Editorial Creative Direction
On March 5, 1946, former British prime minister Winston Churchill gave his iconic “Iron Curtain” speech in Fulton, Missouri. The Church of St. Mary, the Virgin Aldermanbury, that was moved to Westminster College from London, has a rich history and houses the National Churchill Museum. This feature was an interesting balance of history and present, both literary and visually. The museum was a wonderful source for the visual elements, but putting them together visually was a challenge. The collage is my favorite element on this piece. I built the layers in photoshop, then hand drew the yellow elements to create dimension and pops of color to break up the wall of black and white. I also really enjoy the typography layering that came about after creating the main image, the layout really flowed after establishing those elements.
Missouri’s history is full of family feuds, bloody duels, and generational rage and this featured covered just that. After establishing the creative direction I connected with Spencer Owen, an amazing illustrator from Kansas City, for the illustrations as finding historical images would be a major undertaking. While we worked through the proofing process on illustrations, I finalized the layouts and began the text proofing process with the editorial team. I really enjoyed the collaboration on this project.
Just twelve miles southwest of Columbia, lives the great Bur Oak Tree. It’s a special place to any local (myself included in my college days) and visitor. I was ecstatic to work on this project and collaborate with the many photographers who have captured this champion tree. By doing so we were able to feature imagery of flooding, local firefighters fighting lightning strikes and conservation efforts. I was able to attend a public event to photograph efforts to save our beloved tree after a gnarly lightning strike. There I met the the team responsible for preserving the tree and take portraits in the field. This was also one of our most popular online features and best selling covers in my tenure at Missouri Life!
