Power Grab

Private equity has been squeezing profits from various corporations. What are the repercussions? Marc J. Leder is the head of Sun Capital, the company that Mitt Romney founded. He is also the campaign manager of Mitt Romney's presidential run. If elected, who will get the squeeze? This feature article takes an in-depth look.

I worked on this illustration with art director Minh Uong. After considering the alternatives we decided on this image, of a large mecanical claw gouging the landscape.

I really enjoyed working on this image. Here is a detail of the background. I designed a number of factories in isometric form and developed the background to be interesting but not overpowering. I wanted the black excavator arm to stand out.

 

I worked on a number of sketches. Here are a couple of them. I liked both the concepts but the images here were a bit over the top.

Bitcoin and other Fiats

I worked on a cover story with designer Joannah Ralston for the Milken Review about Bitcoin, the internet-based peer-to-peer currency created by the programmers behind Wikilieaks. Bitcoin gained some traction in the spring of 2011, with a speculation frenzy that created a spike in its value. The crash that followed burned a lot of folks involved. The creation of bitcoins is a fascinating and complex but finite process, and bitcoins are 'mined' by cryptographic speculators. Handling of the currency and related security is complex and intriguing but also a reflection of broader global fiat currency issues. Whew. That's a lot of nerdspeak, now here are the visuals.

What is a bit coin worth? Well, it all depends on who you ask. Bitcoins are secure, but owners have had their computers hacked or stolen and lost everything.

I wanted to convey some of the complexities of the currency in this full-page opener

TCOB

A busy fall session of business-related assignments. My piece about the lingering effects of a financial crisis ran in the Economic View section of Sunday's New York Times.

Assignments like these can be challenging. Economics-related articles can induce eye-glazing at the best of times. My job is to counteract that effect. When coupled with the disastrous results of the worldwide economic troubles, you have to resist the urge to go over the edge of the cliff. Although one of my sketches did just that.

Here's another piece for the same section, about charging fees for services that have been offered for free. Citibank suffered a huge backlash and ridicule after placing a $5 user fee on debit card usage.

Great to work with art director Minh Uong on these. 

Mecanismos Launch

The Oeno Gallery is a beautiful spot. Owner Carlyn Moulton has been fantastic to work with in launching this show. Mecanismos opened on the weekend, and I took a bit of time to recover from the tension and excitement of launching a solo show.

The show runs through the holidays and will be up until January 3. There was a lot of work involved in getting it together and I am very thankful for all of the friends and folks who showed up at the opening, and to those who bought pieces as well.

I stopped by the gallery this afternoon, when things were quiet to take some photos of the space and the work in place.

Oeno Gallery

I worked with Oeno Gallery to produce a book, including all 100 prints. It includes an introduction by Gary Taxali and I also talk about the process of creating Mecanismos, influences and ideas that went into the work.

$60, contact me if you would like to get your hands on one.

Not so Supercommittee

A new series of spots for the Wall Street Journal, about the possible outcomes of the budgetary 'supercommittee', ranging from full success to complete failure. The cynic in me is completely unimpressed.

possible outcome: successful probability: very low

possible outcome: partially successful probability: low

possible outcome: failure, triggers engage   probability: low

possible outcome:complete failure    probability: very high

And a snapshot of the icons in place on the page