Grids: November 2014 Archives

OH NO! Who's Taken Our Car?

SPD GUEST EDITOR 11.29.14 posted by Robert Newman

[A note from the SPD Grids Editors: This is the fourth in our ongoing series of Guest Editors on the Society of Publication Designers website. Andy Cowles is a creative director (Mademoiselle, Rolling Stone) and media consultant with an active blog and social media presence. His writings appear regularly in a variety of venues, and he's been a prominent voice in articulating the current state and future direction of magazine making. Andy will be driving the SPD car all this week, providing his tasty take on magazine design, art directors, content creation, reader engagement, and much more. But be careful! He tends to drive on the wrong side of the road... Many thanks to Andy for his hard work and generous contribution to the SPD site all this week!]

By Andy Cowles
andycowles.com

My name is Andy Cowles, I'm an independent content consultant based in London. Currently consultant creative director for Ink Global; previous full time roles include Editorial Development Director for Time Inc. UK, Creative Director of Mademoiselle for Condé Nast, and Art Director of Rolling Stone for Jann Wenner.

Thanks SPD, for giving me the keys to the blog for the next five days. I intend to drive it like I stole it...

(Image courtesy of Braunstonetown Parish Council).

Cover of the Day: Walter Magazine November 2014

Cover of the Day 11.25.14 posted by The Editors

Welcome to SPD's Cover of the Day, a portfolio of brilliant magazine and newspaper covers from around the world.

Walter Magazine November 2014

Art Director: Jesma Reynolds

Illustration: Peter Max

Want to submit your cover to be considered for our Cover of the Day? Send us a jpeg of your cover with credit info to SPDsubmissions@gmail.com

From the SPD Archives: Gold Medal Winners, SPD Gala 25, 1990

SPD 50 11.25.14 posted by Robert Newman

Here are six stellar art directors displaying their gold medals, awarded at the SPD Gala 25 on May 4, 1990. They're pictured in the New York Public Library on 42nd Street, just before the Gala began. Pictured, left to right: Diana LaGuardia, art director, Conde Nast Traveler (and President of SPD); Tom Bentkowski, design director, Life; Seymour Chwast, Push Pin; Rip Georges, former art director, Esquire; Steven Hoffman, creative director, Sports Illustrated; and Fred Woodward, art director, Rolling Stone.

The 25th anniversary SPD Gala was co-chaired by Walter Bernard, principal of WBMG, and Phyllis Richmond Cox, the art director of Bride's. Milton Glaser was the MC of the event. Both Tom Bentkowski and Fred Woodward were on the SPD Board of Directors at this time, and both would later become SPD Presidents.

This photograph was taken by Martha Holmes, who was a photographer for Life for 40 years. Life.com has a remarkable collection of photographs by Holmes.

To accompany this photograph we have a remembrance from Steven Hoffman, and a wonderful essay by Tom Bentkowski.

STEVEN HOFFMAN: This picture is a treasure to me. Surrounded by idols, friends and mentors. At times, the same people were two or all three of those things all at once.

It is clearly from a time when we all dressed formally (undertaker mode) at the New York Public Library. They actually might not have let you in if you were not 'properly attired.' Can't swear to that, but I wasn't about to take a chance.

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11.25.14 posted by The Editors

Cover of the Day: Glamour December 2014

Cover of the Day 11.24.14 posted by The Editors

Welcome to SPD's Cover of the Day, a portfolio of brilliant magazine and newspaper covers from around the world.

Glamour December 2014

Creative Director: Paul Ritter

Photographer: Tom Munro

Fashion Editor: Laura Ferrara

Fashion Photo Editor: Ashley Taliento

Want to submit your cover to be considered for our Cover of the Day? Send us a jpeg of your cover with credit info to SPDsubmissions@gmail.com

Revamping a popular UK newspaper

Redesigns 11.21.14 posted by The Editors

Our man in London Steven Gregor of Gym Class Magazine is back and inspiring us today with the work of Chris Clarke, The Guardian's Deputy Creative Director.

The design of British newspaper The Guardian is a fave for many editorial designers.

And it's with good reason. Since it's 2005 redesign by Mark Porter, the paper has been at the forefront of modern, progressive and globally significant news publishing.

Read more of Steven's chat with Chris about the newspaper's recent revamp and future plans after the jump.

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Cover of the Day: Nylon November 2014

Cover of the Day 11.21.14 posted by The Editors

Welcome to SPD's Cover of the Day, a portfolio of brilliant magazine and newspaper covers from around the world.

