Speaker Series

Master Class: TypIDentity

2010-03-01T23:40:35Z

Introducing, the SPD Master Class.

Our goal: an exclusive bi-monthly workshop for SPD Professional Members providing inspiration, education, hands-on skills to SPD members through intimate access to well-respected, award-ridden, top-dog design professionals. After this 1-day intensive workshop, you'll have a new mentor, a deeper professional network, and a broader skill-set to take to work on Monday morning.
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And for our first Master Class: Dirk Barnett // TYPIDENTITY

How does typographic storytelling create identity?
Join us SATURDAY, APRIL 17th for a 1-day workshop where you will analyze magazine identity through typeface, hierarchy systems, and editorial voice. Explore effective type treatments in display copy, sidebars, and infographics. Learn how fonts work together to subtly build the overall look of the magazine.

Dirk Barnett is the Creative Director of Maxim magazine. Previously, he was the Creative Director for Blender magazine, Key (the New York Times' real-estate magazine), Play (the New York Times' sports magazine), Premiere and Popular Science. Dirk's work has been recognized by the AIGA, the Art Directors Club, the Type Directors Club, British Design & Art Direction, and the Society of Publication Designers. He teaches at the School of Visual Arts and has chaired and juried various design and illustration competitions. He is currently the Vice President of SPD, where he has been a board member for three years.

**A note about workshop materials: you will need to bring your own laptop to the workshop in order to complete the workshop assignments that day. You will also be sent an pre-class assignment to complete and bring with you that morning.

Consider yourself alerted and save these dates:
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010: tickets go on sale -- first come, first served, and class size is limited to 10. (Really.) We've updated this post for tickets on-sale at 3PM EST on the 16th, and we'll have more details each week leading up to the workshop about what to expect from your Master Class.

Saturday, April 17th, 2010 -- TYPIDENTITY with Dirk Barnett. The first of many great Master Classes to come! Register below.

ARTFUL COMMUNICATION: Gina Barnett

2010-02-22T22:03:34Z

Sometimes, we all need a little help in the personal-professional department: we all have to have difficult conversations, but we could handle them better. We could collaborate better, present our ideas and our work with more confidence, agree to disagree more productively. Some of us are thinking about the next phase, and how to move into it gracefully, but we have no idea where to start, or how to do that very well. In a nutshell, we don't always know how to do all those little things that could make it all easier.

When what you need most of all is to redesign yourself, who knows where to start?

On Thursday, March 25th, please join us for an evening that might help us start to figure it all out, courtesy of Gina Barnett. Who's that, you ask? We'll let Gail Anderson share her experience:

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I first met Gina Barnett a few years ago when she came to our office at SpotCo to help the senior managers work on presentation skills. While the president of our company is a natural and gifted orator who's at his most comfortable--and funniest--in large groups of clients, some of the rest of us, well... not so much. And that would be, including and especially me. I could speak to a conference of a thousand strangers without raising my blood pressure, but somehow feared that I was a fraud in front of small groups of people who are buying what we create.

Enter Gina Barnett.

Gina Barnett is an executive communication consultant who has a way of cutting through the crap--through all of your personal stuff that gets in the way of how you communicate. And for me, that's meant exploring not only the way I communicate with groups--eye contact, hand gestures, tone, and all that. Over time, it's also meant looking at the way I communicate with the people I work with directly, day to day. My department, my coworkers, other managers; the whole package. It's not always a flattering portrait, believe me, but that's why you enlist the help of the pros--to help you with the baby steps.

I've been fortunate to work for a company that's been open to taking a look at the way we relate to others internally, as well as the way we present ourselves to the outside world. We've been able to maintain good morale in an era of uncertainty, and to really plan ahead for where we see ourselves in the coming years.

Don't get me wrong. There's kooky, petty stuff anywhere you'll ever work. Not everyone's meant to be the great presenter, but you can become a better one. There'll always be politics and colleagues, editors, other designers, or clients who'll push your buttons. But a little outside perspective in this unstable time can be a good thing. And for us, Gina Barnett's style was the right fit. It's about learning how to pause and take a deep breath before anything in the end--any presentation, any answer, any blow up. Or at least that was the big lesson for me.

