Saturday, February 20, 2010

Lost In Translation

Lost in Translation - Illustration by Graham Smith



Art Director SooJin Buzelli, asked me to illustrate a story for PlanAdviser Magazine. The story is about finance planners difficulties in reaching out to the Hispanic market with guidance related to retirement saving. The article explains that different cultures look at retirement goals differently, and their current sales pitch is falling on indifferent ears.

There is no way I was going to illustrate this in literally - with a dude in a suit talking to people supposed to look Hispanic. So, I pitched birds talking to llamas instead. Somehow that made sense to me.

Lost in Translation - detail. Graham Smith

Llamas are from Peru, and the bird is an American Blue Jay, and they both seem to have a love of the color pink. The article advises to look for things in common. The Blue Jay sits on his "nest egg" while the snow falls. This illustration was for the January /February issue of Plan Adviser, out on news stands now, so I thought adding a seasonal element would be right.

You can read the Lost in Translation article in PlanAdviser's first digital online issue.

2 comments:

alex fine illustration said...

This is a really clever way to illustrate the article. She seems like a great art director because she's always open to stray from the literal. Great job.

Graham Smith said...

Thanks, Alex.

I think part of this art directors success formula is her decisiveness and excellent time management. She provides all job specs up front and allows ample time for sketches and finish.

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