Art director Nai Lee Lum and the Fortune international edition covers

Art director Nai Lee Lum and the Fortune international edition covers

Nai Lee Lum has been an art director at Fortune magazine for over 27 years, longer than many SPD members have been alive. She has been an integral part of the art department there, most notably for her work as international art director for the magazine's Europe and Asia editions. The covers of those editions have featured work from an incredibly talented array of illustrators. In addition, Nai has worked in Hong Kong consulting with Fortune China, and has also consulted on the many Fortune editions from Turkey, Korea, and almost a dozen other countries. We've got a great selection here of some of the best of Nai's work at Fortune over the past decade. Nai will be leaving Fortune in December 2009 as part of the latest round of layoffs and packages from the company, and SPD salutes her and her talent. She tells us that she's hoping to continue her relationship with some of the overseas Fortune editions, so we look forward to more covers in the near future. For a full gallery of over 25 international Fortune covers, visit here. You can visit Nai Lee Lum's website here.


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August 2008 Global 500 issue, illustration by Catalogtree.



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Clockwise from top left: Illustration by David McLimans, July 2006; photograph by Dan Winters, August 2007; illustration by Jon Valk, March 2007; illustration by David Cowles, March 2004.



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Clockwise from top left: Illustration by Marc Burkhardt, February 2006; illustration by Peter Stemmler, February 2004; illustration by Robert Risko, February 7, 2005, illustration by Lara Tomlin, January 2007. The February 7, 2005 issue was art directed by Renee Klein.


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September 2008, illustration by Andrea Ventura.


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Clockwise from top left: May 1997, photograph by Brian Hagiwara; illustration by Guy Billout, October 1999; June 2007, illustration by Marcos Chin; March 2009, illustration by Josh Cochran.






  • Jeremy LaCroix

    Thanks Bob this is some really great work I would have never seen.

    I'm wondering why the covers are so illustration heavy.

    Is it a budget issue or a societal / audience preference?

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