Graphic Design by Jesse Marinoff Reyes

Here are four publication layouts featuring the magic design and artwork of Jesse Marinoff Reyes. The Rock & Roll Quarterly cover was created in the early 1990s when I was design director at The Village Voice. The issue’s main feature was about Mexican rock bands, and we came up with the idea to make the cover an homage to Mexican street posters. It was a pre-Photoshop era, or at least we had no idea how to use Photoshop. Jesse created the cover using his collection of wood type books and a xerox machine, plus a lot of hand work. To make the “split-fountain” color background we figured out a QuarkXpress hack that involved two text boxes and a gradation effect.

Typography and graphics: Jesse Marinoff Reyes, art director: Mark Michaelson, design director: Robert Newman, illustration: Owen Smith.

Typography and graphics: Jesse Marinoff Reyes, art director: Mark Michaelson, design director: Robert Newman, illustration: Steven Cerio.

A few years later when I was design director at Entertainment Weekly, we designed a special edition of the magazine to mark the passing of Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead. Mark Michaelson was the art director, and once again Jesse came in and worked around the clock to create brilliant, hand-hewed xerox typography and graphics.

Design and typography: Jesse Marinoff Reyes, photograph: Albert Watson, photo director: Greg Pond, design director: Robert Newman.

Golden Graham was a feature opener for Details magazine, designed circa 1998 when I was design director. Time has obscured the reason for the gold makeup on Heather Graham, but the story features brilliant photography by Albert Watson, and some Saul Bass-meets-Ben Shahn graphics and typography by Jesse, all created by hand and xerox. Over the years it’s gotten much easier to mimic and replicate vintage graphic design styles; I still marvel at these examples by Jesse, both for their master craftmanship and super creativity.

For more graphic brilliance and smart creative commentary, visit the Jesse Marinoff Reyes Design Facebook page.