It Could Always be Worse.
Magazine Illustration.
project 14.

During the pandemic everyone was finding new hobbies, DIY-ing everything and remodeling their homes. This New Yorker magazine article talks about a story just like that. A retired graphic designer was sitting at home during the pandemic missing coffee dates with friends and having nothing to do but to pick back up doing graphic design from home. So he did just that, created coffee cups saying it "Things could Always be Worse". He used his humor and talents to try to uplift fellow lockdown neighbors saying, "At least a Sasquatch and a couple of Robots haven't sat down for coffee yet", saying that would be worse than what they were all experiencing during COVID. In my cover design I wanted to Illustrate the hilarious idea of a Sasquatch and a Robot actually sitting down for coffee. I wanted readers to be thankful they were drinking coffee in their homes locked down, rather than sitting in this coffee shop seeing the uncanny scene that I have illustrated here. I wanted them to feel the confusion of the barista and toast to being safe in their home with their  "Things could Always be Worse" mugs, because quite literally they could. Mood was very important to me in this design as well a hint of fun. Although this would be a terrifying sight, the article was one of jokes, laughter and not taking life too seriously so I wanted that to come through in the color palette as well. Overall this relatable story of picking back up old hobbies and finding new ones when there is not much else to do was a fun and interesting take on the chaos  of 2020.