Alternative realities
Here are some more covers for the Economist. This one was about the incoming Chinese president's ambitions for his nation. The headline was 'Xi Jinping and the Chinese dream'
This one, from 2008, warned of the economic slowdown in the US...
...and this illustrated the shrinking power of the dollar back in 2004.
They're obsessed with money at the Economist. Can't imagine why.
This cover dealt with currency wars. As the editors didn't want to upset anyone unduly (for once) they asked that the currency going down in flames should be non specific. I constructed this note from various elements to avoid using a real currency.
The brief here was to depict the US deficit in a simple and direct way. There are new roads cut into the hillside where I live, which provided plenty of photographic material for the 'cliffs'. The rest is just digital trickery.
This was for a recent cover article suggesting that the French economy is heading for meltdown. The French government was irate when this issue hit the newsstands.
The illustration was done at short notice and I had to use whatever I had to hand, and find something else for breakfast. Electrical tape adhesive doesn't taste too good.
And finally, a change from economics - this cover from July 2010 predicted Mubarak's downfall. The original desert photo is by Andrea de Muri.
After being published as the Economist cover the illustration turned up in news photos as a makeshift poster used during the Tahrir Square protests. The photo of the poster of the illustration comes from AFP. Confused? You should be.
The art director on all these covers is Graeme James.
