Spot Lights

'Some painters transform the sun into a yellow spot, others transform a yellow spot into the sun.'

             - Pablo Picasso

I might be setting my sights high quoting Picasso as an opener, but I think the message holds true for illustration. Spot illustrations might not be something to feature, but they are an opportunity to show what you can do. You are limited by space or time, or both, so make the best of it. I always enjoy working on spots, and you have to bring your best to make them shine.

 

I taught my illustration students about isometric perspective in illustration and that may have influenced this pair of spots for Scientific American about artificial intelligence as well as potential emotional interaction in software and smartphones. The concept was explored in the film 'Her'. and the article explored the plausibility of engaging in a relationship with technology. I worked with art director Bernard Lee on this pair.

This was a quick turnaround assignment for Pete Hausler at the Wall Street Journal, about smartphone apps that allow the user to remotely control his/her home, adjusting temperature, unlocking doors, playing music or being alerted to incoming mail, leaking pipes or a pet wandering off the property. I passed this assignment to my illustration students to see what they came up with. Working on this, I wanted a simple colour scheme and designed them in illustrator to maintain clean lines.

Here's another set, in the same style for the tech section of WSJ. This one was about apps to help locate or disable a lost or stolen phone. Security and saftey features including location, alarm, notifications and a remote 'wipe' if need be (top left).

 

I do a monthy feature for UpHere magazine, a business magazine out of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. Most of these images are resource-based. So clockwise from top left - oil glut and future oil prices; energy access and mining development; wind-based power; raising pot in former mines.

I'll leave with this image. It's not a spot, but it's a reflection of where I am at right now. I am packing up my studio and getting ready to move. I am organizing a road trip to Oregon for ICON8. Really looking forward to it,  making big changes & moves. I did this for the Work & Play show, organized by ICON. It's about maintaining the right balance, something I am always involved in, feeling like I am winning or losing the battle.

A Fork in the Road

New directions, new assignments. Here's a healthy portion of recent assignment work. Calorie-free!

Here's the latest illustration for a monthly column for the New York Times called Raw Data. It's written by George Johnson and raises questions about statistical analysis and scientific data. Interesting topics and a potent mix of science, data and our common misconceptions. The latest is on challenges to all of the warnings we have been given to eating red meat. Long-term studies refute the findings of earlier results.

An Apple a Day, and Other Myths - the gap grows between food folklore and science on cancer. Art director Peter Morance is always great to work with.

Just finished this spot for Daniel Smith at the Wall Street Journal, about the FCC auctioning off low-frequency bandwidth to a pool of four wireless carriers.

A portrait of Enrico Fermi and the development of nuclear science. For a book review in the Christian Science Monitor.

Science Times

I got a little lost creating all the 'ray guns' in this illustration. Weird science!

Another illustration for a column by science writer George Johnson for the New York Times. Scientific discoveries are harder and more and more difficult to achieve, frontiers keep getting moved further away. Read all about it here.

Science of the Times

We live in an age of uncertainty. I illustrated this article for the New York Times Science section this past week for a new column by George Johnson called Raw Data.

New Truths That Only One Can See

From the article:

Since 1955, The Journal of Irreproducible Results has offered “spoofs, parodies, whimsies, burlesques, lampoons and satires” about life in the laboratory. Among its greatest hits: “Acoustic Oscillations in Jell-O, With and Without Fruit, Subjected to Varying Levels of Stress” and “Utilizing Infinite Loops to Compute an Approximate Value of Infinity.” The good-natured jibes are a backhanded celebration of science. What really goes on in the lab is, by implication, of a loftier, more serious nature.

It has been jarring to learn in recent years that a reproducible result may actually be the rarest of birds. Replication, the ability of another lab to reproduce a finding, is the gold standard of science, reassurance that you have discovered something true. But that is getting harder all the time. With the most accessible truths already discovered, what remains are often subtle effects, some so delicate that they can be conjured up only under ideal circumstances, using highly specialized techniques.

It's no laughing matter, and it has implications for research and development in the future. It's a great read, take the time to read the rest of the article.

Over the past few years it feels that the foundations of so many different things have been rattled. It's been a rough period, personally, and I know it has for a lot of folks everywhere. Now that the new year is here, and spring is coming soon, I feel a bit of optimism. I can say this with certainty: I am very happy to have worked on this. Thanks to Peter Morance at the Times for this one!

Connectivity

A recent piece for the New Jersey Institute of Technology's magazine. I worked with designer Claude Skelton on this cover assignment. Data management can be tricky - the objective is to unify information from various disciplines (environment, bioscience and technology) smoothly and efficiently.

I received a call from Manny Velez at the Wall Street Journal for a feature called 'Anatomy of a Song'. After throwing around a few concepts we agreed using my mechanical collage would be a good way to convey the idea.