Once again, I had the opportunity to work with Jerry Luciani, AME/Graphics and Design at The Record, who is a great guy despite the fact that he’s a huge Miami Dolphins fan. This was a quick job for a Real Estate section story on the work that homeowners needs to do once they decide to list their home for sale. A couple of ideas that didn’t make the cut below:

In a competitive marketplace how do you get your sale across the finish line?

The goal – opening your door and see the sold sign.

Hundreds of former players are suing the NFL over head injuries. The plaintiffs allege that the NFL withheld medical proof that players were subjecting themselves to long term health problems caused by both concussions and ordinary repetitive head contact and that players were led to believe that helmets provided high levels of protection when even the helmet manufacturers acknowledged that they did not.  Despite evidence of significant risks, the NFL failed to provide adequate information to players, the union and refused to alter rules of play that would have made the game safer.

I’m guessing that this probably won’t be mentioned at the NFL Draft next week. Why ruin a party with the suggestion that the young athletes on the stage are likely to suffer numerous concussions or traumatic brain injuries during their short careers which will lead to mental illness, cognitive and motor impairments, dementia, and/or premature death later in life.

I wonder at what point Americans start losing interest in a game that harms it’s players. One has to think that unless the game is made safer, the pee-wee leagues ad high school teams will start to disappear. If that happens, it isn’t too difficult to imagine the end of  football.

Of course, I’m a bit of a hypocrite. I watch every Sunday during football season and, in all likelihood, will continue to do so.

This is a project I’ve been working on between other assignments. It was a gift for my wife’s uncle, who is a bit of a scooter and motorcycle enthusiast.

If you are interested in hanging it on your walls, it is available as a print here.

Some work for a new client–ABA Journal

The story, in the current issue of the magazine, examines proposed legislation that would change where companies can file for bankruptcy protection. Right now, most bankruptcy filings take place in Wilmington, Del. and New York–even if the company is headquartered or does most of its business elsewhere. In the process, New York- and Delaware-based firms specializing in bankruptcies have grown quite large. Consequently, because they are the only game in town, most of these firms charge high fees.

Some lawyers and lawmakers are trying to change that. They would like to see companies file for bankruptcy closer to home, in the jurisdiction where they are headquartered. This would shift business away from the giant firms in Manhattan and Wilmington to more modest-sized, less expensive, local law firms.

Art direction by Debora Clark. Some sketches below:

Using the courthouse next door. What became the final grew out of this idea.

New York and Delaware defending themselves.

A basketball-themed idea. One of my first thoughts when I read the ‘Home Court’ headline.

New York State’s proposed new Assembly and State Senate districts have some funny boundaries.  Leaders in Albany drew a handful of districts that look  more like the inkblots in a Rorschach test than anything else.

I was one of five artists, along with Joey Carolino, John Daly, Thomas James, Owen Sherwood and Michael Sloan, asked to interpret these stains on the electoral map for City & State. I drew the 12th Senate District which lies on the Queens side of Newtown Creek and has one of the more unique shapes–sort of like a giraffe with the head of a lion. This monster is no more scary than the process of letting elected officials choose their voters.

This illustration is in the current issue of Barron’s with a story on the Sequoia Fund. The press-shy fund managers were reluctant to be photographed, so I had the opportunity to draw a really big tree. Sometimes illustrators are hired for their problem-solving skills and conceptual chops. Other times it is for purely aesthetic reasons, to help dress up a page a little bit. This is the latter.

Initially, I thought I would  end up drawing iPhones and iPads for this job. Smart phones and tablets are fairly easy to render in Adobe Illustrator. They are little more than a rectangles with a few gradients heading in opposite directions. The problem is that they are everywhere and so commonplace that they aren’t all that interesting to look at. And there hasn’t exactly been a shortage of iPhone covers since the device was introduced a few years ago.

The cover story examines the state of intellectual property litigation. Right now, the manufacturers of smart phones and tablets are suing each other alleging infringement of patents and stealing of trade secrets. The writer was working on a lede comparing this to a battlefield or seismic change. With that information in hand, I worked up a few iPhone-/iPad-centric sketches:

Of course, tablets and smart phones aren’t all that fun to look at. They are everywhere. And there hasn’t exactly been a shortage of iPhone or iPad magazine covers or newspaper spreads since the device was introduced a few years ago. With that in mind, I explored doing something that was more representative of intellectual property, and less about the technology that was currently at the center of these disputes. What I came up with was this:

This ultimately got the go-ahead. When it was approved, I received a note saying this idea and the tank sketch generated some debate in the Inside Counsel office. I think anytime sketches are provoking discussion among editors and art directors you’re heading down the right road.

Thank you to Art Director Liz Novak for trusting me to take this in a somewhat less obvious direction.

I had the pleasure of illustrating the cover of this week’s Las Vegas City Life. The end-of-year feature recognizes Las Vegas residents who made a positive impact in 2011. Art Director Maureen Adamo pitched doing something superhero-related, in bright primary colors, but gave me the latitude to develop that idea a little more.  Some sketches below:

Thinking along the lines of ‘Everyday Heroes’, a superhero doing something completely mundane, like waiting for a bus.

A neon hero glowing against an evening sky parodying of the famous ‘Vegas Vic’ cowboy sign.

An everyman donning the superhero cape and mask, towering over the Las Vegas skyline, which ended up being the choice.

After finishing the job up, I got a nice note mentioning that the editor was really happy with the cover. It is alway nice to hear that the boss likes the art.

The opening reception is at 6:30 p.m., tomorrow, Wednesday, November 30. The show is on display starting today and runs through Thursday, December 29. Stop by if you’re in the neighborhood.

*Sportaldislexicartaphobia is the fear of paintings and other forms of visual art.

The story profiles residents making a difference. Like any paper that runs recurring stories, the challenge was coming up with an art solution that didn’t look too much like previous years. The obvious solution – superheroes had been done a few times, as had some solutions with ‘shining stars’.

Thanks to art director Tina Flynn for the job.