Nylon November 2014

Creative Director: Renee Rupcich
Art Director: Haley Stark

Director of Photography: Beth Garrabrant

Photographer: Felisha Tolentino

Want to submit your cover to be considered for our Cover of the Day? Send us a jpeg of your cover with credit info to SPDsubmissions@gmail.com

From the SPD Archives: Photo Portraits from the Mag2000 Conference, 1996

SPD 50 11.20.14 posted by Robert Newman

For several years in the mid-1990s, Steven Freeman was a ubiquitous presence at SPD events, photographing judgings, conferences, and other activities. His portraits of publication design judges appeared in a number of SPD annuals, as well as the Grids newsletter (back when the SPD newsletter was printed and mailed to members!). One of the highlights of Steven's work was when he photographed participants at SPD's Mag2000 conference in Monterey, California, in early April 1996.

Organized by co-chairs Tom Bentkowski, design director of Life, and Roger Black of Roger Black, Inc., Mag2000 was an historic gathering of close to 300 art directors, designers, editors, and industry professionals. They gathered to hear an all-star collection of presentations from the likes of James Burke, Henry Wolf, Sam Antupit, Martha Stewart, Brendan Gill, Nigel Holmes, and an array of art directors including Gary Koepke, Fred Woodward, Will Hopkins, Mary K. Baumann, David Carson, and many more.

Mag2000 was an amazing gathering of talent. Roger Black said "This is the first conference I've ever been to where any one of the illustrious speakers at the podium could easily switch places with almost anyone in the audience."

Steven Freeman spent several days photographing participants in an improvised studio. The results include sparkling portraits of the cream of magazine art directors, circa 1996, including Roger Black, Fred Woodward, Janet Froelich, Ina Saltz, Diana LaGuardia, David Carson, Michael Grossman, Walter Bernard, and many more, plus a photo of Martha Stewart.

(Pictured above): Richard Baker, art director, Us.

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Cover Of the Day: WIRED, December 2014

Cover of the Day 11.19.14 posted by The Editors

coverofthedayicon-thumb-55x78-19105-thumb-53x75-19107-thumb-50x70-19108-1.jpg

Welcome to SPD's Cover of the Day, a portfolio of brilliant magazine and newspaper covers from around the world.

WIRED December, 2014

Creative Director: Billy Sorrentino
Illustrator: Mario Hugo

Editor in Chief: Scott Dadich

Want to submit your cover to be considered for our Cover of the Day? Send us a jpeg of your cover with credit info to SPDsubmissions@gmail.com

SPD's 50th Anniversary Poster Series

50 11.18.14 posted by The Editors

In honor of SPD's 50th Anniversary, we've asked 5 of the industry's top talents to design posters around the theme of 50. Proceeds from the sale of these prints will benefit the society's educational outreach and programming initiatives for our members and our student scholarship fund.

Purchase these 24x36 inch limited edition prints (along with other SPD

annuals and merchandise) through our SPD store:

shop-spd.org

We're excited to present the first two of our posters in the series.

By Fred Woodward and Zohar Lazar (click for larger view)

By David Moretti (click for larger view)

We would like to thank Circle Press for their generous donation of printing and Appleton Coated for their paper donation

David Moretti named Deputy Creative Director of WIRED US

11.18.14 posted by The Editors

Creative director Billy Sorrentino today announced that David Moretti will join WIRED (US) in January as deputy creative director. In this role Mr. Moretti will be integral in developing the design language, identity, and vision of WIRED.

"David is one of the finest creatives working today," said Mr. Sorrentino. "He knows WIRED's DNA intimately and I'm delighted to add him to my incredible San Francisco team.

Mr. Moretti was creative director of WIRED Italia from its launch in 2009. His ties to WIRED US run deep: before taking the Italia job he embedded for several weeks in San Francisco. He and his Milan-based team went on to win numerous design awards, including prizes from the Society of Publication Designers, the Type Directors Club, and the Art Directors Club. Prior to joining WIRED, Mr. Moretti held senior design roles at several top Italian magazines, including creative director of Rolling Stone Italia.

