Daniel Hertzberg

Consulting firm: Procter & Gamble's Digital Revolution

2012-01-16T13:16:00.003-05:00

This was a full-spread illustration for an interview with the CEO of Procter & Gamble. In the interview, he explains his mission to make P&G the most technologically enabled business in the world. Every aspect of the company's operations—manufacturing, customer relations, retailers, global shipping—would be faster and more efficient than ever before.
I thought it would be great to show a lot of their products (mostly household items) in bright brand colors, growing in the shape of a flower blossoming. I liked the first sketch (below) with the bird's-eye view of houses with roads replaced with circuits. It illustrates P&G's global reach to every household in the world. Maybe I'll take it to final for fun.

Businessweek: Did That Robot Take My Job?

2012-01-09T14:13:00.003-05:00

Fun job for Businessweek about robots taking jobs away from human beings. This job was assigned to me back in November but took several weeks to be published. This was a fun and different approach to illustrating an article. Lee, the art director and I exchanged many different layouts to see what worked best. I thought it would look great if everything on the page were separate pieces being put together. Sketches below.

Tablet Magazine: Obama and the Jewish Vote

2012-01-09T14:03:00.003-05:00

Quick one (a one day job) for Tablet a few weeks ago. Synopsis of the article: Support for President Obama is sagging among a key Democratic voting bloc. Now his campaign has 11 months to win back Jewish voters. I liked the idea of Obama pulling out a Jewish folder, brushing up on his Judaism facts for the upcoming election. Sketches below. The foreshortening on his arm is completely off.

TIME Magazine: "The Bailout that Worked"

2012-01-02T10:15:00.005-05:00

This was a dream job. I was asked to do some sketches for a potential cover of Time International about the resurgent U.S. auto industry. The working title they had at the time was "The bailout that worked." The article was a bit more about the CEO of Chrysler/Fiat than about the industry as a whole, but I tried as many concepts as possible before I feel asleep at the computer (several other jobs were due that Monday). I did the best I could. I like some of the sketches here regardless how cliché a life preserver is, including the Joe Louis statue (fist) with life preservers or the used life preservers stacked like used tires. The American flag sketch is made up of new cars in rows. The two covers they went with are below. Even though the sketches were rejected, it was an absolute honor just to be considered for something like this.

CIO Magazine: CIOs Disconnected From Business Execs

2012-01-02T09:55:00.004-05:00

It's rare I work with the same client two months in a row, but the art director at CIO had such a great time with the last cover she decided to hire me for the very next cover as well. The article was about the disconnect between a CIO and other biz executives. The editors really wanted someone with a disconnected plug, so I tried a few with that. I actually like the unplugged handshake sketch. But they liked the suit sketch as well. Sketches below.

Scientific American: Do Computers Have Feelings?

2011-12-27T15:59:00.005-05:00

Quick one for Scientific American, about computers and if they have feelings or not. It's hard not to get away from tears to show feelings... but the HAL 9000 sketch was chosen. Hopefully the tears feel real?

Tablet Magazine: Jewish, Without Religion

2011-12-22T11:15:00.005-05:00

This was for a fascinating article in Tablet a few weeks ago. The article was about some Israelis who are Jewish by ethnicity but do not believe in Judaism. Those that are not Jewish by religion want to be recognized by the state of Israeli as "Jewish without religion." It's the first "crack in the wall" as someone put it. I thought some people walking out of a star would illustrate this best (though this one was not published). Sketches below, including an Israeli flag with several religious symbols on it and someone painting over the extra candles of a menorah.

Inside Council: Exchanging Trade Secrets

2011-12-22T11:00:00.003-05:00

Here's a long horizontal spot illo for Inside Council. The article was about how to prosecute companies in foreign countries that give away trade secrets illegally. The different countries whispering to each other seemed to fit best. Though I liked the door lock chess board idea, to show the companies are competing but exchanging simultaneously. Below is a rejected topographic solution and the sketches for this.

Sports Illustrated: Wish You Were Here—Or Not

2011-12-22T10:40:00.004-05:00

Got a call from Sports Illustrated a couple weeks ago about doing a rush job for them. They wanted postcards of NBA players that are (stuck) playing overseas. Some are happy, some aren't. I'm not used to doing humorous collage pieces like this, but it was a lot of fun putting these together! Some variations below. It was fun choosing cliché fonts for each country too.

CIO Magazine: Forging the Vendor Collective

2011-12-01T08:47:00.006-05:00

Some projects you're just perfect for. This was definitely one of them. The art director wanted an exec forging an anvil in a WWII poster style. I couldn't be happier! Hundreds of references were shot for this one. You can see a bunch of them in the poses for all the sketches below (some were a little too graphic and violent). Also below is the final print version and an alternative green version I liked.

Businessweek: Penn State Football Too Big to Fail

2011-11-21T11:24:00.003-05:00

This was a half-pager (that actually printed only a quarter page) for Businessweek about how the Penn State football machine was much too big to fail. The force a winning sports team exerts on a university’s brand and student recruiting power is priceless. I thought it would be perfect for Penn State to look incredibly tiny compared to Joe Paterno. Lots of sketches below, including a college campus map as the laces of a football.

Adweek: Zombie Ad Landscape

2011-11-18T13:11:00.003-05:00

A very quick (2 days) piece for Adweek last week, about the television advertising landscape being very dead right now. The art director used the term "zombie landscape" to describe it. So there are a bunch of sketches with graves, skulls, etc. The art director wanted to reference the smash hit show "The Walking Dead" since it's about zombies, but the zombies being ads. The piece that went to print was a last minute change- the skull/tv static piece was the original final, but was a little too morose. too bad!

Silver Medal from the Society of Illustrators

2011-11-18T12:49:00.005-05:00

I was deeply honored when I was informed that my rejected New Yorker cover submission, "Snowpocalypse," won a silver medal (in the unpublished category) from the Society of Illustrators this week. It's an award that I literally never imagined I'd receive. There are so many fantastic illustrators out there, so many of them that are so talented and with so much amazing work produced over the year- it's a little overwhelming to consider how luck I am. Many many thanks to the judges and to the Society of this award!

