"Steve Maobs": Unused Fortune Magazine Cover
To illustrate a potential cover story on the intriguing impact of Apple's products on the Chinese economy, I was asked by Fortune to design what felt like a propaganda poster based around a central figure that subtly combined Chairman Mao with Steve Jobs (whom I gleefully took to calling "Steve Maobs"). Unfortunately, the idea was pulled at the last minute and the piece remains unused.
To illustrate a potential cover story on the intriguing impact of Apple's products on the Chinese economy, I was asked by Fortune to design what felt like a propaganda poster based around a central figure that subtly combined Chairman Mao with Steve Jobs (whom I gleefully took to calling "Steve Maobs"). Unfortunately, the idea was pulled at the last minute and the piece remains unused.
Alternate gold cover concept.
The real effort went into the central visual of Mao himself. To make matters worse, I decided up front that tracing wasn't an option (as practical as it would have been). So, with numerous photographic references and as much patience as I could muster, I set about rendering my own stylized but accurate Mao from scratch. Finally, to complete the Steve Jobs allusion, I gave him the trademark turtleneck and glasses, as well as the same general pose and expression Jobs so often struck when presenting the latest iPhone to the audience at WWDC.
The last step was fleshing out the scene with some 3D elements. I love the mixed-media look of vector, 3D, texture and lighting effects, and I think this piece captures that. Socialist Realism was my model for the general tone and layout, but I wanted the "finish" to feel both technologically agnostic, drawing on multiple types of imagery to create a final arrangement, and undeniably modern.
Alternate layout.