And so, Gina's going to do an SPD Speakeasy on March 25th at the Helen Mills Theatre. Come hear some frank talk in a nutshell; an evening on how to maintain your sanity in the midst of redesigns, shrinking ad pages, late night closings--and perhaps how to prepare for your second act if that's what's in the back of your mind.

BIO: A specialist in communications coaching, Barnett International consults for domestic and global multinational corporations such as Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Allianz Global International, HSBC Bank and Credit Suisse, as well as for mid-sized advertising companies such as SpotCo. Gina Barnett has coached CEOs how to present to their boards, taught heads of sales how to inspire their teams, and trained medical students how to communicate more effectively with patients.

Gina Barnett's cumulative experience of 35 years developing and teaching professional communication skills are provided by Barnett International to an array of domestic and multi-national corporations through specialized programs, seminars, team and individual executive consulting. Barnett International partners with other world-class coaches and consultants to design for clients' needs.

SEE ALSO:
On Public Speaking (Ugh!)

GINA BARNETT on Artful Communication: Redesigning Yourself.

Thursday, March 25, 2010
Helen Mills Theatre
137-139 West 26th Street (between 6th & 7th Aves), NYC

7:00 - 8:30 PM, doors open at 6:30

Tickets:

SPD Members, $15 in advance; if tickets remain the day-of, they will be available for $20 at the door, CASH ONLY

Non-Members, $25 in advance; if tickets remain the day-of, they will be available for $30 at the door, CASH ONLY

Students (full-time) & faculty with valid ID, $10 in advance; if tickets remain the day-of, they will be available for $5 at the door, CASH ONLY

Register in advance (and save $5 off the door price!) by clicking the button above or using the form below by noon on Thursday, March 25th for advance tickets; after noon on the 25th, remaining tickets will be on sale at the event at the door, CASH ONLY.
As usual for SPD Speaker Events, all tickets, and seating, are first come, first served.

SPD uses Eventbrite to make all of our RSVPs easier... you should too! Find more info here.

PAUL SAHRE: Alien abduction attempts, the hairless hand, dead pig heads, boring sex and eating the dinosaur.

2010-01-26T23:02:55Z

The one and only Paul Sahre will be kicking off SPD's spring speaker series on Tuesday, February 9th at the Helen Mills Theater.
According to Paul's site, he...
...is a graphic designer that works out of his own shitty office in New York City.
...received his BFA and MFA from Kent State and teaches at the School of Visual Arts.
...finds comfort in the fact that we are all hurtling through space. ]]> Oh yeah, SPD Speakeasy nights are back, baby.

On Tuesday, February 9th, please join us for the kick-off to our Spring 2010 Speaker Series season as we welcome Paul Sahre for a meditation on, among other things, "alien abduction attempts, the hairless hand, dead pig heads, boring sex and eating the dinosaur."

After graduate school in the early 90's, Paul garnered great acclaim for his silk screened posters for the Fells Point Corner Theater:

I moved to Baltimore after graduate school and started looking for a theatre I could design posters for. I found the Fells Point Corner Theatre, a not-for-profit 75 seat theatre. I began designing and silkscreening posters for them, charging for materials only. This ended up being around $100 for 100 hand printed posters. With each of these posters: I would read each play; discuss the play with the director; and in some instances sit in on a read thru with the actors.

Paul creates book covers, posters, images, photography and illustrations for clients such as The New York Times, Metropolis Magazine, Seed Magazine, T Magazine, The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post, Esquire Magazine, Sundance Channel, The New School University, The School of Visual Arts, Marvel Comics, Knopf, Little Brown, Beacon Press, Simon and Schuster, Scribner, Farrar Strauss and Giroux, Penguin Putnam, Verve Records to name a few.

PAUL SAHRE
Alien abduction attempts, the hairless hand, dead pig heads, boring sex and eating the dinosaur.

