Fast Track to Ozzfest

DRUM July 2008: Steven Spence © 2008 . All rights reserved.

Steven Spence dreams of clicks. Late into the night, after the stage lights have gone down, the drum kit has been packed away, and the bus has begun rolling toward the next American city on the tour list, Spence is in a world of regulated clicks: tick, tick, tick, tock. But the clicks are not coming from the wet leaf that’s flapping against the front wheel of the tour bus as it races along I-70 toward San Antonio. Like John Nash in A Beautiful Mind, it’s the sound of numbers ricocheting off the walls of Spence’s brain. Continue reading →

Steering R.E.M. Into Harder Waters

DRUM! May 2008 (page 6) © 2008 . All rights reserved.

It’s well into a Thursday night in January and R.E.M.’s Bill Rieflin is making himself a cup of Scottish breakfast tea. It’s not a terribly cold night in Seattle, where Rieflin has lived almost his entire life, but the wind makes it feel more intense. The gusts are evidence of January’s last gasping moments, and even then, it’s still only a few degrees above freezing at this late hour. It could be worse. Continue reading →

Men’s Vogue Sept. 2008 issue mockup

Men's Vogue Sept. 2008 mockup issue (cover) © 2008 . All rights reserved.

For the “Magazine Editing” class at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, I made a complete mockup issue of Men’s Vogue magazine, including conceptualized stories, heds and deks, and layout choices. Click image for PDF of entire magazine mockup.