it



Also for the New Republic, article was the "Economics of American Industry". And I was happy to find out last week it got selected for AI31, which surprized me because of the dry subject matter.



And lastly a much wetter topic. Big fish populations in the Indian Ocean are rebounding due to Somali pirates, scaring off fishing fleets. I think I got drool on my keyboard just listening to the art director talking about it... Full page for California magazine, Michiko Toki AD

]]> Wed, 18 Apr 2012 18:05:31 EDT http://www.drawger.com/alexnabaum/index.php?section=articles&article_id=13173

Any drawger readers out near Kansas City? I'll be giving a lecture on monday at the University of Kansas this monday evening (March 12th) and would love to meet you. The lecture takes place at 6pm at 110 Budig at KU in Lawerence. I hope to show alot of work and some new never seen work as well. Thanks to Barry Fitzgerald for the invite.

]]> Fri, 09 Mar 2012 00:52:12 EDT