ALL IN ONE NIGHT!
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Helen Mills Theatre
137-139 West 26th Street (between 6th & 7th Aves), NYC

7:00 - 8:30 PM, doors open at 6:30

Tickets:

SPD Members, ~~$15 in advance~~; available $20 at the door, CASH ONLY

Non-Members, ~~$25 in advance~~; available $30 at the door, CASH ONLY

Students & faculty with valid ID, ~~$10 in advance~~; available $5 at the door, CASH ONLY

~~Register in advance (and save $5 off the door price!) by clicking the button above or using the form below by noon on Tuesday, February 9th for advance tickets;~~ ~~after Tuesday the 9th,~~ PLEASE NOTE: A small number of tickets will be on sale at the door tonight, CASH ONLY.
We will sell what remains on a first come, first served basis.

As usual for SPD Speaker Events, all tickets, and seating, are first come, first served.

SPD uses Eventbrite to make all of our RSVPs easier... you should too! Find more info here.

RICHARD WILDE on Refueling: Putting Myself Back Into My Work

2009-09-28T15:28:31Z

LIMITED TICKETS REMAIN FOR SALE AT THE DOOR!
Tuesday night. October 6, 2009.
The SPD Speaker Series is back, and with a big night to kick off the year!
Richard Wilde, celebrating 40 years of shaping the visual culture at SVA with "The Wilde Bunch," takes a evening out to share with us one of the most important parts of being creative: taking time to refocus your creativity.
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This Talk will address the idea that we have two natures. One that is acquired and one that is inborn.

Oft times, in the course of our careers we lose sight of our essential nature and our work becomes more mechanically driven and we also lose sight of our original goal of being an artist. The question is, how do I make my work more vital, which will give meaning to my life?

RICHARD WILDE
Refueling: Putting Myself Back Into My Work

Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Helen Mills Theatre
137-139 West 26th Street (between 6th & 7th Aves), NYC

7:00 - 8:30 PM, doors open at 6:30

Tickets:
SPD Members, ~~$10 in advance~~ advance sales are closed; tickets are available $15 at the door, CASH ONLY

Non-Members, ~~$15 in advance~~ advance sales are closed; tickets are available $20 at the door, CASH ONLY

Students & faculty with valid ID: ~~$7 in advance~~, advance sales are closed; tickets are available $5 at the door, CASH ONLY

~~Register in advance (and save $5 off the door price!) by clicking the button above or the form below OR call SPD at 212-223-3332 by noon on Monday, October 5th for advance tickets;~~ after Monday the 5th, tickets can be purchased at the door Tuesday evening, CASH ONLY.

~~RSVP early!~~ All tickets, and seating, are first come, first served.

PLEASE NOTE: Advance sales are closed. The ticket sales option below is also closed; tickets now may only be purchased at the door, beginning at 6:30PM.

Gary Koepke for SPD@FIT: April 16th

2009-03-13T16:58:45Z

NEW DATE! Same great inspiration...
Modernista! Co-founder Gary Koepke: From Creative Director to Agency Entrepreneur   

On April 16th, please join us for an SPD@FIT evening with Gary Koepke, Co-founder and Executive Creative Director of Modernista!, the fastest-growing independent creative agency in the world. Gary will recollect his transformation from graphic designer into agency founder and owner, tell stories from the front lines of creative entrepreneurship, and share some thoughts on publication design, the work that launched his career and that he continues to pursue at Modernista!

Keep reading for all the details...

]]> Lance Jensen launched Modernista! near Boston's Chinatown. Before that, Gary had been a creative director at Wieden + Kennedy New York and a founding creative director for Vibe magazine. Lance was an Arnold Worldwide creative director who had driven the groundbreaking "Drivers Wanted" campaign for Volkswagen. Modernista! quickly grew to span three offices (in Boston, Detroit, and Amsterdam) with a staff of over 100.  

