EBEN | news/info

slate: the life of a jellyfish

today i was on call to do a slate illustration. basically this means that one of the art directors has me scheduled, they email me a story, i send sketches, we sometimes have a back and forth, things go smoothly, it's a beautiful thing. today, the slaties were busy with all the democratic convention coverage, john mccain picking a running mate, and probably a hundred other stories. things were a bit delayed and then i got this from jim (ad extraordinaire)...

So it's a story about jellyfish. That's all I know, and it's late, but I want you to get started.
I trust you, so...JELLYFISH! GO!

yup. that was it (and this is actually fewer exclamation points than our usual email threads). how often do you get a job where an ad gives you basically a word, says go, accepts your sketch, accepts your final, and just makes your day. mind you, this isn't even the first time. slate...i love you guys.

slate: the life of a jellyfish, by constance casey

Labels: illustration, jellyfish, slate.com

eben | 6:45 PM | 0 comments

texas observer: the low road to higher ground

the redcross does a lot of good, however, this was not one of their finer moments. siting a change to fema maps, redcross emergency services stayed out of south texas' hidalgo county until after hurricane dolly had passed.

The Red Cross blames the delay on a bureaucratic rule change. Historically, the Red Cross had always managed Hidalgo County’s emergency shelters. (In 2005, during Hurricane Emily, the agency ran 13 emergency shelters housing 6,000 evacuees.) In 2007, the Federal Emergency Management Agency designated a majority of the county a flood zone because of its badly deteriorated levees. This triggered a national Red Cross policy that prevents the organization from providing emergency services until hurricanes, and the danger of flooding, have subsided.

texas observer: the low road to higher ground

Labels: hidalgo county, illustration, redcross, texas, texas observer

eben | 12:31 PM | 0 comments

doodle

octopus-deepsea diver thing...oh who knows.

Labels: sketchbook

eben | 6:08 PM | 0 comments

slate: 82 days and counting

illustration for slate about the run up to november for the democrat and republican presidential campaigns. i have probably been watching too much of the olympics, but a marathon sprint between elephant and donkey was too much to resist. also, for you pre-season football fans out there (pico), illegal armbars! the sprint concept also worked well as these slate covers don't employ a lot of lead time (the background and winding road came after the final, in a casual chat with the AD).

slate: 82 days and counting, by john dickerson