David will be speaking TOMORROW at the Helen Mills Theatre, 139 West 26th Street at 6:30 PM. Buy your tickets NOW, they are selling fast, see a historic moment as he showcases his work for WIRED Italia and speaks about his new role at WIRED US!

buy your tickets after the jump

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From the SPD Archives: Publication Design Annual #2, 1976

SPD 50 11.18.14 posted by Robert Newman

In 1976 the Society of Publication Designers published its second annual book, collecting the best publication design from the 11th Annual Publication Design Awards. Society of Publication Designers '76 was a paperback book, printed entirely in black and white (except the cover). The book was designed with a bicentennial cover theme by Murray Belsky, with cover art by Cal Sacks.

SPD published two paperback design annuals before starting its series of hardbound editions with Publication Design 12 in 1978. The President of SPD in 1976 was Robert N. Essman, art director of People Weekly (as People magazine was referred to at the time). Winning entries from the competition were exhibited on May 20, 1976 at the Master Eagle Gallery in NYC.

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Related Stories:
From the SPD Archives: The 15th Call for Entries, 1979
From the SPD Archives: Publication Design 12, 1978
From the SPD Archives: Publication Design 39 Cover, 2004
From the SPD Archives: Society of Publication Designers News, 1966
From the SPD Archives: Call for Entries Poster, 1972
From the SPD Archives: The First Issue of Grids, 1982
From the SPD Archives: Publication Design News, 1975
From the SPD Archives: Call for Entries 20, 1984
From the SPD Archives: 1973 Call for Entries Designed by Massimo Vignelli

Announcing SPD's Pub 50 Competition!

50 11.17.14 posted by The Editors

SPD, 50 YEARS YOUNG!

As SPD enters its golden anniversary, we are more committed than ever to putting the focus of the competition on the work that has been produced, with a revamped approach that is designed to create a more level playing field for all participants. We believe that the new rules and structure of the SPD publication design competition, developed by our team of competition chairs and the SPD executive board, will help recognize all the outstanding work being done across numerous print and digital genres.

PUB 50 CHAIRS

PUB 50 is chaired by FRED WOODWARD (Design Director, GQ) and FLORIAN BACHLEDA (Creative Director, Fast Company). The Magazine of the Year competition is chaired by ROBERT NEWMAN (Creative Director, @Newmanology). The Brand of the Year competition is chaired by JANET FROELICH (Design Consultant). The Digital competition is chaired by MELANIE MCLAUGHLIN (Creative Director, Collide Brand Consultants) and LISA MICHURSKI (VP of Strategy & Experience, Form Science).

WHAT'S NEW THIS YEAR

A big part of the competition is being re-structured so it focuses on types of publications, instead of types of individual stories. There are now 10 different genre classifications of publications, and every publication needs to enter in only one of those 10 genres. Within each of those 10 genres are the same 13 identical categories.

THE SUPER 8

This is the Battle Royale! While the print work you enter in your genre will be judged against others in that genre, the Super 8 categories allow everyone to compete against everyone else, regardless of genre.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Attention Students and Teachers: We also host a student competition that awards winners with cash prizes and internships! Click here for the official rules for the 2015 Student Design Competition.

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Cover of the Day: Bloomberg Businessweek: November 17, 2014

11.17.14 posted by The Editors

Welcome to SPD's Cover of the Day, a portfolio of brilliant magazine and newspaper covers from around the world.

Bloomberg Business Week November 17, 2014

Creative Director: Robert Vargas
Deputy Creative Director: Tracy Ma

Director of Photography: Clinton Cargill

Want to submit your cover to be considered for our Cover of the Day? Send us a jpeg of your cover with credit info to SPDsubmissions@gmail.com

GAME CHANGER: David Moretti, WIRED Italia

Speaker Series 11.14.14 posted by The Editors

David Moretti has been the Creative Director of WIRED Italia since it's launch in 2009. Using the U.S edition as a starting point, David has developed his own visual identity and his award-winning print and iPad designs have had a huge influence on many editorial and information graphics designers.

SPD is proud to host David on November 19 at the Helen Mills Theatre. He will show his work and talk about his collaboration with noted photographers, illustrators and information graphics designers to create kickass editorial design.

Don't forget to get your tickets now for what promises to be a sold out event! Click here

Wednesday November 19th

The Helen Mills Theatre

137 West 26th Street

Doors open at 6:30 pm for seating.  

Presentation begins at 7:00pm

Here is a peek at some of the incredible work that the team at WIRED Italia is creating...

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Cover of the Day: Better Homes and Gardens November 2014

Cover of the Day 11.14.14 posted by The Editors

Welcome to SPD's Cover of the Day, a portfolio of brilliant magazine and newspaper covers from around the world.