Corporate Knights: How Bond Markets can save the Economy

2011-11-09T09:25:00.003-05:00

For an article about how the issuance of bonds can be used to raise huge amounts of money for big green energy and infrastructure projects, which will put people to work and stimulate economic growth. -Fairly complex brief, no? It was seeming impossible to get all those ideas into a single image, but hopefully this works for the big green energy aspect. Lots of sketches below, including pie charts as bonds.

Figure Drawing 12

2011-11-09T09:06:00.003-05:00

It was absolutely packed last night. Lots of people volunteered to model. The woman in the center is the director of the Society of Illustrators, I believe.

Softmart: Claude Shannon

2011-11-09T08:55:00.004-05:00

I was one of 14 different illustrators to do a portrait of a breakthrough IT inventor for Softmart's 2012 promo calendar. I was assigned Claude Shannon, creator of binary code, which is fundamental to the basic operation of computers. This practically sold itself, so I made the entire portrait out of 1's and 0's and kept it very Apple IIe-green.. very 80's. I tried a single green tone, but there wasn't enough depth happening in the face, so there's a darker green in there as well. It was a pleasure to be a part of such a large, illustrated project!

New York Times Op-Ed: Israel and the Apartheid Slander

2011-11-01T12:06:00.004-04:00

Very quick piece for the Op-Ed page yesterday. The article is a denouncement of the claims that Israel pursues apartheid policies in it’s ongoing dealings with the Palestinians in Gaza. It goes into several specific distinctions as to how Israel is in no way like South African apartheid. The final sketch wasn't approved till 4:30, with the final due at 6! Lots of sketches below. I tried working with "apartheid claims" mostly. The one chosen uses hands (again). I've used hands a lot more often than I probably would like in my work, but hopefully it still feels immediate and engaging. It's such an honor to get the call to do an Op-Ed piece. The deadline rush helps make it one of the most exciting gigs in the business.
Here's a link to the article: http://www.nytimes.com/pages/opinion/index.html

Tablet Magazine: The Narrows

2011-11-01T10:50:00.009-04:00

This was for an article about David Ben-Gurion (first Prime Minister of Israel) and how Obama could benefit from following in his political footsteps. Politics are a "very narrow bridge" of compromises and both Reagan and Clinton embraced Ben-Gurion's leadership style and political skills. Obama should do the same.
After doing a bunch of Obama and Ben-Gurion sketches, it was decided that Reagan and Clinton should be there as well, so there are a bunch of sketches for this one. I had my wife take 100+ photos of myself pretending to walk a very thin bridge, for reference. Also a few for Obama rolling up his sleeves, ready to walk the bridge too. I made an animated gif (link here) of all the photos. Some were for figures walking a rope bridge but the balancing arms photos were much more engaging visually. Enjoy!

Figure Drawing 11

2011-10-21T09:43:00.004-04:00

Finally some actual figures (instead of just portraits). Concentrated much less on the faces this time around.

Wall Street Journal: Rebel Ascendant

2011-10-19T08:01:00.007-04:00

Bunch of pieces for the Wall Street Journal last week. This first image is the author Haruki Murakami and how his works are "hyper global as opposed to provincial or local." This portrait was done with the freehand figure drawing style.

Next is a small spot illustration for several book reviews. The art director wanted a basic murder/mystery/crime novel image that they will be use for reviews on a rotating basis.

...and a bunch of portraits to go with it.

Here are the sketches for the Murakami piece.

...and some quick sketches for the basic murder/mystery/crime novel review image.

Figure Drawing 10

2011-10-14T01:47:00.003-04:00

More vector figure drawing at the Society of Illustrators. The other artists at sketch night are good models too. Guy to the right is there every night. Three bigger poses were 20 minutes, the others were 10, 5, 2 minutes.

Consulting Firm: Big Data

2011-10-12T11:21:00.004-04:00

Something quick for a consulting firm. For an article on "Big Data" and how companies capture, analyze and use huge volumes of it. I don't think they went with this final, unfortunately, but this data "snake" was awful fun to work on. Sketches below, including a binary code peacock.

Wall Street Journal: Easing the Sting of Falling Stock Prices

2011-10-10T12:33:00.003-04:00

Fun spot illo for the Wall Street Journal. The article was about "nontraditional assets" like alternative mutual funds that have performed well despite the recent market crash. They help ease the sting of falling stock prices.
I kept thinking of "nontraditional" "alternative" medicines, like marijuana and kept using a pie chart to represent mutual funds. Also someone with a boo boo given a lollipop. I liked the first sketch a lot, with the two pie chart pills and a glass of water (take two of these alternative stocks and call me in the morning). Also tried one with the feverline as a scar and stock band aids helping heal it.

American Lawyer: Search, Forward: Time for Computer-Assisted Coding

2011-10-10T12:23:00.004-04:00

Quick one for American Lawyer, about a federal judge discussing the merits of replacing manual document review with keyword searches. I can't believe people still review documents by hand! Sketches below, including the email fingerprint sketch from a few months ago- it could've worked for this article too- many of the documents reviewed are actually emails.

New York Times Book Review: Sorry

2011-09-26T10:57:00.007-04:00

It was an honor to do a piece for the New York Times Book Review a few weeks ago. Every weekend it was the first thing I looked through when the Times was delivered. I always looked through the illustrations. I always remembered them being radical, different, even experimental.
Lucky for me I was assigned a thriller, in which the reader may actually be the serial killer in the story. So I tried a few sketches with the viewer attacking or at least a part of the action. This serial killer nails women to walls, all throughout Berlin. So, I tried making this image iconic- with the viewer being nailed. I kept thinking of this as a book cover or a poster. Sketches below, including bloody nails on a Berlin map. The final size changed and became a little taller, so there's more space on top.
UPDATE: As per requested, below is the photo-process for this piece. Lots of photos of myself and my hands, holding a hammer, different angles, different lighting- I'm even wearing a suit jacket. I even took photos of nails and screws. The photo top right is one I took in Prague and I loved the drama of that sculpture. Nothing like bringing the hammer down! All these photos are a bit embarrassing. Don't judge me on my messy workspace!

