This was an on-the-fly project, where I had to cobble together a rough layout in three days, based on existing print-page styles from the paper. Each of the six pages is a self-contained summation of various types of news stories from 2016: Election, Markets, Corporate News, U.S. News, World News, and Life & Arts.
At The Wall Street Journal, I worked on a once-weekly section on Health & Wellness. The stories ran the gamut from hard-science pieces like differing absorption rates of drugs, to the health risks of being left-handed. Here area few samples, where I had to be knowledgeable of, and conversant in, a range of health and wellness issues.
Illustrator Jason Mecier works with found objects--mostly pills--to create portraits of people and things. He doesn't photoshop these things, he actually creates them mosaic-style and photographs them. I had him bookmarked for a LONG time, waiting for an opportunity to work with him. A story about varying reaction times to pills seemed like the right time. Was happy that I finally got to work with him.
How do you depict the words we use to describe pain? You have the words drawn; in this case, by one of the best illustrated-letter practitioners out there, London-based Linzie Hunter.
A fascinating story on the evolution of the human body, featuring Alan Witschonke’s beautiful line drawings to illustrate the various body parts discussed in the story
Thought a lone image of a left-hander 'writing' the story headline would be striking. I picked a so-called handwriting font, and applied a smear effect on it in photoshop, to make it seem like the wet ink is being smeared by the outside of the writer's palm.
These are some samples from style-page layouts for the Personal Journal section. Personal Journal was a three-times-weekly section that covered everything from Health and Wellness, Fitness, Digital, Style and Travel stories.
Worked with the reporter and an in-house illustrator, to show eight different collar styles (and one Harry Styles, of course). We decided that the muted, "Cooks-Illustrated" line style was the best way to depict the subtle collar differences.
A collage approach to show the history of the loafer, its place in the style-psyche, some contemporary variations, and some celebrity champions of this most American (and preppy) of shoes.
A mix of handout photos and small icons (drawn by an in-house illustrator) to impart some wisdom on how to comfortably wear suits in the summer.
Mix of handout photos, and a tree of shoes, shot in our in-house photo studio by our talented team of photographer and stylist.
More in-house styling and shooting, this for a story about expensive t-shirts.
These are pages from a weekly airline column for the Personal Journal section. Personal Journal was a three-times-weekly section that covered everything from Health and Wellness, Fitness, Digital, Style and Travel stories. The airline column was a graphics-rich weekly story, where I worked closely with either outside illustrators, an in-house infographics artist, or created the visuals myself.
Meant to look like one of those laminated, seat-back pocket, emergency survival guides, complete with bright colors, simple fonts, and faceless people. Collaborated with Canadian illustrator Jason Schneider.
Combined a handout photo of an air traffic control tower POV, with a reported infographic. Worked closely with reporter and infographics team.
Worked with the reporter and infographics team, using icons and an actual radar image of the time frame and flight route in question.
No one likes turbulence. This story, and graphic, explain some of the meteorologic and geographic scenarios that make it happen.
These are some samples pages from the Personal Journal section, where I worked with outside illustrators to create visually interesting entry points to the story. Personal Journal was a three-times-weekly section that covered everything from Health and Wellness, Fitness, Digital, Style and Travel stories. The eclectic nature of the section allowed for a wide range of illustration styles.
Tiny distractions, like playing with a clothes pin, are good for you. Who knew? Illustrator Alan Witschonke's simple and precise, Cooks-Illustrated style drawings worked well here. Delicate line drawings with just a hint of background color set off in a dotted-line grid.
For a story about arguing in front of your kids, a how-to guide. Worked with illustrator Kyle T. Webster on this, to depict the five different rules in a rough x-shape.
For a story about headaches, I wanted an illustrator with a a frenetic (dare I say, headache-inducing) style, so I signed on Mark Brewer and his drippy pen.
Tattoo aficionados are big fans of Mitch O'Connell's simple, retro cartoon style. So am I. A regular collaborator with me, the tone of this story seemed to fit Mitch's inimitable sensibilty.
These are some samples pages from the Personal Journal section, where I worked with in-house illustrators and data viz, on stories ranging from how Winter Olympians train (using their exclusive, personal workout data), to how to pick the best checkout line, to how to keep critters out of your home.
Story and and graphic about how the critters get in the house in the first place, and how to keep them out. Worked in close conjunction with our in-house illustrator, to make this layout work.
Insofar as there IS a science of checkout lines, our talented reporter and infographics team got to the bottom of it, explaining the best way for retail outlets to speed up their checkout lines.
Detailed infographic showing the rise in popularity (and decline in retail price) of lobster. Hand-painted by an in-house illustrator.
In the run-up to the Sochi Olympics, our reporter had a half dozen or so U.S. Olympians clock their workouts on a fitbit, so that we could then play with the exclusive data. The bars chart steps and calories burned, among other things.
Worked with an outside illustrator, to depict a backyard, and trouble spots for ticks. Details from the illustration reappear as small circular icons in the expository text below the main drawing. Used a font that looked the most like an annoying tick.
These are some samples pages from the Personal Journal section, where I worked with our incredibly talented in-house team of photo editors and photographers in our photo studio. The stories covered everything from packaging, to food, to clothing to book trends.
For a story about those classics you feel you should have read but haven't. Or worse, have tried but just couldn't get through. We brainstormed ideas, and this is the idea that stuck: cobwebs on a stack of classics.
Another crowd-sourced idea, think the headline says it all. Our photo team styled and shot a partial place setting, and we photoshopped in the phantom dishes and silverware.
Story about a well made and relatively inexpensive suit, from the Dutch clothier, Suitsupply. Our photo studio, with the guidance of the reporter, photographed the inset details of this hard-working Navy blue suit.
These are samples pages from Personal Journal section, where we sometimes had to use stock art, instead of a custom photo shoot or illustration. These types of stories were always a fun challenge, to come up with something visually pleasing, with visually-challenged art as a starting point.
What do you do when you've blown your illustration budget for the month, and you have to art a story? Stock photos! Here, I stylized them a bit, by adding duotone color in photoshop, to create a whole that was better than the sum of it's parts.
Again, when a visually-challenged story needs Big Art, we turned to stylized stock photos and fancy bullet-lists. This story tackled the pros and cons of going off/staying on one's meds.
And finally, a story about a contest that involves eating 52 Denny's Grand Slam breakfasts, is just begging to show 52 Grand Slams. Our photographer got one free breakfast out of it (not 52).
These are freelance or personal projects I worked on.
Front and back CD cover for singer-songwriter John Laprade.
Created this business card for a chef specializing in pan-Eastern European food.
Letterhead for a Ukrainian American nonprofit.
Business card for a Ukrainian American nonprofit.
Multi-use stamp (mailings, book plate) for a Ukrainian American nonprofit.
Personal project, designed a class-project fundraiser for my daughters kindergarten class.
Interior cookbook page for a fund-raiser for my daughter's kindergarten class.
