Popular Mechanics
Cover: Nov/Dec Issue. 2020
Art Direction: Jesse Southerland
I was approached by Popular Mechanics to create the front cover of Nov/Dec 2020's issue.
"No one can solve this magic trick" was the concept I had to create the illustration around.
The cover line is in reference to a trick that the magician talks about not being able to figure out. The trick:
A group of random audience members file on stage and each place a personal possession inside a sturdy, commercial-model safe, out of view of the magician, Charles Morritt. The safe is locked before anyone looks inside, and after a beat, a burglar appears. The lock-picking bandit looks at the closed safe with a pair of field glasses and disappears. Moments later, a telegram arrives for Morritt. It’s from the master thief. It says, in essence, “I’ve decided not to crack that safe and steal the contents—it’s not worth my time. But here’s a list of everything inside.”
When the safe is opened, the list matches up, item for item. It’s a mind-reading trick, but instead of the magician playing the part of the clairvoyant, it’s the third-party burglar.
We also created an animated version for Apple News