Figure Drawing 9

2011-09-21T16:42:00.000-04:00

Only one successful figure drawing lately, the one to the left.

Tablet Magzine: Bibi's Brain

2011-09-20T12:10:00.003-04:00

Another one for Tablet Magazine. This one is about Ron Dermer who is a very influential advisor to Benjamin Netanyahu. I wanted this to feel more like the figure drawings I've been doing lately. More loose and gestural. Some sketches below.

Car and Driver: Ute Brigade!

2011-09-08T12:30:00.004-04:00

This was a full-pager for Car and Driver last month. Not sure what the final design looks like, but the heading was meant to be placed right in the middle of this piece. The article was about a new line of jeeps that have been released. The art director wanted this to feel like a propaganda poster, with reference to the outdoorsy-ness of jeeps- hence the mountains in the back. References provided by the art director. Sketches below, including one I really liked- the first one.

Close Up Magazine: Djoko

2011-09-07T10:16:00.003-04:00

Fun assignment for Close Up Magazine (a betting magazine published in the UK) about Novak Djokovic being their pick to beat everyone this year.The art director wanted Nadal, Federer and Murray to be in there somehow, and to show Djokovic dominating. He gave me lots of references, which helped. Thought it would be fun to show their heads on a wall! Sketches and previous final versions below.

OnEarth Magazine: Lake Erie Death Watch

2011-09-07T10:04:00.003-04:00

This was for an online article on OnEarth Magazine's website this week. The article is about Lake Erie quickly becoming an ecological disaster. Did you know it's the shallowest of all the great lakes?
Sketches below, including a bunch of really unsuccessful ones with the Lake Erie shape in them.

Logistics Management: Navigating Transportation's Bermuda Triangle

2011-09-02T10:28:00.006-04:00

Here's a recent cover I did for Logistics Management. The article was about navigating through transportation's difficulties- which are logistics, budgets, strategy, etc. I tried a bunch of sketches combining transportation and navigation, but the art director really needed all four modes of transportation on the cover, so we went with his idea of all of them on a compass. I added the hand to add some clarity. Sketches below!

New York Times: Spotify

2011-08-30T22:19:00.004-04:00

It was an honor to do an illustration for the New York Times last week. It was the biggest piece I've ever done for them (about 9.5" squared). The article was about the music site Spotify- which has tens of millions of songs available for free, all within "the cloud." The article also had a classical music twist, so I thought music notes raining down from the clouds would be very appropriate. Hopefully there's the sense of limitless amounts of music in this. The Spotify brand is green, so we kept it that way. Sketches below!

Tablet Magazine: Grounded

2011-08-30T21:38:00.005-04:00

Here's another piece for Tablet Magazine. The story is about a woman who lost her father on September 9th, 2001 and the process she went through to retrieve his body (in Miami) and have a funeral in New York, despite all the events of 9/11. There were a lot of things she couldn't do (like flying, retrieving his body) and she looked to Judiasm for guidance.

Tablet Magazine: Closed Kitchen

2011-08-17T10:45:00.004-04:00

I had the pleasure of doing an illustration for Tablet Magazine (an online-only magazine) last weekend (assigned Friday, due Monday morning). It was about a chef-turned-rabbinical student who is having difficulty adjusting to cooking for Shabbat. They have seen tons of illustrations using stars so the challenge was to not use stars at all. A very common symbol of Shabbat are the Shabbat candles. Some sketches below, including one with stars- star hand-cuffs, and a circumcised chef.
The art directors were so happy they've decided to have me illustrate an article each month now, which is quite an honor!

Harvard Business Review: The Higher Ambition Leader

2011-08-05T13:12:00.006-04:00

Here was a really fun and challenging spread I did for Harvard Business Review last month. The art director wanted something really textural and typographic, which is something I havn't done in a long time! Hopefully this badge feels metallic and textural enough. The typeface HBR uses is called National (which was used here) but I made it a little more 3-dimensional. I tried a few other badge compositions in the sketches. Also here is the original sketch sent by the art director and a few other badge sketches for the rest of the article.

Figure Drawing 8

2011-07-27T15:32:00.001-04:00

Portrait Roundup

2011-07-22T11:32:00.002-04:00

Portraits for various publications lately.

Figure Drawing 7

2011-07-22T10:58:00.001-04:00

Figure Drawing 6

2011-07-22T10:56:00.001-04:00

Some of the models have shown interest in drawings lately. I guess no one has drawn with a mouse and a laptop there before!

Consulting Firm: Testing your IT

2011-07-22T10:51:00.003-04:00

Quick piece for a consulting firm about testing your information technology. The test is meant to be an indicator of how successful your IT strategy is in the long-run. I tried working with crash-test dummies and school test-related imagery for this, and just combined IT-related imagery as well. Sketches below!

Figure Drawing 5

2011-07-01T13:31:00.002-04:00

Not too much to show for in the past couple sessions, but here are a few.

American Lawyer: The End of Class Action Arbitration

2011-06-30T14:13:00.005-04:00

Interesting article about the end of class action arbitrations- which means suits can only be individualized. The art director's idea was a line of people on their cell phones (trying to sue AT&T) and a bouncer/judge letting people into the arbitration club one at a time. I tried a large dam sketch with I liked, but it had to be a little more specific.
A bunch of my early sketches use gavels, but it turns out an arbitrator is actually a lawyer, not a judge- and they're not in court. But this was a Supreme Court decision, so the gavels in the piece are sort of acting as a fence. Sketches below. I like the shield blocking the gavels idea most, but it just wasn't right for the article.

New Jersey Monthly: Terrorist Targets

2011-06-27T08:54:00.004-04:00

This was a full-pager for NJ Monthly about terrorist targets in New Jersey. Living here in NJ I felt a little more pressure for this to feel creepy and personal. Among the targets are a few power plants, chemical plants, Newark Airport and the Port of Newark, among others. NJ's proximity to NY is the reason why NJ might be an attractive target for terrorists.
In the first few sketches I tried to concentrate on the state shape but the art director wanted to show a combination of the actual targets themselves. A powerplant, seaport and plane are combined here, with only the barbed wire preventing a massive attack. Hopefully the colors feel creepy and nauseating.
Sketches below!

