The Boomerang Effect

The Walrus Magazine/ Digital/ 2010

I was honored to do cover and a spot illustration for their September 2010 issue.

The article is about how the author Marni Jackson is having trouble /not/ parenting even though her son is in his 20s and going to university.  She contrasts this relationship—which I think she calls a bonded family—with the very distant relationship she, as a young hippie, had with her upright 50s Prairie parents. Back then it seems to Marni that they were content, once the birds had flown the nest, to let go. It turns out that her parents were actually confused and worried at the strange paths their children were taking for themselves in the 70s, and she suspects they were more than a little disappointed with their kids.

AD Brian told me to use warm colour palette since  they recently used a lot of blue colour palette a lot the last couple of issues.  I was also told that more men reads this magazine.  Thus, even though the article is by a female writer, he suggested to put both mother and father to attract both genders.

Brian really liked my first approach to put the thumb-up image coming from letter W, but we had to give up this idea since the byline text had to go right below The Walrus on the left-hand side so that people can see what the cover story is about when they are placed behind other magazines on stand.  I learned so many things upon this process.  Thank you for the great opportunity!

You can view my chat with Brian here  And what’s more? You can purchase my cover art here