Jock Magazine, 1969-70

Jock was a New York City-oriented sports magazine that published eight issues in 1969 and 1970 before folding. The magazine was run and edited by Mickey Herskowitz. I haven’t been able to track down the name of Jock‘s art director, but from the little I’ve seen of inside pages, the magazine featured bold photographs and […]

Black History Magazine: Opportunity

Opportunity, A Journal of Negro Life, was published by the National Urban League from 1923-49. The first editor was Charles Johnson. In addition to essays on social and political issues, Opportunity had a strong emphasis on photography, art, and poetry. Early covers included artwork by Aaron Douglas, Winold Reiss, Gwendolyn Bennett, and Richard Bruce Nugent, […]

Black History Magazines: South Africa’s Drum, 1950s

Drum was a South African weekly magazine founded in 1951. Initially called The African Drum, in the 1950s and 60s it was an important chronicler of black political and social life, and Drum‘s reporters covered many of the major anti-apartheid protests and events. They later branched out to publish East and West African editions. The […]

Black History Magazines: Jet, 1960s

Jet magazine was founded in 1951 by John Johnson of the Johnson Publishing Company. Published in Chicago, its original tagline was “The Weekly Negro News Magazine.” It printed in a small, digest-sized format with covers that featured black and white photographs and a single spot color. Art director Herbert Temple made the most of the […]

Black History Magazines: Jet, 1950s

Jet magazine was founded in 1951 by John Johnson of the Johnson Publishing Company. Published in Chicago, its tagline was “The Weekly Negro News Magazine.” It printed in a small, digest-sized format with covers that featured black and white photographs and a single spot color. Art director Herbert Temple made the most of the limited […]

Paul Wearing’s Illustrations for Stanford Medicine Magazine

Paul Wearing is a UK-based illustrator who creates brilliant, graphic imagery with a mid-century vintage flavor. His work is bright, bold, smart and very stylish. Working with art director Dennis McLeod and design director David Armario, Wearing created a series of memorable illustrations for the Fall 2016 issue of Stanford Medicine magazine. Here’s a selection […]

Covers of The Village Voice Art Directed by Andrew Horton

Over the past year, creative director Andrew Horton has been directing the visual rebirth of The Village Voice, New York City’s dynamic (and legendary) altweekly newspaper. In addition to giving the insides a complete makeover, Horton brought in a brilliant and eclectic batch of illustrators who continued and expanded the paper’s graphic legacy. Under Horton’s […]

Creating the Most Compelling Cover Concepts

Greg Dool of Foliomag.com interviewed me and Matt Strelecki, creative director at Meredith Agrimedia, about “what goes into covers that build audience relationships and move brands forward.” The resulting story, Creating the Most Compelling Cover Concepts, has a good list of tips for magazine makers and designers who are interested in improving their overall cover […]

Worth Magazine, Late 1990s – Art Direction by Phil Bratter

The late 1990s were a fertile time for magazine design, especially in the business and financial sector. One of the most vibrant 90s magazines was Worth, which featured a stellar list of art directors, including Ina Saltz, Phil Bratter, Deanna Lowe, and Dirk Barnett, among others, plus super duper photo editors Marianne Butler and Sabine […]