Twenty years before thinking up the "I want my MTV" campaign, advertising genius George Lois saved Esquire magazine from a swift sink into bankruptcy by transforming it into one of the most visually provocative publications of the last half century.
From Lois' first cover for the magazine, which featured an image of boxing favorite Floyd Patterson knocked out in an empty arena, and broke Esquire newsstand sales records, to a 1970 cover depicting a marquee for the film Easy Rider transposed over St. Patrick's Cathedral, the designer sparked controversy and discussion that translated to big sales.
His process of combining clip art, stock photography, and drawn elements were precursors to the digital retouching employed everywhere today; and his images of cult figures like Andy Warhol drowning in a can of Campbell's tomato soup, and Muhammad Ali depicted as the martyr St. Sebastian, slapped a direct editorial commentary front and center, revolutionizing the industry then, and revealing an iconographical history now.
Thirty-two of Lois' covers from 1962 to 1972 are included in the exhibition George Lois: The Esquire Covers, at the Museum of Modern Art, from April 25, through March 31, 2009.
