I was flattered and overwhelmed earlier this summer when editorial design heavyweight Robert Newman asked me to put together a collection of my best Las Vegas Weekly covers and spreads, which would be posted as a retrospective on the official website of the Society of Publication Designers. I took this honor very seriously, and spent many nights in July, August and September digging through my archives and reflecting on the back stories and budgets and aftermath of some of my favorite pieces. By the time I was done, I’d written a 4,500-word narrative, rather than the concise blurbs Bob was hoping for.
You can check out the SPD’s retrospective here. I thought I’d run my unabridged narrative here.
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Introduction
(Since I’m a new SPD member and nobody knows me)
In May of 2000, I dropped out of UNLV’s film school, quit my job as a model builder for casino resort mogul Steve Wynne’s in-house architectural design firm, and joined Las Vegas Weekly as an untrained, entry-level graphic designer. In the next couple of years I moved from changing expiration dates in coupons for sports bars and strip clubs to photographing or illustrating spots and covers on a semi-regular basis. And in October 2002, two weeks after turning 26, I was promoted to art director.
For my first year, my art budget was $100 per issue, and for the next two years it hovered at around $250. I didn’t have another full-time designer on staff until 2005, so I was forced to rapidly develop as a photographer, illustrator and designer. In film school I’d done all my own writing, producing, shooting, animating, directing and editing, so a part of me looked at this as: “Well, at least I don’t have to write all the articles, too.” (Although I did write a few cover stories over the years.)
The Weekly’s editorial calendar was never planned all that far ahead, so almost all of my covers were put together on the fly. I generally formed concepts in the Thursday morning staff meetings, where I’d hear — often for the first time — what the next issue’s cover story was going to be about. I would usually start sketching out ideas as the editors and writers discussed the cover story, and moments later I’d share my plan with the group. From there, I’d have just two business days to execute it — which meant I worked most weekends. I rarely got cover lines more than a few hours before the cover was due to the printer, so there was little time to experiment with type. And of course I had the rest of the issue to design.
Vegas always had two or three alt-weeklies competing for everyone’s attention, so I tried to do everything I could to make my covers stand out. It was my hope to embrace regionalism, and mirror the spirit and history and mythology of Vegas in my work whenever I could.
This was the era of “What happens here, stays here” – the now iconic slogan of the city, which debuted my first year as art director. Vegas was ditching its aim to be a family-friendly destination, and announced to the world that it was embracing its hedonistic roots in an increasingly thriving economy.
I mention all this as a disclaimer, in a way. You’ll see more sin and skin on my covers than you’ll see on those of a typical alt-weekly. I hope you won’t hold that against me. I was merely trying to capture the culture of my city at that time, in as playful a way as I could.
I was laid off from Las Vegas Weekly in October of 2008 – one of many victims of a company-wide downsizing in a now disastrous economy. By that time I’d won best cover designer at the AAN awards, and had my work appear in a book, a documentary, a museum, on America’s Next Top Model, and in a porno called Big Tits at Work. I even received a novelty key to the city from the mayor in an impromptu, half-assed ceremony in his conference room. I watched the Weekly go from newsprint covers to glossy, and from grayscale editorial content to color. And in that time I personally photographed or illustrated over 225 Las Vegas Weekly covers.
Here are some of my favorites– along with a profile photo and a few spreads – in chronological order.
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Warning: Curves Ahead
March 20-26, 2003
Model: Ariel
Photograph by Benjamen Purvis
This, to me, is my first real “Las Vegas” cover: In my homage to the classic Attack of the 50 Foot Woman poster, I cast a giant stripper in clear heels and hot pants, with enormous breasts spilling out of her tiger print top. Continue reading →
