Cincy Magazine
Covers and Layouts

While at Cincy Magazine, I was responsible for the art direction and layout of nine issues (August 2008 – August 2009).

I worked with the editorial team and publisher to come up with concepts for each cover, often starting with a pencil sketch on paper. Once the concepts were decided upon, I was responsible for setting up photo shoots, directing photographers, and completing any final photo retouching. The image on the Cooking with Attitude cover, for instance, is actually two different images combined together in order to get the best mix of expressions. The Rating the 'Burbs cover was shot on an overcast day before the leaves were out, requiring extensive work with the background and lighting to make it feel like Spring for the April issue. The Gary Burbank cover required precise masking to overlap his hair with the magazine logo. Other covers, such as the Sarah Jessica Parker photo, required research to track down the never-before-published photo from the photographer who took it over thirty years ago.

Before I started, the magazine was without a permanent art director, and the overall look was very inconsistent across and within issues. One of my first tasks was to set up consistent style sheets based on elements of the previous look. As time went on, this look was updated and improved in almost every issue, culminating in a full redesign of nearly all elements of the magazine except for the logo. I also established a few standard looks for certain features and departments, including the look for profiles.

The look the feature layouts was more flexible, depending on the subject matter. Below are two typical feature opening spreads.

In addition to my duties with the magazine, I was also responsible for the art direction and layout of several custom publications while at Cincy.

Copyright 1998-2009 Charles W Hartman