Editorial Illustration for Utne Reader : When Smart Kids Grow Up

This was an editorial illustration done for an article titled, When Smart Kids Grow Up.

This article highlighted findings from the Harvard Business Review about the confidence levels of gifted children after they grow up.

In a Columbia University study, bright fifth graders were evaluated to determine how different kinds of praise affected their performances. The students were given three sets of problems—the first relatively easy, the second nearly impossible, and the third simple. Every child succeeded easily on the first set and failed the second set, but their performance on the third set varied depending on earlier feedback. Offering the praise “You must be really smart!” to one group resulted in a 25 percent drop in performance on the third set of problems. Conversely, the group that received praise that focused on their effort (“You must have worked really hard!”) improved their performance by 25 percent. The “smart” group became stymied, while the “hard-working” group persisted, feeling that if they tried hard enough, they would succeed.

Ironically, writes the Review, “gifted children grow up to be more vulnerable, and less confident, even when they should be the most confident people in the room.”

I really wanted to magnify the feeling of the gifted adults looming academic success in this illustration.

Editorial Illustration for Oakland Magazine

This was a cover illustration that I did for Oakland Magazine last month. The feature focused on all the different alternative therapies that are available to alleviate ailments and the rising popularity of these forms of medicine. I was really happy with how simple, bold, and conceptual the final cover turned out. Debbi from Oakland Mag was a real pleasure to work with too!

Editorial Illustration: Fall Book Review Cover

It's been a little while since I've posted some editorial work. Here was a cover illo that I did this past fall for Christian Century for their annual fall book review. A fun, fall theme, landscaped with many leather and cloth bound towering stacks of knowledge. These cover assignments are always a treat and I really like it when it's just a general/broad theme that is required for illustration. Hope you like it...

MoMo Monster Editorial Illustration

St. Louis Magazine editorial illustration done for an article about a Missouri monster legend that is being turned into a movie. The Return of Momo brings the state’s one-time famous monster back to life with a new, low-budget horror flick. Momo the Monster was a mysterious hairy biped spotted near the town of Louisiana, MO in 1972. “It looked like a Bigfoot-type creature with a pumpkin-shaped head,” explains Johnno Zee, the writer/producer/director of Momo: The Missouri Monster, a horror-spoof film. Zee pays tribute to the monster’s enduring mystery with what he’s calling a “small-budget, B-movie grindhouse type of movie” featuring “Momo being pursued by a cryptozoologist Elvis impersonator.

Always a pleasure when these types of assignments show up. Here’s the original message from the art director at STL Mag... “This struck me as a topic you would be particularly good at illustrating as you generally draw lovely monsters and imagined creatures.”

Please count me in and consider me for all future monster assignments :)

Editorial Illustration For Finning Canada: Safe Driving

Spot illustration for an employee magazine safety article about safe driving in Finning marked vehicles.

New Editorial Illustration For Baltimore Magazine

Here’s a recent editorial illustration created for an article on home delivery and the midwives that assist the process in this months issue of Baltimore Magazine. The idea was to convey a newborn image within a home environment and not the typical sterile hospital scene. You can check out the full article here.

I do continue to be randomly surprised by the twists and turns that projects take me through on this never-ending rabbit hole of a profession. One day I’m dabbling in technology, another I’m drawing creatures for fast food chains, and then I’m off to doing research on home birthing... never can predict what’s gonna pop up over at the good ol’ inbox next.

New Editorial Illustration For Tennis Magazine

This was a recent editorial illustration about night tennis done for Tennis Magazine. Fun assignment as always with Dennis H. who always encourages the conceptual nature of my work. I was really pleased with the way the final turned out.

Editorial Illustration For STL Magazine

Editorial illustration done for an article titled, "Midwestern Decency Is for Losers." It was a piece that went on to tell the story of editor Steve Friedman's journey from St. Louis to New York promoting his new memoir Lost on Treasure Island. There was a lot of colorful dialogue and text in the story. One prominent points was a lime green suit that Friedman buys under poor lighting conditions with the assumption that it is gray. The actual color isn't realized (to his horror) until he's walking down the streets of NYC and a mime begins mocking him during his interview lunch with GQ magazine.

As for the caterpillar reference... Friedman continuously illustrates himself through disempowering phrases his entire life, "I don't know," "I'm not sure," "I'll think about it," etc. He goes on to compare himself to a wily moth caterpillar as well. When he makes a failed attempt to return the lime green suit at Dillard's department store (altered suits are non-refundable), he begins repeating over and over in his head, "I am not a moth caterpillar, I am not a moth caterpillar." He then decides to use his new position he's just accepted as senior editor of GQ magazine to threaten the sales lady for being deceptive and selling him a gray suit that was actually lime green (not mentioning that he thought it was gray too). He tells her of his position and threatens to review the store's return policy and quote her name within the article. The scene ends with her writing him a refund voucher.