Better Homes and Gardens November 2014

Creative Director: Michael D. Belknap

Senior Design Director: Shelley Caldwell

Photography Coordinator: Holly Pruett

Photographer: Andy Lyons

Food Stylist: Greg Luna

Prop Stylist: Sue Mitchell

Want to submit your cover to be considered for our Cover of the Day? Send us a jpeg of your cover with credit info to SPDsubmissions@gmail.com

Presidents: A Lifelong Obsession Has Blossomed into a Long-Term Dream Project

SPD GUEST EDITOR 11.14.14 posted by Robert Newman

By Steve Brodner

Presidents is a book due out in 2018 from Nation Books on administrations that have been key to understanding the America we know. History can be thought of as a huge animal connected to the small tail we see as "news." To know the latter without a former is to know too little. So I have been reading and absorbing a good deal of history this year. These are some observations I have made so far, along with some early pieces done for the book. It is very important to mention: I am not a historian. This shouldn't, however, prevent one from treading carefully upon historical observation. But, of course, it is very helpful to have historians you can talk to. So that's what I am doing. And reading their work.

One thing I have discovered: these are all complicated people. No villain has not done something commendable. No great president is without his lapses.

WOODROW WILSON was, for example, a walking contradiction: a great liberal from the South, the epitome of the great Progressive movement, getting a head-spinning amount done in his first term.
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From the SPD Archives: 1973 Call for Entries Designed by Massimo Vignelli

SPD 50 11.13.14 posted by Robert Newman

"Editorial art directors are akin to conductors of orchestras" announced the SPD 1973 Magazine Design Awards Call for Entries poster/mailer, designed by Massimo Vignelli. Judges for the Publication Design 8 awards included Bea Feitler, design director of Ms., Neil Fujita, design director of Girl Talk (and noted book and LP cover designer), Arnold Gingrich, publisher of Esquire, Louis Silverstein, corporate art director of The New York Times, and more. A new category was introduced, "Solutions of Special Problems." Magazines were asked to submit competition entries in either "1 or 2 Colors" or "3 Colors or more" classifications. As with similar design pieces from this era, there's a credit for typography: Composing Room / Graphic Arts. Competition entry fees were $3 for members, $4 for non-members.

The Publication Design 8 awards were presented May 10, 1973 at the annual SPD Awards Dinner at Tavern on the Green in Central Park, New York City.

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Related Stories:
From the SPD Archives: The 15th Call for Entries, 1979
From the SPD Archives: Publication Design 12, 1978
From the SPD Archives: Publication Design 39 Cover, 2004
From the SPD Archives: Society of Publication Designers News, 1966
From the SPD Archives: Call for Entries Poster, 1972
From the SPD Archives: The First Issue of Grids, 1982
From the SPD Archives: Publication Design News, 1975
From the SPD Archives: Call for Entries 20, 1984

Considering the Nose: Seven Top Portrait Artists Contemplate that Face You Got

SPD GUEST EDITOR 11.13.14 posted by Robert Newman

By Steve Brodner

I took part in an experiment at Johns Hopkins University last spring where I lay in an MRI while drawing on a small pad. The researchers were trying to unlock the secrets of what happens in your brain when you draw a portrait. I have spent a lifetime drawing people, occasionally wondering about that same thing. Of course you don't have to know. It's like riding a bike. You just do it a lot and then you get better. But it is still very mysterious and I think I would be hard pressed to tell an interviewer exactly how or why I do it. So I decided to torture my friends with these questions instead. Edward Sorel, John Cuneo, Anita Kunz, Jason Seiler, Joe Ciardiello, Victor Juhasz and Burt Silverman were not only equal to the task but came up with far superior answers to my questions, which proves that people would know that artists are intellectuals if only they talked to them. Each one had fascinating things to say, which makes me look like a hell of an interviewer. My tough job was to make up these questions and then smile as this evolved into a wonderfully illuminating exchange by some of my favorite artists working today.

(Above: Illustration by Edward Sorel)

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What is your first conscious or unconscious act in sizing up a face as you begin a project?

Edward Sorel: Since we work from photos rather than from the person, the first question is, "Does this photo look like the person?" If it doesn't, you either need another photo or, if you like the expression, get other pictures from other angles--profiles are helpful. Then you exaggerate the feature that is at variance with the ancient Greek ideal of the face.

