ARTICLE FOR FOUR MAGAZINE

Below is an article I wrote for Four magazine, and a photo I took that accompanied it.



As a Christian and an artist I often wonder how I can speak about God’s goodness. How should I think about my art and what it says? How do I show the world that my art, though Christian at its core, is not the kitschy porcelain-angel-holding-a-bible-verse variety? We Christians who make art can, and should, go much deeper than we have.

Art is not talked about often enough in Christianity, leaving the artist to believe that his gift is simply for the use of his enjoyment or income. Our age lives in the visual. We are surrounded by millions of images showing us how we should live and what will complete us. The role of the Christian artist is not declining in importance, but steadily growing, yet I question if the number of Christians is rising to meet the need. 

For the sake of simplicity, I will define art as visual communication. Art at its core is an act, expressing (speaking) visually where words fail to reach. Art can show us something, or tell us where we should be looking. It asks us to focus on what we might otherwise easily ignore.

We, as Christians, are called to glorify God in all we do (1 Cor. 10:31). So, how do we glorify God in and through our art? I believe there are two answers, one simple and the other more complex.

The simple answer is that I glorify God through my art when I acknowledge my talent as God-given and intended for God’s glory. This is a passive act, a state of mind that keeps my focus as an artist on God.

The more complex answer is that I can actively glorify God by what I say in and through my art. I can spread good news by what I am showing my audience, and communicate strategically and intentionally the glory of God and humanity’s need for God’s transforming grace. We are not doomed to make art that is merely decorative or that “means whatever you want it to mean.” Instead, as Christians who make art, let’s have something to say and say it with excellence.

We must abandon the all-consuming need for self expression. We should seek to show God to a breaking world, a world that needs answers more than vacuous expressions. Let’s inform ourselves of our audience, the empty and lost, and show them that there is something better. Let’s show the world what art is really for, presenting our message in a way that cannot be ignored. Let’s define our art by the only message worth speaking or showing.

I cannot say in what medium of art we should speak, or how to speak it, but I do know that the message of God and his grace must be said with more than words. I know that we should constantly critique ourselves, and I hope that this is one step in that direction. Let’s invite God back into the creative process and allow him to work through us for the good of all.

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WALLS

It's always an honor for me to work on a book by McClane. The previous book I designed for him was "Color".

For this title McClane wanted us to use a painting by Jacob Lawrence, he didn't have a specific painting in mind. I did a good amount of searching and came across the image you see on this cover. I love how the cropping of the photo seemed to really communicate both the title and the content.

McClane does some writing about his brother's early and unfortunate death. I felt that the image here did an accurate job expressing the emotion throughout the essays, though I cannot claim to truly understand all the emotions McClane experienced.

click here to see the original photo without cropping. I would have loved to have gotten that tree on the front cover… but that would have thrown off everything.


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HOW THE GOVERNMENT GOT IN YOUR BACK YARD

This one was a blast to work on. The client wanted to see something conceptual with the title. I came up with several different solutions, with the help of my co-workers, but the shown cover is the final. I did want the type to be fairly generic so that the image would do most of the speaking.

I'll post a closeup of the image, as well as some of the photos I used and how I collaged them together later on.


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BEND BREWFEST LOGO

I can put up logo work up here, right? This wasn't the final direction, but here is what I worked up for the Brewfest. I wanted a sharp and clean look but also wanted to touch on the rustic western atmosphere of Bend. No… I'm not a cowboy, nor do I own a
six shooter.


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RUDE DEMOCRACY

Here are two directions I presented to Temple University Press. I think the title and subtitle say clearly what the book is about.

The top cover is the selected cover. The art was provided by the client (sans the blue stars). I decided that it would be a great idea to try and convey America subtly with the title and author representing the stripes and the stars representing… the stars.

The bottom sketch I put together to show the irreverence and rudeness of politics.

Final cover © Temple University



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HOW FANTASY BECOMES REALITY

This is a project I designed a while back for Oxford. Here is a brief description from amazon.

It's a common belief that the stories we encounter through mass media--whether in video games, action movies, or political comedy skits on Saturday Night Live--are just entertaining fantasies that have no tangible impact on our everyday lives, attitudes, and choices. Not so, says Karen Dill in this lively and provocative book. As much as we may want to deny it, the images, sounds, and narratives that bombard us daily have ample power to alter our realities.