Initially, visuals for this story were a little hard to nail down because there was so much material to pull from. After discussing some of the lines from the story that I was drawn to with the art director this was where the final ended up. Strange and bizarre...just how I like it.

Editorial Illustrations For Utne Reader On Narcissism

Several editorial illustrations done for the May-June 2011 issue of UTNE Reader. These were done for a bundle of stories around the subject of narcissism.


Half page, opener for "The Culture of Narcissism" - playing off the idea of thinking you are the center of the universe.


"The Narcissism Myth" - this one revolves around the subject of young people and their need for outside validation (i.e. Twitter, Facebook, etc.) being rooted in their own insecurity.


"Just Do It" - the focus on this discussion was about self-improvement, self-help books, obsession with being the best we can be, and the power of positive thinking. More or less poking fun at this stuff.


"Whatever Happened to Empathy" - explored how much we've lost our ability to empathize with others, walk in other people's shoes, etc.


"Narcissus Regards a Book" - People want to read about themselves and what they're into, not great literature.

Editorial Illustration - Utne Reader: Debtors Anonymous

This was an editorial illustration done for Utne Reader's March-April issue for an article on the Debtors Anonymous organization. Debtors Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength, and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from compulsive debting. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop incurring unsecured debt.

The final illustration drew inspiration from part of the article that focused on the emotion that DA is fighting, "when one tries to cover up shame or acts unconsciously with money, looking to get unmet needs satisfied."

This assignment was an interesting one, not necessarily due to the article, but the conditions in which I delivered the initial concepts to Stephanie over at Utne.

I was flying back to NYC a couple days before the concept sketches were due(thinking I had plenty of time still) with a layover in Charlotte, NC. This layover just so happened to coincide with their big ice-storm-freak-out-end-of-days-debauchery that took place there this winter. I actually made it on my connecting flight and was in the plane on the runway when the captain informed us that the airport had run out of de-icer and all remaining flights had been canceled for the night. By the time I got a flight rebooked, all the hotels were sold out for the night. Myself and thousands of other humans were then left to fend for ourselves for the night at an "airport lock-in."

Long story short, one canceled flight evolved to a total of nine canceled flights over the course of three days. I was actually traveling without my portable scanner(Canon LiDE200 Color Image Scanner) too, but fortunately had my iPhone and was able to take photos of my sketches and prepare them for sending. My iPhone actually worked just as well as a scanner for this purpose since sketches don't need to be really high quality at this stage. On the due date for concept sketches everything was sent off on time from my makeshift airport shelter, Steph never knew the difference, and I was saved by my portable studio once again. Another reason why I love and embrace the freedom and mobility that constantly evolving technology gives humans and their businesses.


The three concept sketches that were delivered for this freelance illustration project.

Editorial Illustration - Tennis Magazine: Stress Test

Just recently finished up this editorial illustration for the digital launch of Smash (the teen version of Tennis Magazine). It was for a piece called “Stress Test” about dealing with the top 10 pressure filled moments in tennis. Here's the link to the article to check out the full story and the new publication.

RTD would love to hear from ya! Please leave a comment below and let me know how you think it turned out.

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Check out more of my freelance illustration work at http://www.rawtoastdesign.com.

Editorial Illustration - The Pursuit Of Happiness

Had the opportunity to do another cover illustration for Christian Century. They actually contacted me about a concept sketch that I had done from the last assignment and thought that the idea behind it would translate well for The Pursuit Of Happiness issue. Win-win. So with a few modifications to the original concept this is the final editorial illustration that ran in January. Another reason why it's always a good idea to submit several concepts to your art directors fellow illustrators!

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freelance illustrator

Utne Reader Illustrated Blog Series

One of my favorite commissioners of editorial illustration, Stephanie Glaros of Utne Reader, has recently started an ongoing Utne Reader Illustrated blog series. Making herself that much cooler now in the illustration world, and giving the readers some insight about the editorial illustration process that goes on behind the scenes. She just featured a recent illustration that her and I worked on together about retirement. You can check out the article here: Utne Reader Illustrated: Jesse Kuhn.

Utne Reader has really been influential in my career as an illustrator so far. I’ve had the opportunity to work on many articles with Stephanie over the past couple years. It’s where good ol’ Greetings From Mr. Bird got his birth certificate, which went on to win awards in AI 29 and CQ 17, and has also been cloned and hung on the walls of many homes now throughout the world as limited edition illustration art prints.

So many other illustrators that I admire have contributed work to the magazine over the years; several of whom are mentioned on Utne’s website. Since its inception in 1984, Utne Reader has relied on talented artists to create original images for stories that express powerful emotions, brilliant new ideas, and humorous storytelling. Browsing through back issues of Utne Reader is like a tour of “Who’s Who” in the illustration world. Artists like Gary Baseman, Brad Holland, Anita Kunz, Bill Plympton, and Seymour Chwast have graced our pages over the years, to name just a few.

