Carl Wiens - Power Grab

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Power Grab

posted:January 23, 2012

I received a call from Minh Uong at the New York Tiimes for this business section cover that ran in the weekend edition.
Private equity has been squeezing profits from various corporations. What are the repercussions? Marc J. Leder is the head of Sun Capital, the company that Mitt Romney founded. He is also the campaign manager of Mitt Romney's presidential run. If elected, who will get the squeeze? This feature article takes an in-depth look.
After considering the alternatives we decided on this image, of a large mecanical claw gouging the landscape.

I really enjoyed working on this image. Here is a detail of the background. I designed a number of factories in isometric form and developed the background to be interesting but not overpowering. I wanted the black excavator arm to stand out.

I worked on a number of sketches. Here are a couple of them. I liked both the concepts but the images here were a bit over the top.

I've been getting a lot of business-related assignments lately. Ecomomics may be the dismal science but that doesn't mean that the images need be that way. I also worked with Minh on this piece about emerging from the lingering after effects of a financial crisis.