Burt Silverman:  I simply think about setting up a light and dark structure to best make the face a sculptural image and then to let the process of constructing it go forward. Inescapably that begins to inform the art of what I feel about that face or person...It's a coincidental process, each reinforcing the other.

Joe Ciardiello: Once I subdue the anxiety of whether I can pull this off, I immediately go to the web and search for as many decent quality pics of that person I can find (how did we ever survive before Google images?). Then it's a matter of studying the face and features...how close together are the eyes, what's the shape of the head, the size of the nose, etc....all with the hope that a somewhat interesting drawing can be made. Then comes much procrastination before actually putting pen to paper.

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Cover of the Day: Kolt Magazine (Switzerland) November 2014

Cover of the Day 11.12.14 posted by The Editors

Welcome to SPD's Cover of the Day, a portfolio of brilliant magazine and newspaper covers from around the world.

Kolt Magazine (Switzerland) November 2014

Design Director: Christoph Haiderer

Director of Photography: Yves Stuber

Photography: Sara Merz

Want to submit your cover to be considered for our Cover of the Day? Send us a jpeg of your cover with credit info to SPDsubmissions@gmail.com

Illustration as Authorship: When the Story Starts With You

SPD GUEST EDITOR 11.12.14 posted by Robert Newman

By Steve Brodner

My (40 year) freelance career has always been a combination of commissions coming from media and my own pitches for stories going out to them. Coming up with ideas and being lucky to find great designers to collaborate with has made my career more vivid and exciting. It also gives me levels of control I would never otherwise have. When ideas come (and I always have a few floating around) I am grateful for the open door at places I respect. Here is a sampling of projects I've written, drawn and sold over the years.

Note: Although these stories originated with me, they were all collaborations on a very intense level. My great thanks to all the creative directors, designers, writers and editors who sharpened, clarified and focused these projects. You have helped make my life in art and journalism possible.

(Pictured top): In 1984 I proposed my first story to a magazine. I wanted to travel through the Midwest and interview farmers who were being thrown off of their land by Reagan administration farm policies. It was a priority of the Farmers Home Management Agency to turn large parts of farmland over to multinational agribusinesses. I interviewed some 30 farmers for The Progressive. I dove deeply into the process of telling personal stories in words and pictures. This happened with the great support from Patrick J.B. Flynn, art director of The Progressive.

Over the years I have covered 10 national political conventions. All were stories proposed by me. One of these was of the 1988 Democratic Convention in Atlanta, for Esquire magazine, Rip Georges, art director. In this piece the delegates are listening to Jesse Jackson's stirring "Patchwork Quilt" speech. These people, many of them not actually seated in this arrangement, were composed to reflect the electricity in that hall. Documentary art, I feel, has license to alter a scene to better tell the truth.

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From the SPD Archives: A Video Tribute to Amid Capeci, 2014

Respect 11.11.14 posted by Robert Newman

One of the highlights of the recent SPD For the Love of...Entertainment Weekly event was the screening of a tribute video to late EW design director Amid Capeci. Amid blazed a trail of brilliant art direction at EW, Rolling Stone, Esquire, and other magazines, and when he passed in 2012 it was a major blow to the SPD and magazine making community. Thanks to the wonderful talents of producers Heather Haggerty and Daniel Schwachter, we have this heartfelt video, featuring many of Amid's colleagues, friends, and family members remembering his amazing life and career. (Special thanks to Time Inc. Studios for help in putting this video together.)
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POW! Which Artwork Landed the Strongest Punch Ever?

SPD GUEST EDITOR 11.11.14 posted by The Editors

By Steve Brodner

We asked some of America's most powerful artists which pieces got THEIR blood up the most.

In our choice of going light or strong with graphic commentary in media, quite often the pull is toward stepping lightly and letting the text carry the heavy artillery. Editors and advertisers often prefer the punch to be hidden in the text, leaving the page design, for the sake of keeping the mercantile party polite, to just hint at the force of the subject matter.

The artists below (Edel Rodriguez, Brian Stauffer, Frances Jetter, Mirko Ilic and Peter Kuper) remind us that there are times when the jugular is the preferred target. The gravity of a story can be brilliantly reflected in art that pulls out all stops. I have asked these artists, who are masters of the art of blending graphic beauty with topical awareness and moral conviction to join me in picking a few pieces by THEIR favorite artists who have given them some of their greatest inspiration. And they also selected one of their own pieces.

