Brian Stauffer (born May 20, 1966 in

Prescott, Arizona Prescott ( ) is a city in Yavapai County, Arizona, United States. According to the 2020 Census, the city's population was 45,827. The city is the county seat of Yavapai County. In 1864, Prescott was designated as the capital of the Arizona T ...

) is an American artist, and illustrator. Stauffer begins works with hand drawn sketches, then incorporates painted elements and scanned found objects. The final works are digital, but often the hand drawn elements remain as part of the finished works.

Early life and education

Stauffer was born in

, and attended Prescott High School. Both of his parents were fine artists. Stauffer attended

Yavapai College Yavapai College is a public community college in Yavapai County, Arizona. The main campus is in Prescott, with locations in Clarkdale, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley and Sedona. History Yavapai College was established in 1965 by means of a c ...

as a music major. During his second year, Stauffer began working in graphic arts, working with Yavapai instructor and color theorist Glen Peterson. Stauffer later attended

The University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. Th ...

, where he received a BFA in 1989. Before taking on illustration as a full-time career, Stauffer worked as an art director at ''New Times'' in Phoenix, '' The Miami New Times'', and for

Starmedia StarMedia (stylized as starMedia) is a Latin American Internet brand, co-founded in August 1996 by Fernando Espuelas and Jack Chen as the first pan-regional Internet portal for Spanish and Portuguese speaking audiences. During the dot.com boo ...

. While working at ''The Miami New Times'', Stauffer sent a few of his

illustration An illustration is a decoration, interpretation or visual explanation of a text, concept or process, designed for integration in print and digital published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, vid ...

samples to Fred Woodward at ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' magazine who, with Gail Anderson, gave him his first freelance assignment for a movie review.

Influences

Stauffer cites the works of

John Heartfield John Heartfield (born Helmut Herzfeld; 19 June 1891 – 26 April 1968) was a 20th century German visual artist who pioneered the use of art as a political weapon. Some of his most famous photomontages were anti-Nazi and anti-fascist statements ...

and

Alexander Calder Alexander Calder (; July 22, 1898 – November 11, 1976) was an American sculptor known both for his innovative mobiles (kinetic sculptures powered by motors or air currents) that embrace chance in their aesthetic, his static "stabiles", and his ...

as major influences.

Work

Stauffer gained recognition early in his illustration career for his November 13, 2000, cover for ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...

'', titled ''Alfred E. Bush'', which depicted President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

Alfred E. Neuman Alfred E. Neuman is the fictitious mascot and cover boy of the American humor magazine '' Mad''. The character's distinct smiling face, parted red hair, gap-tooth smile, freckles, protruding nose, and scrawny body, first emerged in U.S. iconog ...

, the fictitious mascot and cover boy of ''

Mad Magazine Mad, mad, or MAD may refer to: Geography * Mad (village), a village in the Dunajská Streda District of Slovakia * Mád, a village in Hungary * Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport, by IATA airport code * Mad River (disambiguation), several r ...

''. In 2005, the cover was selected by the

American Society of Magazine Editors The American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) is an industry trade group for magazine journalists and editors of magazines published in the United States. ASME includes the editorial leaders of most major consumer magazine in print and digital ex ...

as number 23 of the top 40 magazine covers in the last 40 years. Stauffer was featured as a cover illustrator for magazines such as ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'', ''The Nation'', and ''

Worth Magazine ''Worth'' is an American financial, wealth management and lifestyle magazine founded in 1986 and re-launched by Sandow in 2009. The magazine addresses financial, legal and lifestyle issues for high-net-worth individuals. Each issue is organized ...

''. In 2010, the Society of Publication Designers recognized the work of design director Dean Sebring and Stauffer for their ''Worth Magazine'' covers. Stauffer was recognized for his contributions to smaller publications, including his work for ''

SF Weekly ''SF Weekly'' was a free alternative weekly newspaper founded in the 1970s in San Francisco, California. It was distributed every Thursday, and was published by the San Francisco Print Media Company. The paper has won national journalism awards, ...

