Ex-con Distrust

Back in October, I was commissioned for a cover concerning treatment of ex-convicts; we all know that there is a bias against these people when they come out of the system. The art director's description of the article was an addressing of how ex-con's have difficulty finding jobs due to the prejudice against them.

Sketches:

The first three sketches were the original submissions. Of them, the third (back brand) was chosen, but the AD wasn't thrilled with the pose. I was going for a revelation-type image, but the AD wanted a button-up shirt to allude to the article's discussing white collar employment. Sadly, I never got to read the article before doing these sketches, so I basically had to re-draw the image to fit a new, more specific concept. #1 was my favorite, and I think it would have also fit the "white collar" aspect of the article; however, the art director was convinced that a "branding" concept was the best way to go.

Final art without text:

I decided to keep the image more simple than the sketch to allow for easily-read text. I also removed the smoke from the brand so as to interfere with the masthead. I don't know if it works as well, but perhaps I'll add the smoke in later as  I do still enjoy it in the sketch :)

Thanks again for readin'!

Enjoy the Day,
Chris