I just started reading Design Mom recently, and I’m hooked. Go check it out for posts on “where design and motherhood intersect by a designer/art director and mother of five”, deals and discounts in the Marketplace, and a great contest, Twelve Days of Christmas Giveaways.

Enjoy!

Quick — what is this?

If you said a yellow fetus floating next to three red blobs, you’re in agreement with my mother and me.

If you said a drink called “The Normandy,” you’re correct.

The usually redoubtable New York Times Magazine used this picture in its weekly food article, this one about Calvados. It’s hard for me to believe that someone found this image appetizing.

What do you think? Are we seeing things?

These selected covers are from the table of contents from Newsweek’s post presidential issue. Here are some of the things that are fascinating to me about this selection:

1. Hillary Clinton’s portrait cover is fairly close to the camera, followed by Michelle Obama’s slightly farther away portrait, and Cindy McCain’s most remote portrait. Sarah Palin’s portrait photo is so large/close up that it’s actually larger than life.
2. Once Sarah Palin entered the race, she appeared on no less than three covers.
3. John McCain is rarely smiling in his cover photos. Barack Obama is smiling widely in three of his covers.
4. John McCain is significantly taller than Sarah Palin on their joint cover. However, most photos show the two candidates as much closer in height. For example:
   
5. The cover of Barack Obama is the only one completely in black and white (emphasis mine)
6. The symbols shown with the candidates are: McCain: Naval uniform; Palin: Rifle; Obama: Flag.

Is there a discernible bias here? I find this especially interesting because I designed covers for Newsweek in 1995 during the Clinton/Dole race. We were tasked with remaining absolutely objective, including not retouching Bill Clinton’s cover photos (he had noticably bad skin and bloodshot eyes with dark circles underneath), and making sure that the matching covers of the presidential/vice-presidential teams were the same size. I am sure that those directives remain today.

I think this collection shows how hard it is to design in a completely neutral way, especially when the subject is so loaded for the designers. I think the Newsweek designers are excellent. I also think that there’s a lot beyond what meets the eye.

See more 2008 election covers: http://www.newsweek.com/id/166340

David Airey asked me to participate in his thought-provoking series “How Designers Charge Their Clients.” He’s asked designers from all over the world, with different specialites and amounts of experience, for their working practices. I’m very flattered to be included in Part 2 of the three part series. Check it out for some very interesting insights. And thank you, David, for including me!