Figure Drawing 4

2011-06-22T09:45:00.003-04:00

More vector figure drawing. Seems like I couldn't leave the face- drawing the body, especially when it's nude, is not so easy in vector. Everything was looking a bit abstract. But the face has the most contrast and interesting parts, so it appears I stuck with the models' faces mostly. I snuck in a few 2-minute poses here as well.

Uninsured Casualties

2011-06-17T18:23:00.005-04:00

This was a sketch I had for over a year- just as "Obamacare" was signed into law. But all the debate had me thinking about everyone that was denied insurance or denied surgery for life-threatening injuries because they were not insured. I've read so many horror stories about this. Everyone that died for this law to pass was pretty heroic, in a way. Without them, the healthcare bill may not have passed. I thought Arlington Cemetery was symbolic, since it's in Washington, where many U.S. soldiers are buried and honored.

Figure Drawing 3

2011-06-17T00:19:00.001-04:00

Wondering if there's a new style here, potentially. More vector figure drawing, with a mouse.

Figure Drawing 2

2011-06-10T10:14:00.003-04:00

From last night figure drawing session at the Society of Illustrators.

The New Yorker: April Showers Bring May Towers

2011-06-08T11:12:00.003-04:00

Here's my second rejected cover submission for the New Yorker. It's a bit similar to my last submission- with the Empire State Building in some capacity and making it seasonal. But in this one it's several New York skyscrapers as flowers, including the Chrysler Building, MetLife Building, WoolWorth Building, Rockefeller Center and at the bottom, the miraculously ignored American International Building. I thought it would be cute for Spring.
My previous submission here was selected for publication in American Illustration.

Law Technology News: Catch Me If You Can

2011-06-07T13:13:00.006-04:00

This was for the cover of Law Technology News. The article was about a lawyer that used confidential merger & acquisition information that he obtained by looking at documents in emails on "throwaway" cell phones that he attempted to dispose of, so there wouldn't be an "audit trail" of his actions.
I thought a cell phone trail was a logical solution, but I really liked the "@" email fingerprint too, especially for a cover. Other sketches below. You'll be happy to know the person on the phone in the image is me.

American Lawyer: A Biotech Fish Story

2011-05-26T13:11:00.005-04:00

This was for an article about the FDA approving production of genetically modified fish. Not too many sketches for this one, as the deadline was a little tight, so I won't show them.

T.H.E. Journal: Teacher Self-Assessment

2011-05-16T12:52:00.005-04:00

This was a cover and inside page illustration for T.H.E. Journal about smart phone applications that help teachers self-assess themselves. Apparently these apps are becoming revolutionary for teachers. The art directors were very clear what they were looking for- mirrors all around a teacher. I tried to sell them on iPhones surrounding the teacher- you can see the iPhone version of the final in the second set of sketches.

Harvard Business Review: Games that Save the World

2011-05-02T10:39:00.005-04:00

This was for HBR last month and the article was not very easy to illustrate. It was about how social games build stronger bonds and communities in the real-world and game world simultaneously. Gift giving and reciprocity act powerfully to build bonds and games like Farmville drive interaction with people. There is now a "gamification" of everything- earning badges or becoming the mayor of your favorite bar in Foursquare is an example.
I tried playing with text bubbles and quotation marks and iPhones a little. The art director asked for a globe as a button on the text bubble controller- to fit with the headline more. There's a Superman puzzle sketch I thought would work for the headline- but it has little to do with social games. Sketches below!

Figure Drawing 1

2011-04-15T11:05:00.005-04:00

Last night I went to the Society of Illustrators for the drink and draw session and attempted to do figure drawing all in Adobe Illustrator. Not entirely sure what to think of the "drawings" because the proportions are completely out-of-whack, but it was insanely fun to be there. Jazz, booze and drawing all wrapped into one. The models were clothed in clown outfits, but their makeup had nice contrasts on their faces. The top drawings are 20 minute poses and the bottom ones were 5-10 minute poses.

Profit Magazine: Tech Guide

2011-04-13T12:52:00.010-04:00

This was a really fun, quick series of illustrations for articles that revolve around new technologies. The first one (above) was a half-pager about CLOUD COMPUTING. Wi-Fi is similar to cloud computing, in which everyone in a company works together, shares files, etc. in a "cloud." So I tried working with the Wi-Fi logo in a different way. The clouds were added in the back later. The sketch had laptop birds that the art director wanted deleted. Sketches below.

MOBILE MARKETING. The article talks extensively about QR codes, which is why this one was chosen. But I kinda liked the iPhone screen as billboard idea. QR codes act as a conduit straight to an advertiser's website.

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING. Using social media, like Facebook and Twitter to help market your company/product

ADOPTING TECH. The article focuses on companies that need to adopt new software and information technology. So to show a need for tech I thought a pixelated missing piece would work. Originally I wanted a pixelated scar- to show an immediate need for tech.

Thanks to Glenn for the fun and challenging assignment!

IEEE Spectrum: Transistor Aging

2011-04-13T10:41:00.007-04:00

Here's a full-pager and a spot illustration for IEEE Spectrum. The article was about CPUs and how they age with use- similar to a car. But the best indicator on a car is the odometer- how many miles you've put into it.
At first I thought the article focused on how/when you should replace CPUs that are old, or are already dead (hence the coffin, wheelchair, beach chair, overgrown ivy sketches). Then I thought it could focus on getting the most out of your CPUs (hence muscle sketches). But we decided to stay with an odometer in the main image. The spot illo is something from the 1950's- to make old CPUs seem like ancient technology. Thanks to Brandon for the assignment and all the spot illo ideas!

Government Executive: Difficulties of IT Modernization

2011-04-13T09:44:00.004-04:00

This was for an article about the difficulties government agencies have when modernizing their information technology. The biggest problem is training their staff to use the new technology. Converting everyone to new software overnight is bound to have problems. I tried to stick with training imagery and combined it with mostly computer chip imagery. In my spare time I may take the other sketches to final. Sketches below!

