Scents for the Season!

Peter Horjus has created fantastic holiday icons for Glade! Peter created six images in total, which now appear on dozens of scented holiday products. You can check out the entire Glade Limited Edition Winter Collection here. Glade even turned Peter's designs into adorable cloth ornaments (below)! Peter's versatile designs, both commercial and editorial, have a place in every home.

CLICK HERE for Peter Horjus's portfolio.

CLICK HERE for Peter Horjus's portfolio.

Alison Seiffer's Coming to Dinner

This wonderful piece by Alison Seiffer accompanies an article in today's New York Times about the endangered art of dinner parties. Alison uses bold colors and vector design to convey how dinner parties--the classic arena for social networking--have become less popular in recent years.

CLICK HERE to read the entire article: "Guess Who Isn't Coming to Dinner"

CLICK HERE for Alison Seiffer's portfolio

In Case of Emergency, Call Sean McCabe

Sean McCabe created these two photo illustrations for "In Case of Emergency, Call Offspring," a Wall Street Journal article about a tech-savvy son who solves his mother's most vexing computer problems. Sean used old photos of a stereotypical mom from the 50's to depict the character's before and after scenarios. Now we know: in case of emergency, call Sean McCabe!


CLICK HERE for Sean McCabe's portfolio.



Child's play? The 2012 Presidential Election



Andy Ward has just completed a brilliant three-part series for KidsPost, a section of the Washington Post devoted to young readers. The articles provide a fun, accessible, and informative overview of the mechanics behind the 2012 presidential election.

 

Andy contributed images for cover articles about (1) the presidential debates, (2) campaign ads, and (3) voting. In each illustration, Andy depicts Barack Obama and Mitt Romney as thirteen year-olds... which we think may have been a bit generous.

CLICK HERE for Andy Ward's portfolio.

 

Initial sketches for 'debate' image

 

Andy's first illustration (top left) addresses the presidential debates. Andy drew Obama and Romney sitting in a classroom, cramming for their "really big test." Study materials surround the candidates, and each has written "Barack rules" or "Mitt is king" on the chalkboard in the background. In his initial sketches (above), Andy proposed several different layouts to express candidates' preparation for these debates.





The second illustration (left) likens campaign ads to children hurling petty insults on television. Of the three sketches Andy proposed (below), the "Romneybot vs. Obama Flakes" concept made the final cut. As Andy says, "Negative advertising with a generous coating of untruths and a frosted sprinkling of exaggerated facts... Delicious!"

Initial sketches for 'capaign ads' image

The final illustration addresses the voting process. Andy depicts Obama and Romney coloring in a United States map with blue and red paint. He thereby references both the experience of watching the election results unfold--each candidate claiming his won states, and newscasters declaring these states "blue" or "red"--and an interactive "color-as-you-go"section of KidsPost that encourages young readers to color in a map as they follow the election.

 

No matter which candidate wins the 2012 presidential election, Andy Ward deserves the title of Illustrator Extraordinaire!

 

CLICK HERE for Andy Ward's portfolio.

A Dueling Politician with Dueling Legacies

Amidst the recent political debates we've been watching, we're reminded of a politician whose very contribution to American history remains under debate.  

The talented Daniel Baxter was recently commissioned by Marianne Nelson, the art director for Princeton Alumni Weekly, to create imagery for an article about Aaron Burr. Baxter decided to create a mirror-image portrait of Aaron Burr to convey his dueling legacies: as a treasonous lunatic and as a rational modernist. Daniel's creative thinking developed through several sketches, which we are happy to share with you below!

For the American history lovers out there: Aaron Burr was vice president to Thomas Jefferson between 1801 and 1805. He lives in infamy for killing Alexander Hamilton in a duel--an event that several artists have riffed on in recent years. He was also put on trial for conspiring to invade and take over Mexico. But Burr had redemptive qualities as well: he was a feminist, a rationalist, and a supporter of manumission (the act of a slave owner freeing his slaves); he also perfected many campaign techniques which are utilized in modern politics. So, as our artist Daniel Baxter illustrates, should we really continue to demonize this complicated man?

 

CLICK HERE for Daniel Baxter's portfolio.

 

Final layout for "American Lucifer" article

Sketch #1: Mirror images of Aaron Burr, portrayed as devil and angel

Sketch #2" Straight-on portrait of Burr with relevant elements of his story

Sketch #3: Overlapping contradictory portraits of Burr

Sketch #4: Burr looking in a mirror as devil, reflecting as angel

 

CLICK HERE for Daniel Baxter's portfolio.

Going the Distance with Nigel Buchanan

Nigel Buchanan has just published a fantastic series of illustrations in Runner's World! If you're looking for an artist who can go the distance, look no further. Nigel stuns with this marathon three-page spread.

 

Nigel always begins an illustration by drawing on tracing paper. But he only draws images the size of a postage stamp or (at their biggest) a credit card. Once he sends a sketch to the art director and it's been approved, he scans it into the computer and uses it as a guide to render the image in Photoshop. 

Benjamen Purvis, the new design director for Runner's World, featured Nigel's illustrations in his very first issue. The article "Is This Okay?" is a "start-to-finish beginner's guide (or veteran's refresher course) to the do's and don'ts of race-day etiquette." Nigel helps demonstrate how runners shouldn't wear headphones during a race, lunge for free water, or scoff at slower runners.



 

                               

                                                                                                 ^ Don't run wearing someone else's bib.

^ Don't ask a fast-paced friend to jump in at the end and help you finish the race.

 

          ^ Don't lunge at the water table.                              ^ Don't wear headphones during a race.

CLICK HERE for Nigel Buchanan's portfolio.

Protecting our Furry Friends

The Wall Street Journal just published this illustration by our very own Jon Reinfurt! The article, "Pondering a Trust for Your Pet,” discusses the ASPCA's partnership with LegalZoom. The two companies hope to promote a Pet Protection Agreement, which will allow owners to provide their pets with proper care in the event of their death.

Jon submitted the following three sketches, and the team agreed upon the fantastic image featured at the top. Congrats, Jon!

Read the entire WSJ article here.

CLICK HERE for more work by Jon Reinfurt.