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In Loving Memory: George Pitts

In Loving Memory: George Pitts

In Memoriam   03.09.17   posted by Robert Newman

George Pitts
Photography editor / photographer / artist / teacher
10 September 1951 - 4 March 2017

Please join family and friends in celebrating the life and legacy of George Pitts.

Sunday, April 2, 2017, 2pm

Alvin Johnson / J.M. Kaplan Hall
66 West 12th St., New York, NY

In Memoriam: The Photography Community Remembers George Pitts

Photograph by Clayton Cubitt


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George Pitts, R.I.P.

George Pitts, R.I.P.

In Memoriam   03.05.17   posted by Robert Newman

Very sad news: Legendary photo director George Pitts passed away early Saturday morning, March 4, after a prolonged illness. George was a photo editor, writer, poet, painter, photographer, teacher, and much more. As longtime photo director of Vibe, and later the revived Life magazine, George was an inspiration and mentor to countless photographers, photo editors, art directors and editors. His passing is a huge loss to our community.

George is survived by his wife, Jan Pitts. No information is available yet on a memorial service, but we'll have an update for SPD members soon.

For more on George's legacy at Vibe magazine, see this remembrance and collection of Vibe covers.

Time.com has a collection of remembrances of George by editors, art directors, and photographers:

In Memoriam: The Photography Community Remembers George Pitts

Photograph by Clayton Cubitt

Ann Kwong, 1957 - 2015

Ann Kwong, 1957 - 2015

In Memoriam   01.22.15   posted by The Editors

Very sad news in the publishing community.  Ann Kwong passed away on January 17 of cancer.  Ann was an important part of the New York design and magazine world for thirty years.  
Ann started her career at design-innovative New York Woman magazine, which was owned by American Express Publishing, working under Fabien Baron in 1986.  There she hired photographers such as Mark Seliger, Frank Ockenfels, and Michael Thompson, at the very early stages of their careers.
When Fabien left, Ann become the Design Director of New York Woman until it was folded during the recession of 1992. Ann went on to work at Harper's Bazaar, Calvin Klein, Glamour, New Woman and landed at Cosmopolitan in 1998 where, for the next 15 years, she oversaw all of their editions and their transition to digital platforms. Ann was a mentor to many young designers and photo editors throughout her life. She is survived by her husband and two kids.


RIP Lou Reed, 1942 - 2013

RIP Lou Reed, 1942 - 2013

In Memoriam   11.09.13   posted by The Editors

There's been many tributes to Lou Reed after his passing on October 27th, but Italy's Rolling Stone has done one of our favorites as their inside cover ad.

Advertising Agency: DLV BBDO, Milan, Italy
Editor-in-Chief: Michele Lupi
RIP James Gandolfini, 1961-2013

RIP James Gandolfini, 1961-2013

In Memoriam   06.20.13   posted by Neil Jamieson

Sad news about the passing of James Gandolfini. The icon of American stage and screen died in Rome yesterday. 

The actor was best known for his role in The Sopranos as Tony Soprano, a troubled crime boss struggling to balance his family life and career in the Mafia.

Thanks to Noma Bar for this great image.
 
Nazan Akyavas, 1959-2013

Nazan Akyavas, 1959-2013

In Memoriam   04.09.13   posted by Gretchen Smelter

Nazan Akyavas passed away last week--far too early in life--from breast cancer. A dear friend and colleague, Naz (as most knew her) was not only a stellar designer and art director, she was also a talented fine artist like her father, the famous turkish painter Erol Akyavas.
 
I was lucky enough to have Naz on my design team at Brides, where she worked with me for over 4 years as Design Director. Naz breezed through our industry leaving her creative mark on magazines like Breathe, Teen People, Golf & Travel, Working Woman, SmartMoney, Us Magazine--and many others as a freelance designer.

She was an amazing spirit and an incredibly talented designer who will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved her. I am so blessed to have called her a friend.

