February 2015 Archives

HARPER'S BAZAAR Étonne-Moi!

Cover of the Day: The New York Times Magazine

Cover of the Day : The Believer Jan/Feb 2015

From the SPD Archives: A Volunteer Army Comic, 2008

The Spring 2008 edition of SPD's Grids newsletter featured a comic strip review of that year's Publication Design judging, as seen by the volunteers. A Volunteer Army was written by Tim Leong (who is currently design director of Entertainment Weekly and Vice-President of SPD) and illustrated by Koren Shadmi.

The cartoon features a look at volunteer fashion, the inability of art directors to fill out entry forms, and a visit to the after-judging party. (Click on the image below to see it full-size).

This judging for Publication Design 50 takes place this weekend, February 6-8, at F.I.T. in New York City, led by co-chairs Florian Bachleda (creative director, Fast Company) and Fred Woodward (design director, GQ).


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Edel Rodriguez's "Controversial" Newsweek Cover Illustration

Last week's Newsweek cover, "What Silicon Valley Thinks of Women," stirred up a storm of controversy on social media, news sites, and TV. The cover, illustrated by Edel Rodriguez and art directed by Grace Lee, was attacked as "sexist," "ignorant," "obscene," and "offensive." (Mediate has a good rundown of the many Twitter attacks on the cover.) The Today Show website ran an article titled "Sexism still alive and well in Silicon Valley (and on Newsweek cover)." and Techcrunch followed with "What (Some) Silicon Valley Women Think of Newsweek." The Today Show show even ran an outraged segment on their morning show.

Edel Rodriguez defended the cover and his illustration in interviews with PBS and the Huffington Post. He explained it perfectly to The Huffington Post:

"I wanted to depict the harassment that women suffer. How the harassment can be unexpected and come out of nowhere. To show that frozen moment of shock, when a woman is just going about their life at work and something like this happens. I wanted to have the viewer see that moment when they look on a newsstand, and to be shocked themselves. Then be compelled to pick up the magazine and read the story behind the cover. These harassers have spent much of their lives behind a computer, seeing women as objects. I wanted them to be confronted with their stupidity as well. Hopefully by seeing it there, frozen in time, they could come to terms with what they are doing."

Flavorwire weighed in and said, "Stop Freaking Out About Newsweek's Silicon Valley Cover and Read the Story." Their writer commented that "the cover was an extremely accurate representation of the content" that "did its job."

To put this controversy into context, we've asked for thoughts from former Time magazine art director Arthur Hochstein, and have collected a gallery of eight other Newsweek covers illustrated by Edel over the past few years. Edel (who was a longtime cover art director for Time International) has collected some of his interviews on the subject on his Drawger page.

(Above): Newsweek, February 6, 2015. Illustration: Edel Rodriguez, art director: Grace Lee
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From the SPD Archives: Publication Design 38 Judges, 2003

With the judging for SPD Publication Design 50 coming up this weekend (February 6-8), it seems a good time to dig into the Archives for some vintage judges photos.

The Publication Design 38 judging took place in early 2003, at Parsons School of Design. The competition co-chairs (pictured above) were Debra Bishop, design director, Martha Stewart Kids, and Florian Bachleda, design director, Vibe.

Florian returns this year as the co-chair of Pub 50, along with Fred Woodward, design director, GQ. Other Pub 38 judges who are returning to judge Pub 50 include Jill Armus, Richard Baker, Debra Bishop, Michael Grossman, Melanie McLaughlin, Lisa Michurski, Robert Newman, and Robert Priest.

Over 40 judges at Pub 38 were photographed by Henry Leutwyler.
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From the SPD Archives: Volunteers at Publication Design 40 Judging, 2005

The judging for SPD's Publication Design 50 is scheduled for this coming weekend, February 6-8. So it seems a good time to take a look back at some photographs from past judgings.

One of the key components in the smooth running of each Publication Design judging has been the talented crew of volunteers. For many years that crew was organized and directed by Linda Root Pouder. Here is a gallery of photographs of the volunteers from Publication Design 40, in 2005. That was Linda's last year as volunteer coordinator, and also the last year that the judging was held in its traditional Parsons School of Design location, in downtown Manhattan.

The co-chairs of Publication Design 40 were Mary Shanahan, creative director, Town & Country, and Gael Towey, chief creative officer, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. Mitch Shostak, principal, Mitch Shostak Studios, was the chair of the non-newsstand category.

The photographs are by Craig Paul and Manuel Rodriguez.

Pictured in this collection of volunteers are current SPD President Brian Anstey (now design director of Instyle), and Vice-President Tim Leong (now design director of Entertainment Weekly). Also pictured is Nancy Stamatopoulos, who took over from Linda Root Pouder as judging volunteer in 2006. Nancy shares some of her memories of the 2005 event and explains some of the details of the volunteering and judging process.

(ABOVE, L-R): Thomas Alberty, Delia Desai, Tim Leong
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Joseph Farris, noted New Yorker cartoonist, dies at 90

Joe Farris, whose cartoons were published in The New Yorker for 57 years, passed away yesterday at his home in Connecticut. He was most known for his 70's-inspired drawing style, and he was a part of a circle of noted Connecticut cartoonists and artists who also contributed to The New Yorker.… MORE