Books for All Seasons

Books for all seasons was the topic of a recent project for Scholastic. Details of the project, along with finished art will be shown once it is released later this year. For now, here's a look at a cover idea that was presented (but not selected). Thanks to the excellent team at Scholastic.

The New World of Work

Working around the clock, around the world, is the theme of a new instructional CD for IBM and cover artwork that I illustrated.

The CD focuses on maintaining effective professional and personal lives in a workday that spans the time zones, with technology and travel as parts of the equation.

Here's a look at the final cover, and the initial sketches that led to the direction chosen by the client. A big thanks from several time zones away to Ing Designs and Ceridian Corporation for guiding the process.

A New Hope for those with Mental Health Issues

The American Bar Association commissioned this piece for a feature story called "A New Hope". The article highlights efforts being made to address mental health issues in the legal profession and assist those needing help. Thanks to the ABA, great fans of illustration and my longest running client-relationship – 13 years already!

Happy Holidays

This image is available as a card for those last minute Seasons Greetings through CafePress at http://www.cafepress.com/seankanesnowman. (Don't let the look of their ugly basic stores fool you, the cards they produce are nice!)

Habitat for Humanity Jazz Concert

Illustration created for "An Evening of Jazz" benefit concert to raise funds for construction of a house by Habitat for Humanity in Kankakee County, Illinois, an hour from Chicago. The poster for the event will include text over the ribbon winding through the image.

Good Vibrations

New green technologies will turn heat into a sound wave which triggers an electric element to become voltage. Sounds complicated! Look for it in the latest issue of the eco-awareness magazine called Checkerspot. (Subscriptions are free in Canada, by the way).

Thanks to the Canadian Wildlife Federation and their excellent designer for art direction on this one.

Halloween Bats

One from my archives commemorating the annual autumn convergence of baseball's World Series and things that go Boo! in the night.

Getting Around U.S. Information Gathering

Challenges for European corporations trying to produce documentation for litigation in the U.S. while protecting personal data.

Thanks to InsideCounsel magazine for picking my Reverie Style for this one.

Thanks also to the Canadian Wildlife Federation, Black Enterprise, and MJSA for projects this past week.

Leaving School

Programs are being created by judges to assist and support young people who have turned away from the educational system. Cover artwork for the American Bar Association.

Silent Signals

Interpreting how actions and body language translate. Thanks to Hanley Wood Magazines for commissioning this Ensemble Style piece.

Something New

Balancing between the decorative and whimsical, Bollywood and Indian matchbox influences.

Nationwide Mortgage Campaign

More images, this time in my textural collage way of working (Ensemble Style), for a playful campaign promoting home ownership. Big thanks to the group at Graves Fowler Creative.

Sketchbook Pages

A couple pages from my sketchbooks are being displayed on the Moleskine web site, the makers of the great little notebooks that I carry everywhere I go. My sketches can be seen on this page and on this one.

London Power Walking

Vibrations from foot traffic in London are being harnessed to create energy to light the city. Really! Commissioned by All Nippon Airways, Tokyo.

Praying Around the Water Cooler

A spot about the increase in prayer groups in the workplace. One in a series of six images commissioned by the nice folks at NavPress.

More Happy Babies

We're sure making this #2 business look pretty good. The latest in Playtex Baby's ad campaign using my Ensemble Style background artwork is out and here online. More from the Playtex Baby campaign can be seen in the Ensemble portfolio. Big thanks to the #1 team at Grey Worldwide, New York.

OnMyDesk.com

Thanks and Welcome! to all of those visiting from the link at OnMyDesk.com, which recently pulled back the curtain to show where I work and what it looks like at this moment in time.

Nationwide Mortgage Campaign

A series of ads, brochures and flyers highlighting new mortgage products are rolling out this summer. Graves Fowler Creative contacted me to create the artwork for their client, a major company which makes mortgage money available to lenders in communities across the U.S.

In-flight Heat Wave

Those buckled-in for a long flight to or from Japan on All Nippon Airways (ANA) this summer can check out the news on the world's hottest pepper in the airline's Wingspan magazine. Thanks to McDavis Associates, Tokyo.

Rolling Through Retail Medicine

Thanks to the American Academy of Family Physicians for commissioning cover artwork for their flagship publication, Family Practice Management. Interesting article about where medical services are popping up these days and the quick churn of customers at health care centers located in retail stores.

Instructional CD Cover

Thanks! to Bright White Design for the commission to create cover artwork for Ceridian/GlaxoSmithKline's instructional CD "Growing Stronger Through Change."

Going Ga Ga, Again

Just received a copy of the Playtex Baby's Sipster ad with my background artwork. This ad and two others with textured collage backgrounds are popping up in parenting magazines this Spring. Thanks to the creative team at Grey Worldwide, New York.

Drivers Wanted

I was commissioned to create a tidy little suburban street scene for Volkswagen to be used in a tiny little promotion for the VW Passat. vroom, vroom. Thanks to Arnold Worldwide, Boston.

It's a Circus

I've recently completed a couple of illustrations to be included in a new KLUTZ Chicken Socks activity book for kids called Magic Painting, set for publication next year (2006). All I can say about my pages is that a monkey steals the show.

EndNote Goodbye

At long last, EndNote (the popular academic software tool for publishing and managing bibliographies which most every grad student and doctoral candidate seems to use) is phasing out the artwork I created for their packaging in 1998 with this week's release of Version 9.

Very pleased that the illustration provided such long term value for the company and the product identity. And it was always a kick to see it on store shelves and in computer catalogues, not to mention meeting the EndNote team in Berkeley back in the day. Nice to see my banner illustrations (rather pixelated) still in use on the EndNote site.

Charitable Events Guide

This summer and fall have been some of the busiest months around the studio in some time, completing nearly 70 illustrations for a variety of clients and their projects (while squeezing in a few days during that time for playing at the beach with visiting family and friends!)

Among the projects, Atlanta Magazine commissioned this painting for the cover of their annual Charitable Events Guide, coming out in January, hinting at the types of events that will be part of the city's social scene next year.

Coo-Coo, Coo-Coo, Time to Unload Those Stocks!

The mood turned to money with this altered coo-coo clock commissioned by Black Enterprise for a feature story describing when it's time to sell off investments.

My Illustration In Shoppers' Wallets

My art was part of the gift-giving tradition this holiday season with my snowman illustration adorning the Snowman Gift Card for Mervyns stores, part of the Target Brands group of retailers.

Books-A-Million Sizzlin'

Buyers of books this Summer may have seen my sun illustration on displays all around their local Books-A-Million store. The third largest book retailer in the nation with more than 200 stores in 18 states, BAM used the image to promote their hot 'Sizzlin' Summer Sale.

Japanese Debut

Sketches and final illustrations crisscrossed many time zones during the Summer as I began working with KF Design, designer of Asia-Pacific Perspectives : Japan+, a Tokyo-based publication offering readers insight into contemporary Japanese culture and society. Recently in the magazine my work accompanied an article about the shifting Japanese diet which is seeing more western, non-traditional foods at the table.

Internet Health Myths

Sneaking in before the last of the hot days were over, I created ten illustrations for Health & You magazine for a feature story about health-related myths on the Internet. Apparently the word on the 'net is that, among other misnomers, Costa Rican bananas cause flesh-eating bacterial disease. I was in Costa Rica earlier this year, ate plenty of bananas, and can personally attest that this is truly a myth and that snakes are the thing to watch out for there, not the produce! Thanks to HealthInk for the project.