LA Times Magazine Shutting Down

LA Times Magazine Shutting Down

In Memoriam   05.16.12   posted by Patrick Mitchell

Nearly three years after the LA Times Magazine was removed from control of the business end of the paper and put back under the Los Angeles Times' editorial umbrella, the monthly pub is being shut down. FishbowlLA spoke with the mag's editor, Nancie Clare, who told us that the upcoming June issue will be the magazine's last.

"I think it's fair to say there were revenue issues," she tells us. "It's still a tough economic climate, especially for print. I don't think they got rid of us because they don't like us."

The mag's staff of seven will be let go. There's no indication if positions will be available for them in other sections of the paper.
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Hillman Curtis, 1961-2012

Hillman Curtis, 1961-2012

In Memoriam   04.19.12   posted by Patrick Mitchell

The design community has suffered another tragic loss with the passing of Hillman Curtis, who died yesterday after what an announcement on his website called "a long and fiercely-fought battle with colon cancer."

This sad news comes on the heels of the untimely passing of noted magazine designers Amid Capeci and Joe Kimberling, who both lost their own battles with cancer earlier this year.

As a filmmaker Curtis first gained notoriety with his online "Artist Series" -- short documentaries on designers/artists including Milton Glaser, Paula Scher, David Carson, Stefan Sagmeister, James Victore, Pentagram Design Group, and the filmmaker Mark Romanek. He also has made several short dramatic films and has filmed national commercials for IBM and Blackberry, as well as commercial web content for Sprint, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, SVA, Rolling Stone and many others.
Joe Kimberling, 1966-2012

Joe Kimberling, 1966-2012

In Memoriam   03.30.12   posted by Robert Newman

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
Amid Capeci, 1961-2012

Amid Capeci, 1961-2012

In Memoriam   02.29.12   posted by Josh Klenert

We received the very sad news today that one of our own, art director Amid Capeci passed away. He was an award-winning art director for Rolling Stone, Newsweek, and Entertainment Weekly, and SPD Board member who worked with so many SPD members. He will be missed.

Jeff Giles shared this letter from Amid's wife, Amy via the Newsweek alumni Facebook page this morning: 


See some of Amid's covers after the jump...
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Cover of the Day: Special Edition

Cover of the Day: Special Edition

In Memoriam   02.12.12   posted by The Editors


Thumbnail image for COTD_Icon2.jpg
Welcome to SPD's Cover of the Day, Classic Edition, a portfolio of brilliant magazine and newspaper cover design from the archives.

Seventeen, November 1981
Creative Director: Unknown
Photographer: Unknown

  • From the Seventeen website: Who's that girl giggling into her ice cream cone? It's Whitney Houston at age 18! Did you know that Whitney was a model before she was one of the greatest R&B singers of this generation?
NY Times Liz Taylor Obit Written by Dead Writer

NY Times Liz Taylor Obit Written by Dead Writer

In Memoriam   03.23.11   posted by Josh Klenert

An oddity floating around the internets today: The obituary run by the New York Times today for Liz Taylor was written by Mel Gussow. The catch? The obit has been on the shelf so long, that Gussow had in fact himself died 6 years ago. 

On a related note: coverjunkie has a nice collection of 71 Liz Taylor covers.
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Jay Colton: A Remembrance

Jay Colton: A Remembrance

In Memoriam   09.26.10   posted by Robert Newman

Longtime Time magazine photo editor Jay Colton passed away suddenly last weekend at the age of 57. Jay had a remarkable history as a magazine maker, and was very well-known and respected in the industry. We asked his friend and former co-worker Arthur Hochstein to write a remembrance.

Photograph of Jay Colton by William Coupon.
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Photojournalist Charles Moore, R.I.P.

Photojournalist Charles Moore, R.I.P.