 These days, the agency is doing some amazing work for clients such as Palm, Cadillac, TIAA-CREF, and (RED). But Gary and Lance are also driving their company well beyond advertising and branding, into areas such as social media, video and editorial content (such as their recent video for U2's "Window in the Skies"), and the development of broad marketing and media strategies. The company is also active in publication design, including a recent redesign of BusinessWeek. "[The agency] business is no longer about just creating things," Gary was quoted as saying in the September 11, 2008 USA Today: ""It's about conceptualizing ideas, like a think tank."

So: skies too gray lately for words (metaphorically and not)? Need a dose of creative inspiration? Get your tickets now!

GARY KOEPKE: From Creative Director to Agency Entrepreneur
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Katie Murphy Amphitheatre, F.I.T.
27th Street & Seventh Avenue, NYC

7:00 - 8:30 PM, doors open at 6:30

Tickets:
SPD Members, ~~$10 in advance~~ advance ticket sales are closed, $15 at the door, CASH ONLY
Non-Members, ~~$15 in advance~~ advance ticket sales are closed, $20 at the door, CASH ONLY
Students & faculty with valid ID: $5 at the door, CASH ONL

~~Register in advance (and save $5 off the door price!) by clicking the button above OR call SPD at 212-223-3332 by noon on Tuesday, April 14th for advance tickets; after Tuesday the 14th,~~ tickets can be purchased at the door Thursday evening, CASH ONLY.

RSVP early! All tickets, and seating, are first come, first served.

DWI: Do It With Illustration

2009-02-20T12:55:07Z

Under the Influence with Today's Most Arresting Illustrators

Come and meet six of the brightest illustrators working today. Hear how they create the images that inform, seduce and enlighten us on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. From cover portraits of President Obama to adjusting to life in the suburbs to packaging for sexual lubricant creams (!) to the pitfalls of job-hunting--get an inside view on how these artists tackle a broad range of topics and their perspectives (illustratively speaking), on politics, work, life and love.

]]> Mark Heflin, Director of American Illustration and American Photography will moderate the discussion and Q&A with illustrators: Peter Arkle, Juliette Borda, Christopher Silas Neal, Tim O'Brien, Katherine Streeter and Jillian Tamaki.

And don't miss the pre-show screening of the American Illustration 25th Anniversary Timeline movie at 6:45PM where 25 illustrators were each asked to illustrate one year in AI's 25 year publishing history. It's a look back at events that shaped our lives and a quarter-century overview of illustration by 25 of the industry's superstars.

DWI: Do It With Illustration
Under the Influence with Today's Most Arresting Illustrators
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Katie Murphy Amphitheatre, F.I.T.
27th Street & Seventh Avenue, NYC

7:00 - 8:30 PM, doors open at 6:30

Tickets:
SPD Members, $10 in advance ($15 at the door, CASH ONLY)
Non-Members, $15 in advance ($20 at the door, CASH ONLY)
Students & faculty with valid ID: $5

Please call SPD at 212-223-3332 by noon on Friday, February 27th for advance tickets; after Friday the 26th, tickets can be purchased at the doors at FIT on Tuesday evening, CASH ONLY.

RSVP early! All tickets, and seating, are first come, first served.

PAULA SCHER: Now & Then

2009-01-05T20:21:43Z

ADVANCE TICKETS ARE COMPLETELY SOLD OUT!!

For our inaugural SPD@FIT event for 2009, we knew we needed something big enough to keep pace with the other big inaugural events of 2009. Join us on Tuesday, February 10th for an evening with Paula Scher, Partner at Pentagram, for an evening Paula describes in this way:

As a child of the sixties I was always rebellious. It came with the decade. I found that a form of rebelliousness is always present in my best work, and my work suffers when it is widely accepted and it becomes a part of the establishment.
This talk will show how I have rebelled against Helvetica, expectations of others, and mostly rebelled against myself.

