Appreciation
11.30.10
The Art Direction of Musician Magazine: Gary Koepke
For much of the 1980s and 90s, Musician magazine served as a home for creative art direction and imagery. It was a place where art directors learned their trade while producing cool covers and feature spreads. Art directors during this period included Gary Koepke, David Carson, Patrick Mitchell, John Korpics, and Miriam Campiz.SPD is going to be hosting a month-long celebration of the art direction of Musician, starting with the work of Gary Koepke. Koepke was an art director at Polaroid before moving to Musician in the mid-80s, where he worked with a staff of two others (a typesetter and an assistant). He describes his design approach at the magazine as "Simple and elegant. The articles were always by great writers, and the photos were all by amazing photographers, so I always respected the word."
After working at Musician from 1984-87, Koepke went on to be the founding creative director of Vibe, designed publications as diverse as Colors, World Tour, and Businessweek, and is the co-founder and executive creative director at creative agency Modernista!
(Above): April 1984. Photograph by Deborah Feingold.
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" book that was a product of his travels was a wonderful experience. I think Herb was proud of being able to produce images of people and nature that had nothing to do with Hollywood.... Yet the style and elegance of a Ritts photograph came through.
