Art Direction & Cover Design for Chicago Reader
The Chicago Reader is a 50 year-old pioneering alternative newspaper in Chicago that specializes in long-form journalism, social justice reporting, and arts coverage. During my tenure* I art directed more than 500 covers and was promoted from Graphic Designer to Art Director, and later to the Creative Director position.
I redesigned the paper twice. Once in 2010, introducing a second cover for a revamped music section, called the “B-Side”, and again in 2016 which was retired after a decade of use, in spring of 2026.
These are a random assortment of notable covers.
A-Side Covers
B-Side Covers
While the A-Side might seem like the adult in the room, the B-Side was always the angsty teenager, full of ennui. It allowed the Reader to expand its cover appeal, choosing one side or the other to display depending on the location.
A+B Paired Covers
Every once in a while we were able to create a pair of covers for the issue. These are a few of my favorites. For our 40th Anniversary, we blew the majority of the weekly art budget on a real cake for the A-Side, which we then ate and destroyed for the B-Side. Both of our cover subjects scheduled back-to-back photo shoots so we had to take advantage. When we got the greenlight from The GTW, he said it was cool because Paradiso was his “spirit animal”. And artist Lilli Carré deals a pair of winning covers.
*Although I didn't go to journalism school, I got a master's-level education from the Reader — in visual storytelling, in staffing a creative team, and in what it means to have a distinct point of view. I'll be forever in its debt.