Opposite the Editorial Page

So Long I stopped my New York Times subscription today. I’ve really enjoyed the time...

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 19:07:00 -0400

So Long

I stopped my New York Times subscription today. I’ve really enjoyed the time I’ve spent in the paper every Sunday the past six months, but I’ll no longer be sketching out my ideas for them and posting them online.

This blog was created as an exercise, an avenue for exploration. It removed me from a computer screen and forced me to read, think, and put my ideas on paper. I’m glad I invested time into these 70 posts. But with a job change and a new personal project starting soon, I’ve decided I want to stop spending time here.

I hope you enjoyed the sketches. Thanks for following.

David

Of Bile and Billionaires “Now we know what, in today’s warped political economy, $10 million...

Sun, 20 May 2012 14:52:10 -0400

Of Bile and Billionaires

“Now we know what, in today’s warped political economy, $10 million buys you: a hit job spectacular not only in its cynicism but also in its idiocy.”

This article discussed, in yet more detail, the story that the Times broke this past week about a billionaire who contemplated spending $10 million attacking Obama via his association with his old pastor.

The original story is fascinating, and this article is important in its call for politicians (and their wealthy backers) to focus on substance instead of slander. While I applaude the sentiment, it certainly feels as if the author is shouting into the void.

15 Minutes

50 Minutes

Sun, 13 May 2012 20:46:00 -0400

50 Minutes

Sunday Dialogue: Making Taxation Fairer I love the tagline for this article: Readers offer ideas...

Sun, 13 May 2012 16:57:37 -0400

Sunday Dialogue: Making Taxation Fairer

I love the tagline for this article: Readers offer ideas for tax reform but doubt it will happen.

Sunday Dialogues are formatted like this—one person writes a short piece stating a position, others write in supporting or rebutting it, and then the original author finishes things off with their response. The original author started by saying that while it’s good to have wealthy Americans paying more taxes, all citizens should pay more if we expect to have an economically healthy country.

Others responded to the arguments, but there was, overall, a pessimism about tax-reform in the US.

My piece would highlight both the responsibility of citizens to do more, by showing a giant tax form, but also visually represent how complicated the issue is by imposing a real tax form into the image.

10 Minutes

Reading Together, Knowing the Ending I’m a sucker for articles like this. The author of this...

Sun, 13 May 2012 16:49:00 -0400

Reading Together, Knowing the Ending

I’m a sucker for articles like this. The author of this piece recalls how talking about books brought him and his mother together as they dealt with her cancer. It was deeply sentimental without delving into weird, melodramatic waters. This is why I love reading the New York Times.

My idea for this piece was to create a realistic open book, with the words on the page jumbled together to form two silhouettes talking to each other. This would allude to the books they were reading through together, but would also bring to mind how our memories of loved ones are like books. The author’s mother is now gone, but he has the ability to open the pages of this book and relive the experiences they had. When those pages close, it brings the two of them together again, closer than ever.

10 Minutes

The Amygdala Made Me Do It This was an article about our obsession with figuring out how our brains...

Sun, 13 May 2012 16:41:12 -0400

The Amygdala Made Me Do It

This was an article about our obsession with figuring out how our brains work.

My concept is simple—our minds are a maze we’re trying to figure out, so why not visualize that? The maze, executed cleanly, would form a brain, and our attempt to decipher it would be portrayed as a rough, almost childlike line that’s exploring it.

I’m a firm believer that science yields answers to life’s complicated questions, but I still think, compared the complexity of our minds, our endeavors to explore the unknown can appear crude. But we praise childlike creativity, so boldly go forward into the abyss!

10 Minutes

The Post-Cash, Post-Credit-Card Economy Another direction for the article about paying via...

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 22:24:00 -0400

The Post-Cash, Post-Credit-Card Economy

Another direction for the article about paying via cellphone. I think I’ll set up my fictitious kids with a budgeting app so they can see how much of their weekly expenses are candy related.

20 Minutes

Terrorist Plots, Hatched by the F.B.I. This super interesting article asks how we should approach...

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 21:52:06 -0400

Terrorist Plots, Hatched by the F.B.I.

This super interesting article asks how we should approach terrorist cases where our government is involved in equipping suspects with fake equipment and arresting them when they try to use it in real attacks.

My illustration would portray two men in a relay race, one handing off a baton of dynamite to another man who’s already strapped explosives. This mirrors the question asked in the article—the FBI is approaching suspects who seem primed to explode in an act of terrorism, but how complicit is the FBI in igniting them to do the deed?

15 Minutes

Sunday Dialogue: When to Hold Recall Votes This Sunday Dialogue debated the merits of recall...

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 21:45:00 -0400

Sunday Dialogue: When to Hold Recall Votes

This Sunday Dialogue debated the merits of recall elections—does democracy mean we get to vote out people we voted in while they’re in the middle of their term?

My sketch would recreate a 2010 ballot, with a vote for Wisconsin governor Scott Walker erased from it.

