2024: The year America looked back at the time we had a petulant toddler heading the executive branch and thought, “Ah, the good old days.” The election results were, of course, only one bummer in a year full of international turmoil, humanitarian crises, the questionable rulings of an openly corrupt Supreme Court, and all manner of endless grifting. My Prospect colleagues and I were there for it all—well, honestly, they were there for it, and I was at least along for the ride.
As the magazine’s art director, I am concerned primarily with how our reporting is presented in print and (sometimes) on the web. I mostly commission illustrations, design print pages, occasionally illustrate myself, and create data visualizations. But this week, like my colleagues, I am looking back at some of my favorite projects from the last year. If you like our reporting (and how we present it), please consider supporting the Prospect. Our brand of journalism will only become more crucial over the next four years. You can subscribe here or donate here.
Favorite Cover
I will turn over the selection of our best cover to Coverjunkie, which collects some of the best magazine and newspaper fronts from around the world, and was kind enough to feature our February offering, illustrated by Daniel Zender, who also did a bang-up job on David Dayen’s story in that issue.
Favorite Cover Not Selected by Coverjunkie
I also loved the cover (and all the art) by Alex Nabaum for our bonus issue on how U.S. states attempt to extend influence (and export policy) to other regions. That package can be seen here.
Favorite Theme Issue Illustrated by a Professional
The Prospect usually devotes two or three of its annual issues to a single theme. Our June issue looked at pricing and the assorted strategies companies use to turn people into customers at the highest possible price point. Jan Buchczik did a brilliant job illustrating the varied pieces. The whole package can be seen here.
Favorite Theme Issue Illustrated by Me
I did the spooky retro photo collages for our “Future of …” issue, which looked at the state of various endeavors—television news, college sports, higher education, and more—and made predictions about how demographic and cultural changes would affect them. The whole package can be seen here.
Best Use of AI
When I talk to those curious about using AI for image creation, I say it’s a bit like being the Dudley Moore character in the original 1967 version of Bedazzled. In that film, Moore has sold his soul to the devil (played by Moore’s longtime partner Peter Cook) for a series of wishes. Each time, Cook manages to give Moore the letter of what he has asked for, but not at all what he wants. That has been largely my experience with AI generators—they might give you something intriguing, but also a bit broken in terms of actually being an image that will effectively illustrate an author’s words. But what if it’s a dystopian future you want to illustrate? Then AI can do rather well. Even so, the final image here is based on several generations of blends rather than a text prompt. The article the final image illustrated can be read here. Also, you should really see the original Bedazzled if you haven’t. Truthfully, it has a script that could not entirely be filmed today, something the 2000 remake corrects for but at the expense of the original’s charm and humor.