]]> PAULA SCHER: Now & Then

Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Katie Murphy Amphitheatre, F.I.T.
27th Street & Seventh Avenue, NYC

7:00 - 8:30 PM, doors open at 6:30

Tickets:
SPD Members, ~~$10 purchased in advance~~ ($15 at the door, CASH ONLY)
Non-Members, ~~$15 purchased in advance~~ ($20 at the door, CASH ONLY)
Students & faculty with valid ID: $5 (at least 50 will be held at the door, CASH ONLY)

~~Please call SPD at 212-223-3332 by noon on Friday, February 6th for advance tickets; after Friday the 6th,~~ ADVANCE TICKETS ARE SOLD OUT. A small amount of tickets will be available for purchase at the door Tuesday evening, CASH ONLY.

~~RSVP early!~~ All tickets, and seating, are first come, first served.

VIDEO: Intuition Is Underrated

2008-10-21T00:10:10Z

We know: finally. (It's a tech adventure at SPD.)
Video of Arem Duplessis' sold-out Speakeasy night, "Intuition is Underrated."

Wonder what SPD Annual got Arem interested in magazine design? Who inspired him? Want to know more about the thinking behind some of those classic NYT Magazine covers? How he feels about the people who copy his style, and the team he calls on to get it all done so brilliantly? Video after the jump...

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SPD Speakeasy: Arem Duplessis, Art Director of The New York Times Magazine from SPD Videos on Vimeo.

LOUPED IN: Tuesday, November 11

2008-10-20T01:16:52Z

"The world now contains more photographs than bricks, and they are, astonishingly, all different." - John Szarkowski

The Photography Editors

They began in philosophy and film, retail and environmental studies; but today they are all photography editors: passionate about the images they produce, and the photographers they work with. On Tuesday night they'll talk about what sparks their imagination, their inspirations, and the assignments that keep them questioning, "how should this look?"

]]> Tuesday, November 11th at FIT for an evening of informal conversation and a crash course in ways of seeing. Moderated by Catherine Talese.

Lisa Berman, Entertainment Weekly
David Carthas, Blender
Nancy Jo Iacoi, Orchard Represents
Michele McNally, The New York Times
Michael Norseng, Esquire
Zana Woods, WIRED

LOUPED IN
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Katie Murphy Amphitheatre, F.I.T.
27th Street & Seventh Avenue, NYC

7:00 - 8:30 PM, doors open at 6:30

Tickets:
SPD Members, $10 in advance ($15 at the door, CASH ONLY)
Non-Members, $15 in advance ($20 at the door, CASH ONLY)
Students & faculty with valid ID: $5

Please call SPD at 212-223-3332 by noon on Friday, November 7th for advance tickets; after Friday the 7th, tickets can be purchased at the door Tuesday evening, CASH ONLY.

RSVP early! All tickets, and seating, are first come, first served.

Carin Goldberg: By the Seat of her Pants

2008-10-16T14:15:22Z

Can you ever be too inspired? Definitely not.
So after the sold-out night with Arem Duplessis, and the quickly-selling-get-your-tickets-already! night with James Victore, who could be next? It only seemed perfect to ask our Secret Santa for a night from Carin Goldberg. And Santa came through.

Carin will talk about how she became a graphic designer and how dumb luck, determination, some talent, supportive friends and good timing allowed her to build a body of work that some people (All of us!! -- Ed.) seem to think is worth an hour of your time. Of course, there will be lots of pictures.

]]> Carin Goldberg
Principal, Carin Goldberg Design

Carin Goldberg was born in New York City and studied at the Cooper Union School of Art. She began her career as a staff designer at CBS Television, CBS Records and Atlantic Records before establishing her own firm, Carin Goldberg Design, in 1982.

Over the following two decades Carin designed hundreds of book jackets for all the major American publishing houses, including Simon & Schuster, Random House, Alfred A. Knopf, Farrar Straus & Giroux, Harper Collins, Doubleday and Hyperion, and dozens of album covers for record labels such as Warner Bros., Motown, Nonesuch, Interscope and EMI. The breadth of her work covers artists as diverse as Kurt Vonnegut and Susan Sontag, Dvorák and Madonna. Her book jacket for the 1986 reissue of James Joyce's "Ulysses" has become an icon of postmodern design.

