The August Issue

Posted on August 24, 2011 by Benjamen

The August issue of Men’s Journal had some great material to work with — especially in the feature well. I knew the explosive James Harrison profile was going to attract a lot of attention as soon as I read it. I wanted photographer Nathaniel Welch to create a portrait that would stop people in their tracks, so he got Harrison to pose with his own handguns for this opener:

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Four Months Later, I Still ♥ New York

Posted on July 28, 2011 by Benjamen

I bought this keychain the first week I moved here.

Hard to believe it’s been four months since my last blog post. My new job as creative director of Men’s Journal has been keeping me really busy, and has been going very well. And when I’m not working, I’m exploring. I’m absolutely in love with New York City — I’m inspired by it everyday. I feel so lucky to be living here.

Here’s what I’ve been up to these last few months:

In March I flew out to Los Angeles with Jodi Peckman, Rolling Stone‘s photo director, to sit in on photographer Jim Wright‘s shoot with Friday Night Lights and Super 8 star Kyle Chandler, for the cover of the June issue of Men’s Journal:

Kyle Chandler cover

Here’s a behind the scenes shot I snapped with my iPhone:

Behind the scenes of the Kyle Chandler shoot.
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Benjamen’s Journal

Posted on February 15, 2011 by Benjamen

Back in September of 1999 I went to New York City for my first time. I was a 22-year-old film student at UNLV, and my fairy tale short The Devil and Butterscotch Gaye was screening at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival (where it would go on to win Best Animation). I had four great friends who went along with me, and we had an unforgettable time. On our first night we went to a pre-festival party at a venue inside Madison Square Garden, where filmmakers screened trailers for their films and handed out flyers. (That’s mine up there.) I got to see Times Square and the Statue of Liberty. We even stayed in a hotel at the World Trade Center. It was thrilling.

About six months later I quit film school and started working as an entry-level graphic designer at Las Vegas Weekly. As time went on, I found myself more and more interested in graphic design than in filmmaking. I didn’t get to go back to New York for more than 11 years — until last month, when I returned as a judge at the 46th annual Society of Publication Designers awards.

Judges(Photograph by Joe Zeff.)

In all the years I’d worked in magazine design, I’d always admired the SPD from afar, collecting the annuals and frequently visiting the website. But I’d been too intimidated to enter any of their competitions — or even join their group — until last year. I just didn’t feel as though I was ready. So it was a genuine honor to get the invitation to judge in the same year that I joined.

It was a staggering weekend. I got to see the best in 2010 magazine design from around the world, meet some truly great designers, make some new friends, and hang out with a personal hero — Fred Woodward from GQ Magazine. And I was beside myself when I saw that one of my entries had made it into the annual, and was competing for a medal. The whole thing was surreal. Life-changing, even.

Elmo Continue reading →

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The Poor Man’s Marian Bantjes

Posted on January 26, 2011 by Benjamen

I was really inspired by the new Marian Bantjes book when I set out to design the Top Dentists feature in the February issue of Seattle Met. We had no money left in the budget to commission an illustrator or photographer to do custom work for us, so I illustrated the whole package myself. I set a new personal record for use of modified stock: There are 120 different photos of mouths used throughout this package.

Top Dentists 2011

Here’s a detail shot of that flowery background.

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Judging the Best Publication Design, Photography and Illustration in Print and Digital

Posted on January 17, 2011 by Benjamen

I’ll be in New York City at the end of this week to help judge the 46th annual Society of Publication Designers awards. It’s a huge thrill for me — I was too intimidated to even join the SPD until last year.

I’m looking forward to meeting some truly great designers in my first trip to New York since 1999.

SPD Competition

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