American Lawyer: Minority Experience Study

2011-03-28T14:29:00.003-04:00

Another spot illustration with a very quick deadline, this time for American Lawyer. The article was about an inevitable U.S.-China merger for a law firm. Often with spot illustrations, the size is too small to have anything very detailed and it's best to do something simple/iconic. So I stayed with the China and American flags and was thankful to find a couple solutions. The art director wanted the white of the U.S. flag to be in there. Sketches below!

Portrait Roundup

2011-03-28T14:04:00.010-04:00

I've had the pleasure of doing many portraits lately. I never really imagined myself doing so many, but clearly there's a need for them and they have a different set of challenges than some of the editorial work I do. The references are not always good ones, and a lot of detail is actually made up on some of these (which hopefully is seamless enough you don't notice). Anyway, here's a small sample of the portraits I've done lately. Above: For T.H.E. Journal

For Screenvision, to be used on cupcakes for an Oscar party

For Intelligence Report

For Bluetooth Magazine

All for T.H.E. Journal

Source Media: Selling Distressed Portfolios

2011-03-28T13:44:00.003-04:00

Banks that sell distressed portfolios bundle up a bunch of great assets with those that are toxic, so they rid of the toxic ones quicker. The art directors wanted to go with their idea of several books in a bundle package- new ones as well as old, worn-out ones. The deadline was almost overnight, so I tried a couple quick ideas- chocolate covered moldy stawberries, and moldy fruit in a bowl of nice fruit.

IEEE Institute: Open Access

2011-03-28T13:16:00.004-04:00

This was a quick spot illustration for IEEE Institute about their new publishing model, which is free access to all their published records. And if anyone wants to publish their own research, they can pay to have it available. At first the art director wanted to concentrate on the paying-to-publish model, but we agreed it should be about the free access instead. I thought raining published papers would work for this.

The New Yorker: Snowpocalypse

2011-02-21T10:31:00.007-05:00

Snowpocalypse was the word everyone was using this winter, and the enormous snow banks on the sides of roads lasted for weeks everywhere here in NYC. Hopefully this image is what every New Yorker felt this winter was like. This was my first New Yorker cover submission, and I submitted it completely off-the-cuff. The illustration editors liked it enough to send it to Francoise Mouly, the covers editor. Though it was rejected, it's an honor that it made it as far as it did!

I tried to animate this as well, thinking about how it would look on their iPad edition. Here's a link to the animation. The animation only adds value to the original idea, and every illustration I do, from herein, I'll be thinking how it would feel, animated. The other sketch idea below is less successful but I love involving the Empire State Building.

Consumer Reports: What Doctors Wish Their Patients Knew

2011-02-06T20:58:00.003-05:00

Second consecutive Consumer Reports cover! This one, again, the art directors knew what they wanted. I tried a bunch of different doctor poses and faces- all of them showing concern/contemplation in some way. Did you know they have a subscription rate of 4.2 million? They're one of the few magazines that thrive today.

Government Executive: Bidders Bite Back

2011-02-02T19:31:00.004-05:00

This is a full-page illustration I did for Government Executive a few weeks ago. The original title they were working with was "Doth Protest Too Much?" The article was about contract award protests that are on the rise, and the costly financial and administrative delays associated with them. Hopefully voice bubbles with exclamation points can represent protests? And hopefully they read as bear traps as well. I have a small sample of the spread below as well as plenty of sketches, as usual. I kinda like the exclamation point darts.

McKinsey: Voices on Transformation

2011-01-25T00:30:00.029-05:00

I had the honor of illustrating an entire publication for McKinsey & Co. last month. It was their fourth edition of Voices on Transformation, a publication that contains interviews with CEOs from around the world. In this edition, the focus was transforming your company into a "healthy" one—one that can deliver strong performances over time.
It was a very unique opportunity to do something different, to let these stand out more from the rest of my work, but also make images that will last much longer. You'll see a bunch of sketches for every piece. I tried to do metaphorical, monochromatic images at first, but eventually moved to more colorful, flat imagery. But I really liked the metaphor of a plant growing and branching out into different sectors and producing a resource over time. So there's lots of plant-related pieces here. The art directors really wanted something close to a previous publication I did for them: http://bit.ly/eHEu8L
The only restriction was that the editors wanted an apple on the cover.
A special thanks to Veronica for this assignment! It was an honor working with you!
Below are all the pieces, and the titles and spreads for each one. Enjoy!

Cover

I wanted the different pieces to represent different view points. When all of them are placed together, they formed something.

Ideas for companies to perform well over time.

By combining the strengths of women with those of men, centered leaders not only inspire great leaps in performance, but also spark greater passion and fulfillment in others.

Develop a comprehensible structure with divisions large enough to offer employees room for growth.

Introducing flexibility in a century-old education system.

The importance of a compelling vision, astronomical goals and engaging the right leaders.

Creating growth and sustainability despite the collapse and partial nationalization of a country's banking sector.

Changing a company's culture driven by engineering to one focused on customer expectations and teamwork.

The New Yorker: Jacques Lacombe

2011-01-17T22:26:00.003-05:00

This is probably the third or fourth Critic's Notebook illustration I've done where I get an email at 7pm Friday and the illustration has to be finished by Monday morning. It's the nature of the business, I suppose. But weekend quickies are always fun. This is NJ Symphony Orchestra conductor Jacques Lacombe. I tried a few sketches with the Newark skyline, but I'm glad the NJPAC interior was chosen instead. To fit his pose in the space I had to do some serious surgery to his arms and hands!

Consumer Reports: Never Run Out of Money

2010-12-29T12:03:00.000-05:00

Consumer Reports contacted me to illustrate the cover of their upcoming issue, and they had a very clear concept and headline title already in place. They wanted lots of money and coins, flying everywhere, and with a mix of bills. I was happy to oblige!