In recent years her image making has expanded to publication design and brand consulting for clients including AR and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. From 2003 to 2004 she was Creative Director at Time Inc. Custom Publishing, where she designed and consulted on publications for the New York Stock Exchange, Microsoft, Citigroup and Gallup. Her recent projects include design of the book "Last Letters Home: Voices of Americans from the Battlefields of Iraq" (Life Books, 2005) based on the HBO documentary.

So please join us Monday, December 8th, for the last Speakeasy before the holidays, where the cocktails, the crowd and the conversation are all fun.

CARIN GOLDBERG
By the Seat of Her Pants

Monday, December 8, 2008
Wild Project Theatre
195 East 3rd Street (between Aves. A & B)
map here or below

7:00 drinks
7:30 discussion

Tickets:
SPD Members, ~~$10 in advance~~ ($15 CASH ONLY at the door)
Non-members, ~~$15 in advance~~ ($20 CASH ONLY at the door)

RSVP: ~~Please call SPD at 212 223 3332 by 5:00PM on Friday, December 5th~~ ~~for advance tickets while they last~~; tickets purchased at the door the evening of the event (if available) will be $5 higher, CASH ONLY.

RSVP early! All tickets, and seating, are first come, first served.

JAMES VICTORE Norman Rockwell Is My God

2008-10-08T15:35:48Z

After our first, sold-out Speakeasy, we're back again on Monday, October 27th with a night of cocktails and conversation with James Victore, hell-bent on world domination. Clearly he knows that path leads straight through SPD. Join us for a talk the man himself says "will be serious. And a bit silly."

]]> Surfboards. Magazines. Plates. Political positions. Apolitical positions.
He's done it all, and as Steve Heller says, "by using any and all graphic means.... Passion and purpose underscore his design."

Come meet some of creative's talented trendsetters and share a glass with colleagues as the SPD launches a series of intimate, relaxed evenings where you can listen to art directors and photo editors, photographers and illustrators and type designers share their secrets and answer your questions. Inspiring and enlightening talks held at the elegant Wild Project theater downtown, with complimentary drinks and inspiring conversations.

Once again, Thank God It's Monday! See you there...

JAMES VICTORE: Norman Rockwell Is My God

Monday, October 27, 2008
Wild Project Theatre
195 East 3rd Street (between Aves. A & B)
map here or below

7:00 drinks
7:30 discussion

Tickets:
SPD Members, $10 in advance ($15 CASH ONLY at the door)
Non-members, $15 in advance ($20 CASH ONLY at the door)

RSVP: Please call SPD at 212 223 3332 by 5:00PM on Friday, October 24th for advance tickets while they last; tickets purchased at the door the evening of the event (if available) will be $5 higher, CASH ONLY.

RSVP early! All tickets, and seating, are first come, first served.

PAPER TO PIXELS: Tuesday, October 7th

2008-09-17T18:08:39Z

"Today the internet does what magazines used to do."
- Fabien Baron, Interview Magazine relaunch issue.

Magazines and their websites.

Are websites replacing magazines? Are magazines the main course and the web just a side? Who does what better? How have websites changed the role of the modern magazine? Do we need both? Am I going to be out of work in 10 years...or less?
]]> Tuesday, October 7th at F.I.T. we will bring together some of the top minds from dynamically expanding print publications on the web to discuss every curiosity, thrill, anxiety, and insecurity you could have about magazines and websites.

Click on a panelist for a bio and short Q and A.

Khoi Vinh, Design Director of NYTimes.com
Jeremy LaCroix, Creative Director of CHOW.com and URBANBABY.com.
Ian Adelman, Design Director of NYMag.com
Paul Schrynemakers, Creative Director of Rodale Online
Andrew Essex, CEO of Droga5

Please join us for an evening of amazing work and conversation.
We'll figure this whole thing out. Promise.

PAPER TO PIXELS
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Katie Murphy Amphitheatre, F.I.T.
27th Street & Seventh Avenue, NYC

7:00 - 8:30 PM; doors open at 6:30

Tickets:
SPD Members, ~~$10 in advance~~ $15 CASH ONLY at the door (advance tickets no longer available)
Non-members, ~~$15 in advance~~ $20 CASH ONLY at the door (advance tickets no longer available)
Students & faculty with valid ID: $5

Please call SPD at 212 223 3332 by noon on Monday, October 6th for advance tickets; after Monday the 6th Tickets can be purchased at the door Tuesday evening, CASH ONLY.