I found out, while designing this cover, that Dill is actually a figure disliked by many video game enthusiasts… which kind of made me want to design the book cover even more (I don't really know why).

Since media is the target of her book, I think it fitting that the cover uses a visual form of media, but also is somewhat vague. A TV test screen is perfect for showing both media, as well as in portraying the idea that a test is being conduct by the author.


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DOWN AMONG THE DEAD MEN

The first comp shown here is the selected cover. The other two are alternative sketches.

It was interesting to work on a cover for a memoir about a woman whose career was in a morgue. Much like the author, I found myself needing to be sure I payed both respect to the deceased, as well as not create an environment that was overly solemn.

Each sketch here plays a different role in communicating what this memoir is about. The selected cover (top) shows the work environment, which is probably the most appropriate for the content. The second option showcases the object of Williams' work, the deceased. And the third sketch presents a more abstract view of the book's content, a lighthearted object, but communicated in a more serious tone.

A few of these options play with darker tones, but this is appropriate given the content. I could not very well play with an overly joyous color, nor did I feel it would be appropriate to play with reds or oranges, these could easily look too graphic juxtaposed (sorry, I went to college for design, so I have to use my jargon every now and then) with the content.




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137

Another project I worked with Albert Tang on. This book is a biography about Wolfgang Pauli and Carl Jung (as the subtitle alludes to). The number 137, is a number pondered often by Pauli, and to be honest… who doesn't want to design a book cover with a title that's a number. You can look at a deeper description of the book on Norton's Page.

I thought that by having 137 looking as if it was coming from Pauli's head was a good way to allude to the happenings inside his mind. The subtle repeating of the number shows that this was something ruminating in Pauli's head often. Having Jung, a psychoanalys, in the upper portion of the cover seemed to state that he was inside Pauli's head.

Bizarre fact… the room Pauli died in was number 137. I think someone was pulling a cruel joke on him.


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POX AND THE COVENANT

A project I worked with Source Books on. This book deals with the plague that was brought into Boston through the HMS Seahorse (it's a boat, not an animal), both of these comps emphasize these two elements. The final cover is shown first.




Here is the image that I altered for the above comp. I wanted more depth and contrast than was in the original piece, so I went in and blurred some areas and bumped the contrast. This image is from The Library of Congress.

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IN BAD FAITH

I believe they went in a different direction for this entire project. I thought the image of the suite holding the ace fit perfectly with the concept of "cheating shareholders". I also picked this specific typeface to match what was happening on the type on the playing card. (I'm adding this random type here to balance my rag)



And here is another option I was working on. I had a few more comps, but these are my favorite two.

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THE CLIMATE WAR

This one isn't out yet, but I wanted to place it on the site. It seemed fitting to take a beautiful image of the sky and split it up with a sharp and disturbing bit of black (like it's being cut).


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FREEDOM SUMMER

Here is a project I worked on for Viking. I read the manuscript, which was extremely well written and entertaining. If you ever get a chance, you should pick up a book by Bruce, he's a talented and kind author.

All the elements within each of these designs were inspired by documents during the era and events of Freedom Summer. The type in the first comp (final) was inspired by the type from newspaper headlines during the event. The orange color came from the clay in mississippi that is referenced often. The second comp uses the layout of a campaign sticker as inspiration, and the third comp uses imagery and a typographic layout from a document referring to Freedom Summer. The photography on the last two options are from The University of Southern Mississippi, photographed by Randall Herbert.





Here is an image from the freedom summer movement that inspired the cover above.



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AMERICAN SALVAGE

Well, I got tired of having a website that was impossibly difficult to update… you know… you have to go through hundreds of hoops in order to post one thing on your site. I've decided that they guys like Drummond and Yee had it right… blog… live feed… the future… I'm in it now… Or will be soon. I'll start fresh and be updating this week. Thanks for your patience. In the meantime… here is a cover I designed… it's really small here. I worked with Albert Tang on this one! The image is from Millennium Images. This wasn't the final, but it was a fun one to work on! (watch out, I overuse exclamation marks… and ellipses)


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