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2016 Election: The Clown Taxi and the Attack of the 50 Foot Woman

SPD GUEST EDITOR 11.10.14 posted by The Editors

By Steve Brodner
The 2014 mid-term elections bring the sudden and discomfiting realization that the 2016 presidential campaign is kicking off. And before we get ready to inaugurate Hillary, it would be good to think about both parties, who the leading players are, and what they may portend for the election and the country.

Drawing portraits and caricatures of politicians forces one to look especially hard the elements of the faces and allow them to fall into shapes that connect with what you know about the person. The result is a blending; the face becomes a shorthand symbol for the creature itself.

Here, somehow connecting with all that, is my take on the 2016 morning line and what these faces "mean" to me and portend for the long campaign to come..

 

Hillary Reception Zoom-thumb-550x682-21885.jpg

(Newsweek, 2009. Art director: Amid Capeci.)

HILLARY CLINTON is pretty easy to draw. Start with a round face. As she has gotten older those edges have rounded off, which is true both in her face and her public persona.

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Cover of the Day: M (France) November 2014

11.10.14 posted by The Editors

Welcome to SPD's Cover of the Day, a portfolio of brilliant magazine and newspaper covers from around the world.

M November 2014

Creative Director: Eric Pillault

Director of Photography: Lucy Conticello

Photographer: Richard Burbridge

Want to submit your cover to be considered for our Cover of the Day? Send us a jpeg of your cover with credit info to SPDsubmissions@gmail.com

This Week's SPD Guest Editor: Steve Brodner

SPD GUEST EDITOR 11.10.14 posted by The Editors

[A note from the SPD Grids Editors: This is the third in our ongoing series of Guest Editors. Steve Brodner is an illustrator, artist, journalist, teacher, and all-around graphic provocateur who has been responsible for some of the most memorable publication imagery of the past 30 years. His work has been collected in the book Freedom Fries: The Political Art of Steve Brodner, published by Fantagraphics. Steve will be sharing his work and selections from some of his favorite illustrators, along with some very smart graphic and political commentary during the coming week. Consider this a healthy antidote to last week's election results! Many thanks to Steve for his generous and enthusiastic contribution to the SPD site.]

By Steve Brodner
There is nothing wrong with your computer. It's just SPD taking temporary leave of its good common sense and giving the guest editor keys for the next week to me. I've been an artist/journalist in media since the president was an unpopular, brooding, dispirited, secretive bomber of people overseas. No, not him, I mean Nixon. Since then I've gone from drawing editorial cartoons for daily newspapers to rendering political and cultural stories for top magazines and websites.  

This journey has included many stories reported, written and illustrated on such topics as the Clinton impeachment, guns in Philadelphia and what it's like to climb Mount Fuji. I've also dabbled in video at great expense to The New Yorker, PBS and Slate. All the while I have been amazed and grateful at how a visual artist can arrange (through great luck and lots of sweat) to join the national conversation on the questions, great and small, of our time.

  
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An Evening with Wired Italia's David Moretti. Tickets on sale now!

Speaker Series 11.09.14 posted by The Editors

Wednesday November 19th

The Helen Mills Theatre

137 West 26th Street

Doors open at 6:30 pm for seating. Presentation begins at 7:00pm

get your tickets after the jump...

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From the SPD Archives: SPD Gala 41 Video, 2006

SPD 50 11.07.14 posted by Robert Newman

One of the highlights of the recent For the Love of....Entertainment Weekly evening sponsored by SPD on September 30 was the screening of a tribute video for the late EW design director Amid Capeci. The video included segments from the classic short film created by Capeci and Bruce Ramsay to kick off the SPD Gala 41 celebration on May 5, 2006.

That eight-minute film, The Big Idea, was directed by Josh Victor Rothstein. It follows the adventures of Publication Design 41 co-chairs Capeci and Ramsay as they struggle to find a theme for the upcoming Gala. At the time, Capeci was art director of Rolling Stone, and Ramsay was the Director of Covers for Newsweek. It features guest cameos from art directors Arem Duplessis, David Harris, Luke Hayman, and Ina Saltz, as well as photo editor turned Apprentice reality show star Jennifer Crisafulli.

Highlights of The Big Idea include visits to The New York Times and Vanity Fair offices, a typeface based on meat, Luke Hayman selling hot dogs in Central Park, and Ramsay riverdancing in SPD shorts.

