We were in Baltimore yesterday, I to show my face at work and then go to a ballgame and Robbi to buy some art supplies and spend the evening with friends. While she was downtown, Robbi made a point of stopping by the newsstand to see if the September issue of Urbanite magazine was yet available.
And why does Robbi have such an interest in the cover of this month’s Urbanite? Because she illustrated it! (Those of you who know me know how much it pains me to use exclamation points, and yet, the occasion seems to call for nothing less.)
The September issue is education-themed. I think I can refrain from explaining the significance of the apple.
In addition to the cover, Robbi illustrated an article that discusses the progress that has been made under the current superintendent of Baltimore schools while describing the challenges that still lie ahead. Be sure to get a copy or read the article online. For now, here’s a peek at the eye candy.
Urbanite’s pages are oversized and the layouts are beautifully designed. As much as you might be enjoying the image above, you really need to track down a paper copy of the magazine and turn to page 40 to get the full effect.
While Robbi was lost in her personal reverie, Alden, Grandpa John, and I were watching the Orioles best the Red Sox. It was a beautiful night for a ball game, if a bit hot.
Not a bad day, all around.
Nice work, Robbi. Love the hands spread diagonally across the page. Did you know ahead of time that you had the cover? And that the hands would be spread across two pages? Or did they decide that after seeing the work?
Clare – I knew that a spread was available, and I did a series of hand drawings (the article was originally titled “Many Hands”) with kids climbing or being sheltered or lifted up by them. So some of them used the full spread and others were just spots. The designer/art director chose to use the long horizontal across the spread, and I think his choice really made it into a better drawing.
As for the cover, apparently they do a number of different designs to pitch to the staff and it goes to a vote. Matthew actually did most of the thinking on this one – it started out being an extension of the whole hands theme, but out of the context of the article, it began to be a little opaque. So, Matthew suggested the apple idea, which I initially nixed, because it seemed too much like we were talking just about teachers. The whole thing went through many iterations of apple-school/apple-student/apple-teacher/teacher-student-apple relationships before we settled on the idea of the apple as a balloon. The designer’s font choice for “Away We Go” just adds enough whimsy to make the whole thing feel the right amount of fun – without it, it was looking a little ominous. Anyway, I love how it turned out.
Ahem. Thanks for asking.