Something to aspire to: George Lois's '60s Esquire covers

Last week New York magazine published a story and a slideshow that featured iconic art director George Lois talking about his 12 favourite Esquire covers and how they came to be. It is well worth a view and something to aspire to in terms of creative juice, guts, luck and the patronage of an editor who knew good stuff when he saw it. This was in spite of the hell it was going to raise (in fact, because of the hell it would raise). 

In particular, I like the way when Lois would warn Harold Hayes of the likely fallout and Hayes would simply say: "Yeaaahhhhh."

The slideshow was put together, natch, as a preview for the book George Lois: The Esquire Covers. It has 60 digitally remastered cover images, commentary, behind-the-scenes photographs and essays, the companion to a year-long exhibit last year at the Museum of Modern Art. It's not yet published in Canada, but will retail and can be pre-ordered for about $55.