The New Yorker: The Perfect Stride

2010-11-01T01:25:00.004-04:00

This was a quick piece for the New Yorker about Alberto Salazar and his overhauling of marathon runner Dathan Ritzenhein's stride. Ritzenhein is one of the first U.S.A. runners to be in contention with the Kenyans and Ethiopians in marathons. If you're a marathon runner- you'll definitely be interested in reading this.
The New Yorker doesn't have many articles on sports, but it's a real honor to illustrate one of them. I pretty much had a day and a half from start to finish with this one- it's almost laughable we had a week to finish our work in undergrad at RISD.

Cigar Aficionado: Fantasy Football

2010-11-01T01:09:00.005-04:00

This was a full-page illustration for Cigar Aficionado's article on fantasy football. The art director wanted to incorporate money, football and computers, and really wanted this to be masculine. I tried some sketches with gambling (poker chips, card) but turns out they have articles on gambling, cards and sports betting all the time. This had to be different. So I mashed everything together with this piece, and hopefully there's something fantasy-ish feeling about it. It's more style than substance. Sketches below including my favorite, the football plays on a computer board.

Government Executive: Government use of Twitter

2010-11-01T00:54:00.006-04:00

Turns out, many federal agencies (including NASA) use Twitter and go far beyond social networking. They are in constant contact with the general public as well monitor the public's tweets for safety, weather, news, etc.
Funny thing is- the art director wanted to stay away from very typical government/Washington imagery- capitol building, Washington monument, eagles, seals, emblems- they've had so many illustrations in the past that use that imagery. But the one we went with is another one of those! -but it was the best idea of the bunch. Sketches below.

Major League Baseball: Bill Mazeroski

2010-11-01T00:34:00.003-04:00

I had the honor to do a portrait of Bill Mazeroski (who hit the Game 7 walk-off, World Series-winning home run in 1960, against the Yankees) for Major League Baseball. It appears on the back page of the 2010 World Series program- celebrating the 50th anniversary of that home run. The art director saw a few pieces I've done in the New Yorker, and wanted this to be equally graphic/simple with some other Pittsburgh imagery. I figured Forbes Field (where they played at that time) would be a nice element to hold everything up... it's very much like a logo. His shoulder and back are completely made up, but hopefully it feels flawless. Bunch of sketches below!

Annabelle Magazine: Female Circumcision

2010-10-19T21:19:00.002-04:00

I was contacted a while ago about doing a full-page illustration for Annabelle magazine, with is based in Zürich, Switzerland. Female circumcision is a very sensitive topic for an article, but they knew illustration would work better than any photo. And given the graphic nature of the topic, they wanted something metaphoric and graphic. The article mentions how most female circumcisions take place in Africa and it's a very societal thing. So I tried concentrating on society controlling a woman's sexuality in this image.
Luckily, they liked another one of the sketches I sent, and wanted to use it as an additional spot in the article. But they liked the colors from the sketch, so these two images are slightly different. I've seen so many trees near electrical wires that have branches cut off but continue to grow and thrive even after losing limbs. I thought it would be a good metaphor without showing any human being (or hands).
I think I use too many hands in my images- I'll try not to use as many! Thanks Annette and Martin for contacting me!

MoneySense: A Birthday You'll Love

2010-10-18T23:57:00.005-04:00

Here's a couple of quick pieces about seniors being given many more financial benefits than the middle-aged. I tried a bunch of conceptual ideas that were not included in the sketches- nothing seemed to work. Unequally divided pie isn't the most original idea, but it worked for this one. The other piece with the chairs was used as a spot.

T.H.E. Journal: Idea People

2010-10-18T23:35:00.003-04:00

I've been getting a lot more portrait work lately. Here are a few recent portraits for T.H.E. Journal that were used for the cover and a large spread. We decided to go with more "modern" colors on these. I will be doing a monthly portrait for them now too!

American Lawyer: Minority Experience Study

2010-10-12T01:15:00.005-04:00

This was a full-page illustration for American Lawyer, Student Edition about the lack of diversity in law firms today. Though they admit the recession has a lot to do with it, it's still staggeringly disproportionate between whites and minorities. I thought it would be fun if only 13% of the page was illustrated with portraits of minorities (Only 13% of law firms in America are minorities)... and really keep it graphic. I thought white faces could almost obliterate the minority faces. There was also mention that minorities "slip through the cracks" at the firms, which I thought would've been interesting, visually.
Here's a link to the spread: http://bit.ly/aLAQjd -You'll notice James Steinberg was credited on the piece instead of me!

IEEE Spectrum: Smart-Grid Upgrade Saves Power

2010-10-12T00:59:00.003-04:00

This was a quick spot illustration for Spectrum magazine about power companies trimming their output by 3% across the grid, all over America. I tried to use the energy-saver bulb, of course, but that was more symbolic of a consumer saving energy, not the energy company... nor did this have anything to do with nuclear power plants. Thankfully those were not chosen!

Reader's Digest: Fake Soldiers

2010-09-24T12:20:00.003-04:00

This was a quickie about people that fake their military service records. Many politicians have done this recently- lying about their combat missions or where they were stationed. Others do it just for the benefits. There was a quote I liked in the article, calling these people "cowards in heroes uniforms" ...which is what the final looks like here. I liked the plastic Iraq soldier sketch though!

Consulting firm: Riding Asia's Digital Tiger

2010-09-24T12:04:00.003-04:00

Can't say who the client was for this, but it was for an article on the enormous, emerging internet markets in Asia. A very large portion of the population in Asia now has access to the internet- which means millions more will be shopping online.
There are a ton of sketches for this- and all the internet clichés were used (circuit boards, 1's and 0's, etc). Thankfully the final one isn't!

Gerald and Cullen Rapp: Logo

2010-09-10T10:00:00.004-04:00

Gerald and Cullen Rapp found me a couple weeks ago and asked if I was interested in a possible relationship with them. The possibilities of new projects, besides editorial ones, were so intriguing. I'm now very excited to announce the beginning of our relationship. Please check out my webpage on their site: http://bit.ly/b9iPiX Above, is my version of their logo- which had to be finished in only a couple hours(!), but hopefully it's fun and unique enough to stand out a little.