Now you can see the entire classic video, The Big Idea, first screened at the SPD Gala 41 in 2006.

Read a review of SPD Gala 41 on Mediabistro by designer and blogger Sam Potts.
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Cover of the Day: Our State November 2014

Cover of the Day 11.05.14 posted by The Editors

Welcome to SPD's Cover of the Day, a portfolio of brilliant magazine and newspaper covers from around the world.

Our State magazine November 2014

Associate Art Director: Joseph Edwards

Editorial Designer: Jason Chenier

Photographer: Max Cooper

Want to submit your cover to be considered for our Cover of the Day? Send us a jpeg of your cover with credit info to SPDsubmissions@gmail.com

From the SPD Archives: Barbara Nessim, Illustrator

SPD 50 11.05.14 posted by Linda Rubes

Above: Rolling Stone, October 20, 1988

Illustration: Barbara Nessim; Art Director: Fred Woodward

One of the most important and memorable art shows this year (or any year, for that matter!) is Barbara Nessim: An Artful Life, currently on exhibit through January 11, 2015 at the Bard Graduate Center on the Upper West Side in Manhattan. This exhibit is essential viewing for SPD members and anyone interested in magazine design, illustration, painting, and brilliant visuals. One of the most influential illustrators and artists to come out of the 1960s, Nessim's An Artful Life shows her work as painter, computer artist, fashion designer, magazine illustrator, art director, teacher, public art creator, and more. The show is filled with bold, bright, powerful cover illustrations, large-scale computer artwork, mod 60s dress and shirt designs, ads for Levi's, videos, photos, and engaging imagery of all kinds.

In reviewing the show, the Huffington Post said of Nessim, that she "has been at the front lines of both illustration and feminism, crafting androgynous superstars who straddle the line between art and ad, masculine and feminine." For more on the show, see Steven Heller's review for The Atlantic, 50 Years of Reinventing Illustration.

Walking through the show is like viewing a cultural history of the past 50 years. Nessim has illustrated the covers of numerous major magazines, from Rolling Stone to Time to The New York Times Magazine. She was one of the first artists to embrace the computer as a creative tool. And the show is peppered with the celebrities who have surrounded Nessim's life, including Gloria Steinem (she and Nessim were roommates in the 60s), Milton Glaser, David Bowie record producer Tony Visconti, and many more. Nessim's influence on the visual world has been extensive, as an artist, illustrator, and designer and as the longtime chairperson of illustration at Parsons School. Do not miss this show!

After the jump there's more awesome illustrated cover art by Nessim, plus comments by her on creating covers and her beginnings as an illustrator.

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From the SPD Archives: Call for Entries 20, 1984

SPD 50 11.04.14 posted by Robert Newman

The SPD Call for Entries for Publication Design 20, published in late 1984, was designed by Louise Fili. It featured typography by Marvin Kommel Productions. The small illustration is described on the Call as a "reproduction of Karl Schulpig's personal trademark from his book A Treasury of German Trademarks." Chairman of the competition was Michael Valenti, art director of Science Digest. Fili is still very active as a designer and art director, creating book jackets, logos, food packaging, restaurants, and much more. Her latest book, published in September, is Grafica della Strada: The Signs of Italy.

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Related Stories:
From the SPD Archives: The 15th Call for Entries, 1979
From the SPD Archives: Publication Design 12, 1978
From the SPD Archives: Publication Design 39 Cover, 2004
From the SPD Archives: Society of Publication Designers News, 1966
From the SPD Archives: Call for Entries Poster, 1972
From the SPD Archives: The First Issue of Grids, 1982
From the SPD Archives: Publication Design News, 1975

Missed our EW speaker event? Watch it online now!

video 11.03.14 posted by The Editors

We have a new and exciting opportunity for our members and friends of SPD. You can now view select speaker series events online. All of our videos can be found HERE

SPD's 50th Anniversary Speaker Series kicked off with a panel discussion with the innovators from one of the industry's most-beloved publications, Entertainment Weekly.

An exploration behind the scenes of magazine making from its premiere issue to now. Featuring every design director from Entertainment Weekly's 25 years!

Panelist included:

Michael Grossman

Robert Newman

John Korpics

Geraldine Hessler

Brian Anstey

Kory Kennedy

Tim Leong

With a Special Tribute to Amid Capeci.

MEMBERS: View it free online HERE (you'll be prompted to login first)

NON-MEMBERS: Watch the video online below for $5 (with free preview!)