Closing down mental aid

Here is a breakdown of a recent City Pages cover I did with Mike Kooiman as his last job before moving on to greener pastures. Best of luck, Mike!

Excerpt from Mike's email:
"It's about the Apollo mental health facility that's closing and leaving patients stranded. Simple as that. What sucks is we JUST did another mental health story, attaching the cover. So this one can't focus on a head or brain."

Sketches:

I thought this would be interesting since the closing is a "hard pill to swallow" for both patients and for medical staff. I liked the image as the viewer doesn't know if the doctor is giving or receiving the capsule.

Now I know this image has brains in it, but I thought it was ok to submit since they were a subtle aspect of the image. I was looking forward to taking this one to finish if selected, but I think it was too negative. (But I would have used bright colors...)

The phrase "shuttering it's doors" was used a few times in the article as well as in the sub-head, and so   I thought those doors in the shape of a first-aid symbol would make for a fun cover that changes when viewed far away and up close (as most weekly papers are in newspaper boxes on the street corners). In hindsight, it would be really messed up if there were an accident, and then someone saw this down the street and thought "What luck! A first aid kit!" They run to it, and then they find its just...the paper?

Oh well. The final:

Mike went with the aid symbol, and I think it made for a simple interesting cover. Thanks to Tom for the tearsheet and for filling in for Mike after his departure.

I played with this a bit, and I hope it doesn't offend the art directors involved. I thought the effect would be more successful with lightened text? But I understand that it needs to be an easy read for folks passing by:

Thanks for reading!

Enjoy the Day,
Chris