I FINALLY got the chance to work with Creative Director, Darhil Crooks, from The Atlantic magazine, on this article with the working title, Financial Shame, written by Neal Gabler. When the article was originally pitched to me, Darhil’s approach was to spin the visuals in the direction of “financial impotence”, as was a key point picked up from Mr. Gabler’s text. You can imagine some of the ideas we came up with around that central theme. (The next few email exchanges between Darhil and I were pretty funny.) But, when my first round of sketches were brought to the editor’s attention, concern of loosing the real message gave way to a more encompassing angle, “shame”.
Darhil’s brilliant idea of using a paper bag with a sad face drawn on it was poignant and spot on, especially given Mr. Gabler’s personal accounts that triggered his own financial shame shared in his text. When Darhil mentioned a family dog with its own sad face bag on its head, I was hooked.
Big shout-outs to Darhil, Neal Gabler, my assistants, Sabrina Valdez and Ruben Domingo, models Bill Pryor, Blake Hendricks, and Katelyn Magee. Thank you, one and all.