When Texas Monthly art director TJ Tucker called last month to ask if I was available to illustrate the cover for their annual “Bumsteers” issue, I felt as though I had received an early Christmas gift. I’m a bit of an obsessive magazine fiend, and Texas Monthly has long been on my radar as one of the great regional magazines in the country from a design perspective. With a slew of all star art directors through recent years including D.J. Stout, Scott Dadich, and now T.J. Tucker, it was both intimidating and really exciting to get the gig. The Bumsteers edition is basically the Texas Monthly version of the Darwin awards – the “winners” being those who rode the horse over the cliff so to speak. T.J. presented an idea that I loved – basically hammering home Rick Perry’s signature moment in his campaign thus far, the “oops” debate.
The subject matter, venue and T.J.’s relaxed direction made this one of my favorite assignments of 2011. I was determined not to make this an “oops” moment.
