You can’t win them all, but sometimes you can still sneak in late goal

The lead story for September’s Graphic Arts Magazine issue is a preview of GRAPH EXPO in Chicago next month. We’ll be bringing this issue down to the show, and hopefully some people will find value in using it as a guide. The tagline for the show is Embrace Technology.

The marketing material for the show displays that quite literally.

Graphexpo

I wanted to take the embrace a step further. How good of an embrace can a handshake be? After the initial rush of ideas, I decided to get my insipiration from two album covers. Have I mentioned how much I’m still loving the Washed Out album? 

Washed_out_within_and_without
Summer-heart-never-let-me-go

When I emailed the rest of the crew at the magazine, this is how I pitched it (somewhat tongue-in-cheek).

This is a powerful cover, because it combines the disturbing feeling you got when you found the secret cache of your parents’ anniversary cards, with the idea of hooking up with a robot, all set to a Chicago skyline. Plus it’s extra creepy, because WTH is sexy about printing?

Cover-1

Let’s just say I was asked to come up with some alternative ideas—specifically to come up with one that used a supplied generic show floor shot.

Cover-4

Cover-3

Cover-5
Cover-6

Cover-7

I kept trying with variations on my theme, revising and cleaning up—hoping that I’d get the go-ahead on one of them. Unfortunately I couldn’t win, and we ended up going with a variation on the trade show floor cover.

Cover-final

It was the right decision, but despite the fun involved I was still a little disappointed. Maybe I couldn’t get the cover I wanted for the magazine, but I was still able to sneak in a little win.

Easteregg

3 responses to “You can’t win them all, but sometimes you can still sneak in late goal

  1. Sneaky! Why the kybosh on being risque? No happy medium? Like risque-ish? You need a creative outlet!

  2. I think they’re a little too worried about what the 60somethings (which compromise a large percentage of show goers) are going to think about it. Too bad.

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