'', and cover illustrations for the ''

Dallas Observer ''Dallas Observer'' is a free digital and print publication based in Dallas, Texas. The ''Observer'' publishes daily online coverage of local news, restaurants, music, and arts, as well as longform narrative journalism. A weekly print issue circ ...

'', and ''

Seattle Weekly The ''Seattle Weekly'' is an alternative biweekly distributed newspaper in Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded by Darrell Oldham and David Brewster as ''The Weekly.'' Its first issue was published on March 31, 1976. The newspaper ...

'', among others.

Book illustrations

* ''Art'' by Karen Salmonsohn,

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

(2003) * ''Fashion'' by Karen Salmonsohn,

(2003)

Notable poster work

* Savannah Music Festival (2013) * ''Death of a Salesman'', Soulpepper Theatre Company (2010) * ''What The Butler Saw''

Soulpepper Theatre Company Soulpepper is a theater company based in Toronto, Ontario. It is the largest non-profit theater in the city. History Soulpepper was founded in 1998 by twelve Toronto artists aiming to produce lesser-known theatrical classics. Soulpepper has sinc ...

(2010) * ''The Barber of Seville''

Vancouver Opera Vancouver Opera is the second largest performing arts organization in British Columbia and the largest opera company in western Canada. Its mainstage performances occur in the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, other venues in Vancouver and occasionally els ...

Queen Elizabeth Theatre The Queen Elizabeth Theatre is a performing arts venue in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Along with the Orpheum, Vancouver Playhouse, and thAnnex it is one of four facilities operated by the Vancouver Civic Theatres on behalf o ...

(2012)

Awards

* Silver Medal (Institutional), 2015,

Society of Illustrators The Society of Illustrators is a professional society based in New York City. It was founded in 1901 to promote the art of illustration and, since 1959, has held an annual exhibition. History Founding The Society of Illustrators was founded on ...

, ''Ambition'' for the Kroll Foundation, art directed b Kit Hinrichs * Silver Medal (Institutional), 2012, Society of Illustrators, ''Digital Evidence And The Smoking Gun'' for Emory Law, art directed by Winnie Hume * Gold Medal (Editorial), 2010, Society of Illustrators, ''Infighting Police'' for Village Voice Media, art directed by Peter Storch * Gold Medal for editorial illustration, Society of Illustrators, 2010 * Gold Print Editorial Award, International Design Awards IDA, Winner with Andrew J. Nilsen, ''Worlds Apart'' (2012) * Gold Medal (with Dean Sebring,

) Society of Publication Designers (2010) * Silver Medals (2)

covers, The Art Directors Club (2012) * First place illustration ''Good Cop Bad Cop'' for

Phoenix New Times ''Phoenix New Times'' is a free digital and print media company based in Phoenix, Arizona. ''New Times'' publishes daily online coverage of local news, restaurants, music and arts, as well as longform narrative journalism. A weekly print issue ...

, AltWeekly Awards (2010) * First place illustration ''7-Up vs. Coke, Part 2'' for

Riverfront Times The ''Riverfront Times'' (''RFT'') is a free progressive weekly newspaper in St. Louis, in the U.S. state of Missouri, that consists of local politics, music, arts, and dining news in the print edition, and daily updates to blogs and photo galler ...

, AltWeekly Awards (2009) * First place illustration ''The Suitcase Murders'' for

Miami New Times The ''Miami New Times'' is a newspaper published in Miami, Florida, United States, and distributed every Thursday. It primarily serves the Miami area and is headquartered in Miami's Wynwood Art District. Overview It was acquired by Village Voic ...

, AltWeekly Awards (2008)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stauffer, Brian 1966 births Living people Artists from Arizona American illustrators The New Yorker people People from Prescott, Arizona Yavapai College alumni University of Arizona alumni