San Francisco Panorama
Illustrating a real-estate exposé for McSweeney's Panorama, a limited edition newspaper.
At a glance
- Company
McSweeney's
November 2009
- Role
Illustrator
- Team
The page designer, who placed and colored the drawings.
- Responsibilities
Illustration, hand-drawn in ink on paper.
- Goal
Illustrate Richard Parks's two-page article about the Lembi Group's San Francisco real estate holdings, in drawings reminiscent of the style of buildings of 1910.
- Outcome
Drawings of more than 100 Lembi properties, made from photographs.
The McSweeney's published the San Francisco Panorama, a one-off newspaper. It was one of a kind, and I enjoyed illustrating more than 100 Lembi properties for an article about the Lembi Group's San Francisco real estate holdings. McSweeney's kindly mentioned that my illustrations are "One of the Panorama designs we're proudest of." The feeling was mutual.
A newspaper, and an exposé
One of its stories was Richard Parks's two-page article about the Lembi Group, a family-owned company that had bought up a large share of San Francisco's rent-controlled apartment buildings. The article needed to show the scale of the Lembi holdings. My job was to illustrate the properties.
Drawing every building
My goal was to let readers see the holdings, building by building, in a style that reflects the era when these properties were built. When drawing more than 100 Lembi properties, I time-traveled to 1910 as I brought them to ink.
From photographs to the page
Working from photographs, I simplified each facade to its lines, keeping the details that make each building recognizable, such as the bay windows, cornices, and fire escapes. The page designer then placed and colored the drawings around the article.
Contributing to a Unique Team
McSweeney's is an icon of the Bay Area. It was a great experience to participate in this project. The work was also cited on snd.org, the site of the Society for News Design.