RSVP early! All tickets, and seating, are first come, first served.

Photography Courtesy of Johnny Miller.

Watch Here! SPD@FIT: New York Magazine at 40

2008-09-16T14:00:00Z

An audio slideshow of the panel discussion celebrating New York Magazine's 40th anniversary.]]>

SPD@FIT: "New York Magazine at 40" Panel Discussion from SPD Videos on Vimeo.

Click here to download the full Quicktime movie to your desktop.

SPD@FIT: New York Magazine at 40

2008-09-14T21:30:00Z

Tuesday night was the first of SPD's fall speaker events, and it was a blockbuster: the audience was packed with notables, hopefuls, and everybody in between. It was a testimonial to New York Magazine's powerful influence in our city and in our business.
]]> New York Magazine... without giving away my age, suffice it to say I have been a subscriber for ALMOST as long as it has been in existence (now 40 years... can it be true?! I must have subscribed as a mere babe). My subscription to New York Magazine has sustained me and connected me to the city I love for many, many years... far longer than any of my other subscriptions, marriages, jobs, relationships... (but that's another blog entry, and it doesn't belong here).

Just seeing the panel on FIT's Katie Murphy Auditorium stage was toe-tingling: Walter Bernard! New York Magazine co-founder Milton Glaser! Current editor and (still) wunderkind Adam Moss, he of the many ASME awards! Robert Newman! Current Design Director Chris Dixon! (How does he pull this crazily labor-intensive format off, week after undoubtedly sleep-deprived week?!) Okay, I promise that is the last of my homage to Tom Wolfe. (Tom Wolfe rose to great prominence in the [early] pages of New York Magazine, as did many other now-famous writers. But this was an audience of designers, so that, too, is another story.)

Behind the panelists: a mesmerizing slideshow selected from New York Magazine's 2080 covers (that's 40 covers times 52 weeks a year...give or take) and a few historical photographs of Walter and Milton in their younger incarnations. I don't know what was going through the minds of the youngsters in the audience, but for those of us old enough to remember most of those covers, it was like a trip through time, re-living every cover story that defined our lives.

Skillfully moderated by SPD Vice President and Blender CD Dirk Barnett, the panelists touched on everything from practical issues like deadlines and budgets as well as the unique zeitgeist in the beginning days of New York Magazine, and how it all works today. Dirk announced that at the end of the discussion there would be a "McCain presidency cover challenge" for the panelists).

First, Milton Glaser recalled how New York Magazine started: as a Sunday supplement, edited in its last few years by the now-legendary Clay Felker (Felker's recent passing was noted in the pages of New York with a lengthy memorial package including recollections from many prominent contributors).

Milton remembered, "Most of us had no idea what we were doing. It was one of the worst periods of my life." However, it was also a uniquely fertile creative environment: "People liked to cluster where the talent was...we all welcomed that sense of community, the feeling was that if we had enough good people with good ideas we could make a good magazine. The idea was we were all in it together." In those days, Milton recalled, any one could get in to see the editor... "If you could make it up the four flights of stairs, you could talk to someone at the magazine" ...not like today, where getting an appointment with an editor is difficult or even impossible.

Walter recalled all of the illustrators and photographers who participated in the magazine, often for very small fees, and little time for execution, simply because they knew it was a great place to have your work seen, and because there was an excitement about New York Magazine in its early days. "Of course, Pushpin Studios was downstairs...Seymour (Chwast) or Milton could do the illustration for the cover...in fact, Milton was our landlord! That's why we never had any heat," he joked.

Like anything that has been around for so many years, the magazine has had its zeniths and nadirs, and many editors and art directors have had a hand in its look and content. But its low points were barely mentioned by the panel, as New York Magazine is unquestionably on a roll these days: under Adam Moss' stewardship, New York has been lauded and awarded practically every industry honor, and circulation is at an all-time high.