*Side note: This is my 100th blog post! It's been a whirlwind project the past two and a half years and I cannot thank you illustrators, designers, family members or co-workers enough for following me on this blog and encouraging me with your comments (from around the globe!). I never even imagined making it to the 100th post and I definitely would not have made it this far without you. Thanks so much for taking the time!
-Daniel

Smartmoney: End of the Euro

2010-09-10T00:49:00.004-04:00

This was for Smartmoney magazine a few weeks ago. The article was about Euro EFTs and how they've been doing unusually well despite the Greece debt crisis. But the party is over; they have reached the end of the line and will crash down soon.
The final image was the art director's idea from the get-go: the Euro sign embedded in a dead-end wall. But I tried a few other ideas in the sketches, below. Thanks Scott!

Texas Observer: A Woman's Touch

2010-09-10T00:22:00.004-04:00

This was for the cover of Texas Observer last week. It was for an article on female prison guards and their rampant sexual abuse of juvenile inmates... and very little is being done about it. These alt-weekly papers have some really terrific articles to illustrate, this being one of those.
You'll see in the sketches that I had intended to render all the hands on the figure, lighting and all. But while working on the final, the silhouettes out of the dark felt more timeless and moving... less is more.
Many thanks to Kate for the assignment!

Boston Globe: "Twilight of the Bombs"

2010-09-02T00:54:00.005-04:00

Quick piece for the Boston Globe's book review of "Twilight of the Bombs." The book is about the history of the nuclear bomb and how generations from now, nuclear weapons will be outlawed... they'll be considered crimes against humanity.
I thought it would be nice to show how insignificant the bomb has been over the past 60+ years– how close we are to becoming a nuclear-free world... but it's an illusion– we're still so far from achieving that goal. Far too many world leaders continue to build them, with the intent of using them.
Sketches are below– including one with the Russian flag (the collapse of the Soviet Union was big reason world leaders didn't try to become nuclear powers as well. They were a nuclear power that couldn't help feed their own people). Thanks Jane!!

Reader's Digest: Good Samaritan

2010-08-27T15:51:00.005-04:00

Here are two illustrations for the same article that were recently killed. The article was about good samaritans that do more harm than good and the legal consequences of their actions. The story in the article was about a woman unnecessarily pulled out of a car after an accident, and was paralyzed from the waist down... but not from the accident itself, but after being pulled out.
I had my wife pose as the paralyzed victim for this. Thank goodness I have an in-house model. Thanks for the job Marti!

New website

2010-08-06T14:30:00.003-04:00

I invite you all to have a look at the new website: http://www.danielhertzberg.com
It's (hopefully) a more cleaned up/professional/presentable site than the previous one (which was made entirely in Photoshop... ancient!). Would really love constructive criticism about it! I know it's a little confusing why some work is located in places where others aren't (Misc. Editorial Projects 1 & 2?). And the Cargo interface is somewhat limiting, but it's gotta be better than before. Got a lot of mileage out of that old one!
Thanks for visiting and reading!

Rolling Stone: Arcade Fire

2010-07-22T22:46:00.004-04:00

Throughout my high-school and college days I looked through Rolling Stone to see the reviews section illustrations every two weeks. It may've been the first magazine I looked at for illustrators. Anyway, it was an absolute honor and a complete shock to get a phone call from them to do the reviews section piece, as it was a sort-of dream of mine for years. It's even more fun to do this when it's a band you know and love!
It was for the band Arcade Fire and a review of their new album, The Suburbs. There are seven(!) members in the band and the art director wanted very bright colors and sent images of suburbs from the film Edward Scissorhands (single-primary-colored houses: http://bit.ly/aO6f2d) and wanted bright blue sky and clouds. I really try to minimize my work to 4-5 colors on beige background, but this one needed a few more to create depth. Also, not all seven band members had to be rendered, but I thought that wasn't fair!
I cannot thank Steven enough for giving me a shot here!!
Sketches below, and I really tried to be graphic with them (the seventh one was chosen).

Consulting firm: Measuring training programs success

2010-07-20T00:47:00.004-04:00

Another quick illustration. This was for an article on training programs that generate value for companies and how to measure its success. The article mentioned leadership training programs, so I worked with the birds in "V" formation as a metaphor and schools of fish as well. I thought the growing plant might work for the providing "value" to companies part. Sketches below. Thanks, Delilah!

Kiplinger's Personal Finance: Investing

2010-07-20T00:18:00.004-04:00

A series of quick portraits for Kiplinger's of top fund managers. The top one was extremely tricky as it took 20+ screen grabs during one of his interviews to get it right.

The New Yorker: Robbinschilds

2010-07-19T23:56:00.004-04:00

A quick piece I did for the New Yorker last month of the performance group Robbinschilds, who will be performing during P.S. 1's "Greater New York" show. At the time it really was not clear what/how they would perform, so based on the available photos of their performances, it seemed like a safe bet that they would wind up on the ground at some point. I tried to incorporate some of P.S. 1's brick wall/skylight/wooden floor surroundings. Sketches below. Thanks, Jordan!

The Atlantic: The Great Stock Myth

2010-07-15T20:04:00.007-04:00

Here's a half-page illustration I did for the Atlantic a few weeks ago. The article was about how everyone invests in bonds, IRAs and other retirement accounts in search of a guaranteed steady return. But in actuality, due to the fluctuating markets over decades of time, the investment is usually slim-to-none. Really kinda sad!
I went with darker colors here to bring out the tiny egg even more. Worth noting: The headline of the article is not made until AFTER the illustration is finished, so word and image work beautifully. It's always a pleasure to do a piece for the Atlantic. Thanks to Melissa for the assignment! Sketches below, including a bull-headed turtle.

SNEWS: Do Boy Scouts still matter?

2010-07-15T19:48:00.004-04:00

I had the pleasure of doing the cover for SNEWS last month. The article was about the fading relationship between Boy Scouts and the outdoors market. I thought it would be a stronger/more iconic image by just manipulating the Boy Scouts of America logo in some way. Lots of sketches for this one! Many many thanks to Matthew for the assignment! Worth noting: the art director found me through Twitter.

