That’s a behind-the-scenes shot of a feature opener from the March issue of Runner’s World. The photo team dipped brand new running shoes into paint, pressed the soles against that slick paper, then squeezed more paint out of ketchup bottles to give it that exaggerated drip and pooling. I was inspired by French street artist Zevs when I pitched the idea.
Here’s how my final layout turned out:
The issue’s cover — photographed again by Guido Vitti — is a gatefold, and it’s the first gatefold cover I’ve ever designed. The subject of running form made for a great use of the space:
Here’s a feature opener concept sketch I scribbled for a story about chi running. (The unicycle is meant to be transparent.)
Here’s the final, illustrated by Yuko Shimizu:
The accompanying photos were taken before I joined the Runner’s World staff. So to tie them to the opener a little better, I had Quad/Graphics hand color them in Photoshop:
There’s a fantastic story in the issue about a runner who went missing after participating in an extremely dangerous race up and down a mountain in Alaska. What happened to him remains an unsolved mystery many months later. Photo Director Michele Ervin sent Reed Young to Alaska to capture some great portraits of key figures in the story, but I wanted to use the last known photo of the missing runner (taken during the race, as he neared the top of the mountain) for the feature opener. I wanted to pair it with an imposing shot of the mountain, but nothing we found was especially dramatic. So I took a pleasant landscape shot, desaturated it, then inverted it (a trick you’d see on newsmagazine shows like A Current Affair). The negative look gave the opener the drama I wanted:
Here are some of Reed’s great portraits:
I wanted to incorporate a practical map, but the one supplied by the race was filled with details we didn’t need. So Production Manager Jimmy Cavalieri and I collaborated on this paired down version, which Jimmy designed, printed and distressed:
It’s my favorite story we’ve run since I’ve been here. Really exciting writing.
