enfineitzstil

This has been a deadline week, and we’ve had to get over some serious headaches of team friction. 

I did, however, work with some great illustrators. We finished the September/October issue of Lives of Real Estate, my flagship client and project. The cover photo was done by Adam Ewing of Richmond, Virginia. We collaborated on the idea of showing Cris Collie, CEO of Worlwide ERC in Arlington, VA. Since Worldwide ERC is a relocation association, we dreamed up a metaphor of relocation. The magic carpet seemed to be a strong way to communicate this.

After the photos were done, we needed to composite it so that it appears he is really flying. I am confident in my Photoshop skills, but I have to occupy my time with a lot of other “big picture” tasks, so I brought in a really talented photo-illustrator, Tod Kapke, who has delivered some excellent creative solutions for me for years. He can also add some image refinements to bring it more to life.

Another great illustrator we worked with in this issue of LORE is Stan Shaw of Tacoma, Washington. He’s great on all levels. He did this illustration with natural media. I think it’s primarily airbrush. The article was about Frank Norton Jr., a north Georgia real estate investor who, with several respectable partners, purchase and develop property which is either distressed or in the path of progress. Even though the method has been likened to that of vultures, he feels that he is a problem-solver by taking over distressed properties and relieving the troubled owner of their burden. He and his partners often purchase a property for pennies on the dollar. Stan’s approach was to interpret Norton as a farmer, planting and cultivating real estate to something of real value. Initially, Stan did an illustration which showed a business man as an angel, descending on an intersection. Beautiful illustration, but my publisher Anne Randolph felt that it missed the point. I’ve preserved it here for posterity. Good work, Stan Shaw.

An editorial illustration by Stan Shaw, for LORE magazine, September/October 2008.

Another editorial image by Stan Shaw, which was not used, but purchased for a kill fee, and replaced with the image of the farmer.