Robert Newman, however, recalled how things had changed by the time he served as the Art Director in the mid '90s: "When I was interviewed, they would not take me into the art department, and after I accepted the job I found out why: it was an open space with drafting tables; everyone sat together, even the messengers; there were no walls. Meanwhile, the editor's office was lavish, with mahogany paneling...this was when the offices were on Second Avenue." Bob also brought up the sore subject of budgets; people who looked at the magazine thought there was a great budget but, he said, "The reality was that the budget was very low and the staff was minimal...it was a real struggle."

Milton remembered that, in the beginning, "The magazine was tough and utilitarian...we didn't feel it was well-designed; we were just trying to put it together and get it out the door. The art department probably wrote sixty percent of the headlines; the hierarchical lines were quite broken down...there were no walls."

Adam Moss said that, in that respect at least, things had not changed that much. "We still make decisions on the fly...we try to have at least five versions of the cover; on Thursday afternoons we bring in staffers--anyone on the staff can cometo 'edit' the covers, to make sure we have sent a clear message, that we haven't overlooked something; we are sometimes too close to it. That still gives us about six hours to make changes."

Moss complimented the "incredible visual team" and gave us some insight into the redesign executed while Luke Hayman was the Design Director: "I kept saying to Luke and Chris, 'Stuff more in' and the magazine became very dense, but the density was parried with exuberant air. Luke and Chris made an asset of the density. And Randy Minor does a great job with The Strategist, which was more or less created to play off Randy's obsessions." He also acknowledged the important contributions made by Director of Photography Jody Quon (who was modestly in the audience, as was Randy), especially for her 'great optimism' in getting subjects; especially with the recent Bert Stern cover story of Lindsay Lohan re-creating the famous photo session he did with Marilyn Monroe shortly before her death.

Walter said that, when he was the Art Director, "There was no Photo Editor; the Art Director hired the illustrators and the photographers." But, Milton added, despite all of the difficulties, "All of the emergencies and being oppressed by time and circumstance and lack of money gave us all a great sense of purpose in our lives."

Dirk sensed that was a great ender, so now it was time for the McCain presidency cover challenge: If McCain won the presidency, what should New York Magazine's cover image be?

Walter Bernard: "I picture him sitting on the lap of Sarah Palin, looking rather small."

Milton Glaser: "The picture of McCain is seen from behind."

Robert Newman: "It's a big face of Hillary Clinton, with a big smile."

Adam Moss: "It will be close to the New Year; I'd put McCain in diapers."

Chris Dixon: "Those were my four ideas."

SOLD OUT! NO FORMULA: Intuition Is Underrated

2008-08-20T14:45:32Z

Cocktails.
Conversation.

Two of the things SPD loves best, coming together for our new series of smaller speaker events, the SPD SpeakEasy.

And to kick the whole thing off?
The New York Times Magazine's Art Director, Arem Duplessis, on the behind-the-scenes, about-the-process work that goes on at the magazine.
]]> Wild Project theater downtown, with complimentary drinks and inspiring conversations.

All we can say is, Thank God It's Monday! See you there...

NO FORMULA: Intuition Is Underrated
Arem Dupless, Art Director, The New York Times Magazine

Monday, September 22, 2008
Wild Project Theatre
195 East 3rd Street (between Aves. A & B)
map here or below

7:00 drinks
7:30 discussion

UPDATE, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18th: This event is completely sold to capacity! Wow. Thank you to everyone who RSVP'd early, and for those of you we have to miss, we will be recording to share on the site after the event.

Tickets:
SPD Members, $10 in advance ($15 CASH ONLY at the door)
Non-members, $15 in advance ($20 CASH ONLY at the door)
Students with valid ID: $5

Please call SPD at 212 223 3332 by noon on Monday, September 22nd for advance tickets while they last; tickets purchased at the door the evening of the event will be $5 higher, CASH ONLY.

RSVP early! All tickets, and seating, are first come, first served.