In Memoriam   03.18.10   posted by Robert Newman

The New York Times carries the obituary of noted 50s and 60s photojournalist Charles Moore, who passed away last week at the age of 79. A native Alabaman, Moore was a frequent photographer of the civil rights movement in the South, and his pictures in Life magazine were among the most influential and iconic of that era. His most famous photographs include Martin Luther King Jr. being arrested, and the fire hose and dog attacks on civil rights marchers in Birmingham in 1963. Moore's 2002 book, Powerful Days: The Civil Rights Photography of Charles Moore, is an incredible collection of the best of those images. There's also a slideshow of his work on the NPR website.

The photograph above shows civil rights demonstrators being attacked with fire hoses, Birmingham, Alabama, 1963.

See a selection of Charles Moore's best-known photographs after the jump.
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Happy Birthday Elvis!

Happy Birthday Elvis!

In Memoriam   01.08.10   posted by Robert Newman

Friday, January 8th is the 75th birthday of The King, Elvis Presley. Elvis appeared on countless magazine covers while alive, and probably even more after he died in 1977. Interestingly enough, we've been unable to turn up a cover of Time or Life that Elvis appeared on while still living, although he did make it on the cover of People a few years before his death. 

The cover above is the January 1986 issue of Jamming!, from the UK. The cover illustration is an excerpt by Gary Panter, from the cover of his Invasion of the Elvis Zombies book. We've got a few more Elvis cover goodies for you on the next page. 

Visit this site to see a collection of 20 of the greatest Elvis covers, from 1958-2008.

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"One Beautiful Picture After Another"

In Memoriam   10.29.09   posted by The Editors

At the end of an already tough month, word came yesterday that photographer Roy DeCarava had died. Trained originally as a painter, DeCarava was the first African-American to win a Guggenheim Fellowship, and elevated photography of primarily African-American subjects to more than just a documentary endeavor--the power and intimate emotion of his images is undeniable. For his work in magazines, Lester Sloan wrote, "DeCarava's approach to photojournalism, and his choice of subjects, set him apart at a time when the image-makers were encroaching on the turf of the writers." The Times' Lens Blog has a slideshow of a small part of his work, and copies of his monograph "Roy DeCarava: A Retrospective" and his collaboration with Langston Hughes, "The Sweet Flypaper of Life" are must-get.
Goodbye, Mr. Penn

Goodbye, Mr. Penn

In Memoriam   10.12.09   posted by Greg Pond

By GREG POND

How do you say goodbye to someone you never met?

I never knew Irving Penn. But I'm going to miss him. He was a constant, important presence in my life for many years.

I've looked for Irving Penn's pictures in American Vogue every month for as long as I can remember. I looked for the man himself on the street in New York too. A photographer friend once told me a story about Mr. Penn, a myth no doubt, one of those artist-as-God stories, related in a hushed voice, but I liked the story, so I chose to believe it. … MORE
Lou Dorfsman: Remembering the Tiffany Network's Elegant Eye

Lou Dorfsman: Remembering the Tiffany Network's Elegant Eye

In Memoriam   12.02.08   posted by Amid Capeci

Before it was called branding and contracted out to design firms that specialize in imagemaking on a global scale, there was the very cool job of corporate art director. Lou Dorfsman designed every aspect of CBS's image, from the sign system for the Eero Saarinen "Black Rock" headquarters to the ashtrays that sat on his set for Walter Cronkite. Having access to the deep pockets of CBS chairman William Paley and a partner in corporate style with Frank Stanton, president of CBS, Dorfsman created an elegant visual image for the network that was recognized for 40 years both in the home and in the boardroom.   … MORE
Tribute to Barbara Fierros

Tribute to Barbara Fierros

In Memoriam   08.19.08   posted by Casey Tierney

With great sadness we honor prop stylist Barbara Fierros who passed away on August 1st after losing her near 2-year battle with cancer. Many in the magazine and advertising communities are grieving the loss as so many of us were honored recipients of her great talent and beautiful spirit. … MORE

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