10 Minutes

The Post-Cash, Post-Credit-Card Economy I think this article was kind of like a public service...

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 21:41:00 -0400

The Post-Cash, Post-Credit-Card Economy

I think this article was kind of like a public service announcement to the NYT subscribers who still have the paper delivered to their house. “People are going to start paying for lots of stuff on their phones!” It was by no means a bad article, but it was amusing to compare it to what’s published daily on dozens of tech blogs.

My tendency is to compare technological progress to what we’re losing—in this case, the ability to pay for everything conveniently rids the world of things like saving change. Not a bad thing, but a strange thing to think about. If I have kids someday, what will giving them an allowance look like?

15 Minutes

Rolled Up in My Other Other Blog

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 09:54:33 -0400

Thanks for following my blog about my op-ed sketches. I just posted a short writeup about some illustrations I completed for a student newspaper on my non-sketch blog: check it out.

60 Minutes

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 21:01:00 -0400

60 Minutes

Why Are We Drugging Our Soldiers? This article was fascinating. I highly recommend that you read...

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 20:49:39 -0400

Why Are We Drugging Our Soldiers?

This article was fascinating. I highly recommend that you read it.

The basic argument was that our government is providing stimulents like Adderall and Ritalin to our troops. These drugs release norepinephrine, which helps facilitate memory formation. We’re giving soldiers drugs that help create deep, lasting memories and then sending them into combat.

My illustration, a pill-grenade, visually ties together chemicals with the potential damage they contain, both right now and at some point in the future.

10 Minutes

Sunday Dialogue: Books in a Digital Age It’s fun reading authors argue about the future of...

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 20:47:00 -0400

Sunday Dialogue: Books in a Digital Age

It’s fun reading authors argue about the future of publishing. Some lament its demise, others champion the rise of self-publishing.

My illustration highlights the process of publishing—these are authors writing for our iPads. By using a piece of antiquated technology, the typewriter, and changing its output over time into a digital artifact, I’m alluding to how things are in the midst of change.

15 Minutes

From Flash to Fizzle This article compares our social landscape with a fireworks display—different...

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 17:28:00 -0400

From Flash to Fizzle

This article compares our social landscape with a fireworks display—different stories burst onto our screens and disappear hours later, leaving no lasting impression.

It’s hard to capture what a firework looks like once its flash is gone—I played around with a few different ideas, and decided upon a burnt match. There’s nothing left to do with a dead matchstick—you just throw it away. I like the way that the stick both breaks out of the video window and disappears into it.

15 Minutes

Working and Women I’m a pretty big news-junkie, but I managed to avoid the Hilary Rosen/Ann...

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 17:19:06 -0400

Working and Women

I’m a pretty big news-junkie, but I managed to avoid the Hilary Rosen/Ann Romney articles until today. I’d seen them, but hadn’t read through them. Thankfully, this article seemed pretty balanced in its approach—let’s respect hard work, and the incredible women who do it, no matter where that work might take place. And politics sucks.

My concept is a simple illustration of a woman juggling a bunch of icons—they’d represent economics, information, transportation… a few huge things, all taken care of by one strong person.

20 Minutes

The Cybercrime Wave That Wasn’t Remember how criminals were lurking behind every spam email,...

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 17:07:00 -0400

The Cybercrime Wave That Wasn’t

Remember how criminals were lurking behind every spam email, ready to tear your bank account number out of your typing fingers? Me, too. But according to this article, online theft is neither as prevalent or as profitable as we’ve been led to believe.

My idea illustrates the concept of cybercrime with a dollar dissolving into binary.

15 Minutes

The Road We Need Not Have Traveled

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 11:58:01 -0400

The Road We Need Not Have Traveled

Changing Our Car Culture This Sunday Dialogue argued around the issue of gas consumption in the US...

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 18:15:54 -0400

Changing Our Car Culture

This Sunday Dialogue argued around the issue of gas consumption in the US and how best to encourage alternatives.

Gas symbolizes dependence on foreign countries and environmental harm—this piece literally cuts those off with a knot. The idea is that a knot like this doesn’t come as an accident. We might disagree over what kind of a knot to tie, but we can agree that this dependence and harm needs to be curtailed.

There definitely needs to be a drop of gas coming off the end of that nozzle.

10 Minutes

The Road We Need Not Have Traveled This editorial piece touches on both the willful decisions and...

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 18:09:00 -0400

The Road We Need Not Have Traveled

This editorial piece touches on both the willful decisions and the blunders that have lead to over nine years of imprisonment and now a trial outside of the United States for the men accused war crimes in the 9/11 attacks.

I’ve been disappointed with many things Obama has done with his time in office, and one of those disappointments was his failure to close Guantanamo Bay. I’m sure he has his reasons, but my disappointment remains. My illustration would highlight both the justice that is being brought down, but also the over-reach of our government in administering that justice.

10 Minutes