New York Times: "It’s ‘America the Swift’ in Bank Reform"

2010-06-27T15:11:00.005-04:00

This was an extraordinarily quick illustration for the Week in Review section of the Sunday Times, which I did late Friday night. It's very complex article too, about how the U.S. finally agreed on a financial reform bill, and how it will help reform Europe's and Japan's banking systems as well. But it's not like we're leading the way... the rest of the world is a bit divided about this... they still view the U.S. as the biggest reason for the financial crisis.
So, I thought a needle + thread would make sense, about reforming and restitching, repairing. But the dollar sign is not a very solid thing here... it's just as thin as the Euro or Yen, as this 'reform' is just a very minor victory.
Did that make sense?? -Sorry if it did not, because the article wasn't exactly finished when I got the call, it was still somewhat vague. Below are very quick sketches, with the dollar sign holding up the globe and the chosen sketch. The small piece was for the front page, as a preview. Thanks so much to Kelly for the assignment and all her help!

3x3 Professional Show: Merit Award

2010-05-27T16:30:00.004-04:00

I was pleasantly surprised to find out this piece was selected for 3x3's Illustration Annual No. 7 (which comes out in the Fall). The original blog post for this piece is here: http://danielhertzberg.blogspot.com/2010/01/businessweek-endless-oil.html about Endless Oil (what a grim title considering recent events). Many thanks to the 3x3 jury and to Joe at BusinessWeek for this job back in December!

The New Yorker: 80*81

2010-05-10T10:29:00.004-04:00

REALLY quick illustration for the New Yorker last week. This was for a short review of a play titled "80*81" which brings to light events and important moments that impacted our society in the course of those years: Reagan & Nancy, Assassination attempt on the pope, Diana's wedding, John Lennon's death, American Gigolo, etc. The final piece here is of playmate Dorothy Stratten (who was killed that year) and Bjorn Borg (epic tennis matches with John McEnroe). Time was short, so I couldn't finish Dorothy as well as I would've liked. But a great big thanks to Chris for the quick job! Other versions are below.

Personal Work: Fahrenheit 451

2010-04-30T16:44:00.003-04:00

First part of a small series of illustrations based on classic American novels. I'll post a few more in the coming weeks.
Very quickly: The is about how reading is outlawed and all books in the future America are to be burned. But the main character, Guy Montag, who actually works as a fireman (whose job it is to burn the books), accidentally reads the first line of a book, and eventually steals it. Later, he steals many more and he becomes a fugitive for his book crimes.
All the other covers I've seen involve flames in some way... I was hoping this would suggest lots of smoke everywhere, without flames.

American Illustration: "Chosen"

2010-04-28T01:57:00.004-04:00

I received notice that these two illustrations were "chosen" by American Illustration. They will be included in the AI-AP website permanently. Though these images won't be published in the book, it's still an honor to be recognized by them!

Harvard Law Bulletin: How Judges Decide

2010-04-23T16:09:00.009-04:00

Here are a couple of illustrations I did for Harvard Law Bulletin last week. The article was about what influences a judge's decision. Judges attempt to find patterns in judicial decisions, and base their decision on those. So, I thought it would be interesting to show stamped-patterns of a gavel, and i'm quite happy the Art Director chose this! There are a bunch of sketches below, including a bunch that deal with judges going back into the history of law. The other sketches below are for the smaller one, which was about judges weighing options. Thanks, Ronn!

Consulting Firm: Managing Technology

2010-03-31T17:10:00.008-04:00

I did this small but wide illustration a couple weeks ago. The illustration was for a report on tech-enabled products and how they are becoming so complex that they are almost unmanageable. The art director wanted this to be more positive and colorful, not to make the technology aspect seem too complex. Lots of sketches for this one! Always a pleasure working for Delilah, many thanks!

Institutional Investor: Best in Corporate America

2010-02-12T01:39:00.006-05:00

I was assigned to do 3 full-page illustrations of very successful CEO's for Institutional Investor. These were quite fun because the Art Director wanted these to be very similar to the clean/graphic portraits I did of Alejandro Escovedo, Tricky, and Zinedine Zidane for the New Yorker. I was told to liven them up and include a symbol of the company they work for in some way. I thought using primary colors would be a nice way of keeping them together and say something about their companies (Alan Mulally of Ford in blue because Ford's logo is blue, Richard Adkerson of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold in yellow, and Thomas Tippl of Activision Blizzard, producers of Guitar Hero, in red). The sketches varied on size of symbol, foreground-background, intensity of color, composition, etc., and each set of three go together (5 total sketch suites). Thanks so much Diana for the fun job!

Cleveland Magazine: The Tipping Point

2010-02-12T01:23:00.003-05:00

This was a half-page illustration for an article about how Cleveland is at a crucial point in it's existence. Here's the sub-title: "Ambivalent citizens have allowed the city and the county to reach the edge of despair. It’s time to forget our obsession with sports and think about survival." The Art Director wanted something similar to this Dubai piece I did a while back, but with a question mark. It had to have the Cleveland skyline in some way. I think I liked the first idea, but the Jenga sketch was chosen instead. Many thanks for the assignment, Stephanie! It's good to know postcards are still effective.

Reader's Digest: Pets Gone Wild

2010-02-12T01:11:00.003-05:00

This was another piece for the Outrageous column in Reader's Digest. The article was about idiotic people that have dangerous/exotic animals as pets. Travis, the chimpanzee that tore Charla Nash's face off was one of the stories. Another one was about parents who owned a python that slithered out of it's terrarium and into their daughter's crib. You can imagine what they saw the next morning. I've tried using this snake-coiling-around-something idea before, but I guess this was perfect for it. I wish the family portrait was chosen (in the sketches). Bottom images in the sketches are failed final attempts. Thanks so much, Vicki!

Covers for "A Gate at the Stairs"

2010-02-11T23:30:00.004-05:00

I came across this not too long ago. Print Magazine has a couple of the cover illustration variations I did for Laurie Moore's novel A Gate at the Stairs here: http://bit.ly/d4Osdk. It's a great post actually, and includes all the other versions that were presented. My original post with the different versions is here: http://bit.ly/bFp4FU. Just thought I would share these.