Now that BusinessWeek is blogging, I’m also doing some illustrations for the internet. Today, your morning Coffee App.

Fact: is required by information graphics law, that every graphics designer loves airplane safety cards.

I drew a few myself this week… but why are you looking at my illustrations when you could be gazing into the eyes of two copulating planes?

My New Year’s resolution is to spend more time online and less time outside and I got a binary joke in the magazine this week for a story on Code Academy. Where’s my certificate of nerd authenticity?

I wrote and designed today’s cover illustration for NYT’s Sunday Review. It is hard to miss. It is a giant yellow disclaimer.

Thanks Aviva Michaelov for this assignment! It was a lot of fun to make. Anyone who has shared a studio with me knows I am borderline obsessed with contract-speak. Also, I haven’t had to kern this hard since college.

Click here for legible high res.

I was going to make this a pretty detailed post about art directing at a magazine and how it’s not about hiring 12 individual illustrations—it’s about how all of the artwork relates to one another as a reading experience but I don’t think I’m up for an educational post. I don’t feel like I have the authority to remind other illustrators of this when I forget about it myself.

You see, most illustrators are working in a vacuum… even though their artwork won’t be. The rare art director will share a layout with you, the illustrator, and work collaboratively. That is great– really great. Still, illustrators have no idea what comes before and after their illustration in a 70 page magazine. Usually, that’s not something the freelance artist has to worry about… unless of course if what comes before or after your artwork looks similar to your sketches. It’s these very special moments when that art director inexplicably rules out your *favorite idea* for another sketch. Whatabitch.

Such was the case the other week for Businesweek’s Stay at home Dad feature story. Originally, I created a series of detailed characters I was rather excited about. Normally, I don’t get so detailed and this new set of icons had a lot of personality. Unfortunately, BusinessWeek was also running other small ornate drawings on the previous pages. So, in an effort to create more contrast between these two features my tiny illustrations were reduced to something more bold, graphic and designerly: ICONS. Not to be confused with tiny drawings.

In the end, the graphic icons are much better but I still mourn the loss of the detailed man sewing.

I had far too much fun drawing fat ankles for this week’s Businessweek. Inspired by every episode of Biggest Loser

A Nigerian prince asked me to post this graphic I worked on this week with Karen Weiss and Kenton Powell. Please send him money. He will pay you back, I promise.

Have you seen McSweeney’s latest and greatest new magazine, Lucky Peach? Available at every bougie cheese boutique or fancy shmancy kitchen appliance store in Brooklyn, Lucky Peach has swiftly became one of my favorite new magazines. Sure, I don’t cook but I do eat. Sometimes, I even read.

Issue #2 includes stickers designed by Tucker Nichols, Laura Park, Wesley Allsbrook, Daniel Krall and a bunch of others… oh and me. Buy the magazine and use the stickers to fraud your local grocer.

Thanks Walter Green for including me in the series!

Issue 3 of Fray Magazine by Derek Powzek has just been published on the internets. This time the theme is “Sex and Death”.

I made this print for Fray not long after Anna Nicole Smith’s sudden death. It’s no 27 Club but there are three dozen Playboy Playmates that have died of unnatural causes including Marilyn Monroe (Miss December 1953), Jayne Mansfield (Miss February 1955), Dorothy Stratten (Miss August 1979), and of course Anna Nicole Smith (Miss May 1992).

Buy an issue (it’s the centerfold!) here.

And thanks Mark Frauenfelder for blogging about it on Boing Boing.

This week we did another Steve Jobs (RIP) cover but this time about the soul of Apple. I was on vacation but Richard asked me to do a few passes for the cover– how could I resist? I sent over a pdf of about 8 bad ideas, went for a walk and realized– DUH why didn’t I think of an apple CORE? So, quickly shuffled back home and sent him a ninth idea.

He liked it.

Spend a few more hours refining the idea with Rob Vargas (A few revisions below since I know you guys LOVE process shots)

This issue will be on Newstands next Tuesday. If you haven’t picked up our Steve Jobs memorial issue you’re an idiot. Do it before it is exclusively available on ebay for a stupid amount of money.