Very sad news: art director
Joe Kimberling passed away Thursday after a tough battle with cancer. Joe was the brilliantly talented AD of
Los Angeles magazine for much of the 00s. Before that he provided a huge amount of the sparkle in
Entertainment Weekly's design. Numerous memories and tributes are on view at
Joe's Facebook page. And the full extent of Joe's design talent is on display at
his website. Joe was an astonishing graphic design force, filled with ideas, originality, and an amazing ability to assign the most wonderful illustrations. On top of that, he was the nicest, sweetest person to work with, someone who spread joy in all directions.Michael Picon, who worked with Joe at
Entertainment Weekly, said it perfectly on the Facebook page: "You made every day so damn fun."
UPDATE: Los Angeles magazine has nice tribute, plus samples of Joe's work.
UPDATE 2: Illustrator Jody Hewgill has collected a set of illustrators' remembrances of working with Joe, plus a powerful selection of pieces that he assigned.
Photograph by Debra DiPaolo