My life as an illustrator is still in it’s infancy and I’m really grateful for the opportunities I’ve been given by people like Stephanie. It was only three years ago that I left an unfulfilling design-monkey desk job in the midwest with dreams of New York City and a desire to do something different. I had always really wanted to be a full-time illustrator. To get to wake up everyday and draw. No more clocking in and clocking out. No more Monday morning status meetings. Someone who actually gets paid to think—and draw—for a living... what a concept :)

Thanks again for supporting my dreams Stephanie, and for supporting so many other freelance illustrators in our community!



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view my editorial illustration portfolio at http://www.rawtoastdesign.com/

Editorial Illustration for 417 Magazine - Top Ten

Talk of the Town illustration editorial illustration for 417 Magazine. It went with a quick article on how Branson had been named a top ten vacation city by Fodors.

materials used: pen and ink, textures, and adobe photoshop.



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view my illustration portfolio at http://www.rawtoastdesign.com/

Directory of Illustration Copies Available

Since I have a page in this years Directory of Illustration #27, I'm able to get a copy of the book sent out to you for free if you want one. You just need to be some type of creative director, art director, editor, art buyer, etc. in the U.S. that commissions illustrators at your company. I will need to provide them with your work mailing info and job title. Send me your work addy quick though so I can submit it to them by the 3rd. I have a few extras left over after sending to clients so it's first-come first-served.

Drop your coordinates at any of the locations below...or just leave it in the comments, I'll delete it after I've received it.

email: rawtoastdesign at gmail dot com
facebook: http://dld.bz/bFc8
twitter: http://twitter.com/rawtoastdesign


Best,


Jesse

Editorial Illustration for St. Louis Magazine - Best Docs Issue

These editorial illustrations were done for a couple of articles in the Best Docs issue of St. Louis Magazine. The top one was for an article on how to stay healthy as you get older; titled: Don’t Stop! How to keep doing everything you love—even when your joints are creaking and your back aches. The one below was for an article outlining how to keep tabs of your child's growth; titled: Baby Steps: A parent’s guide to tracking their children’s development—from birth through middle school.



materials used: pen and ink, textures, and adobe photoshop.



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view my illustration portfolio at http://www.rawtoastdesign.com/

Editorial Illustration For Library Journal - Taming the eReader

This was an editorial illustration done recently for the cover of Library Journal. The issue was expanding on their recent ebook summit where they hosted their first-ever virtual summit on ebooks. It was an all-day think tank with sessions, commentary on ebooks, their future, how libraries have to deal with them, and what to expect. After speaking with the art director, conceptually we thought librarians trying to rope down an ebook (taking some inspiration from Gulliver's Travels) to represent the challenge libraries will have with getting some control over ebooks in the very near future would make for a compelling cover image. It was a fun cover illustration to work on and Kevin was great to work with over at Library Journal.



materials used: pen and ink, textures, and adobe photoshop.



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view my illustration portfolio at http://www.rawtoastdesign.com/

Editorial Illustration For 417 Magazine - Titan of the Triathlon

Talk of the Town editorial illustration for 417 Magazine. It went with a quick story about a local 417 guy who qualified for the world Ironman competition in Florida. The headline for the story was "Titan of the Triathlon."

materials used: pen and ink, textures, and adobe photoshop.



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view my illustration portfolio at http://www.rawtoastdesign.com/

Pamona College: Getting In To Google - Editorial Illustration

This was a full page illustration done recently for Pamona College. The story was about the hiring process at Google and the man in charge of that process, Laszlo Bock. He is the vice president of people operations at Google and Pamona alum. Bock is the guy who runs the intricate, data-intensive process by which Google picks its Googlers.

When Mark Kendall from the magazine contacted me they were looking for something fun and conceptual that portrays the idea of job-seekers trying to land gigs at Google. After having that discussion the battle to the search box felt like a natural direction to go.

materials used: pen and ink, textures, and adobe photoshop.



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View my editorial illustration portfolio at rawtoastdesign.com.

Editorial Illustration For Utne Reader: Retirement

This was an editorial illustration done recently for Utne Reader. The story was about how the retirement we've all been trained to envision in our future is obsolete. Everyone can pretty much count on having to tack on an extra five years of employment in order to survive. Unfortunately the end of the rainbow isn't quite where most are probably hoping it will be...

UPDATE: This editorial illustration was recently featured on the Utne Reader Illustrated Blog Series!

materials used: pen and ink, textures, and adobe photoshop. Buy photoshop here.



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view my illustration portfolio at http://www.rawtoastdesign.com/