Illustration Spotlight: Michael Scott of 'The Office'

Collection of some portraits of Steve Carell as Michael Scott from "The Office."

Art credits: (clockwise) Brian Taylor Illustration, Devon O'Keefe, Stephen Andolin, McIllustrator, Kiracatures, Mr. Jert, Enrique Hidalgo, tree27.deviantart, Dyan T. Holden & Noah Stokes.

Here's to Steve Carell as Michael Scott on 'The Office.'

>>>>>>>>>>>

Michael Gary Scott
Born: March 15, 1965, in Scranton, Pa.

Forte: Salesmanship

Not his forte: Managing people

Resume: Salesman, co-manager, manager, regional co-manager, regional manager of the Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin Inc. paper and printer distribution company; owner, Michael Scott Paper Company (defunct)

Nickname: World's Best Boss

Catchphrase: "That's what she said!"

Alter-egos: Ping, Agent Michael Scarn, Prison Mike, Michael Klump, Blind Guy McSqueezy, Mikanos, Caleb Crawdad "I do declare," Date Mike, Rapper Mike, Santa Bond and Reginald Poofter

Personal info: Engaged to Holly Flax, human resources representative

Source: Chicago.com and theoffice.wikia.com

Vanity Fair's New Yorker Parody

Here's a 'fist bump' cover to add to my previous New Yorker post. The August 2008 issue of Vanity Fair.

Tim O'Brien's Illustrated Tears

Here is a cool look at the tears that illustrator Tim O'Brien has illustrated for Time magazine's covers over the years. Check out the original post at Drawger.

Extreme Graphic Design Plagiarism

Another site worth checking out.

Similarities Flickr Set

Flicker set that has a ton of doppelgangers.

Garden & Gun vs. Savannah

Dec 2010/Jan 2011 issue of Garden & Gun and March/April 2011 issue of Savannah. I credit this find to Neil Jamieson.

Real Simple vs. Woman's Day

On the left, April 2011 issue of Woman's Day and on the right, May 2003 issue of Real Simple. Thanks to Robert Newman.

BusinessWeek Gets Ripped

Appears this cover from an Asian money magazine took the actual cover artwork directly from BusinessWeek cover. They could of at least warped the text to make it work like the original.

Thanks to Andrew Horton for this.

Japan Tragedy Design Inspiration

Here are some designs & illustrations inspired by the Japan earthquake and tsunami. Interesting to see how different artists approach the same concept. All are nicely done but I think the BusinessWeek and the piece next to it (Edel Rodriguez illo) are my favorites.

(Credits: Bloomberg BusinessWeek/Richard Turley, Edel Rodriguez, Tim O'Brian, Miguel Miichan, nsquaredesign.blogspot.com, skyogden.blogspot.com, osocio.org, designinspiration.net, weandthecolor.com, causes.com)

"So, You Thought We Wouldn't Notice" Blog

While I'd like to think my blog runs the gamut of tributes, parodies, with a little bit of copycat stuff, the "You Thought We Wouldn't Notice" blog has a ton of examples of downright plagarism, thievery and copyright infringement.

Didn't really see any magazine stuff on the site but worth checking out for sure.

The Stranger's Response to Sarah Palin

The Stranger put out this cover based off the Sarah Palin web graphic shortly after the Gabrielle Giffords shooting. Clever to say the least.

The New Republic Cover Illustration

Original cover illustration by Jason Holley commissioned by the New Republic in August 2006. Illustration then reused for book cover in 2010. (Illustrator presumably negotiated 2nd print rights to the book company.)

Thanks to Christine Car for this.

Paint-By-Number Covers

I've always loved these paint-by-number cover illustrations. Here are a few. I know there are more out there.

Esquire vs. RollingStone Brazil

Original post at SPD.

Portland Monthly vs....

Check out the original post at SPD. Pretty interesting.

New York Magazine / The Rolling Stones

"Whether New York Magazine's Facebook cover was inspired by The Rolling Stones album art from "Black and Blue" or not, the parallels are there." Thanks to SPD.

Tribute or Mockery? The Stranger's version of Time

Thanks to SPD.

Rolling Stone Tribute Cover

Pregnancy magazines tribute to Janet Jackson's Rolling Stone cover. Found here.

Album Cover Coincidence?

Jay-Z's The Blueprint 3 (right) and it's predecessor Secret Machine's Now Here is Nowhere. Found here.

Attack of Stock Photos

Found here.

Tribute: National Lampoon Update

Original National Lampoon cover (Jan. 1973), Las Vegas Weekly (Nov. 2005), Texas Monthly (Jan. 2007) & Folio (Oct. 2008).

Texas Monthly vs. Indianapolis Monthly

Texas Monthly (Dec 08) & Indianapolis Monthly (July 09). Thanks to Ben as always!

CHEAP EAT CHEAP EAT CHEAP Compilation

I'm sure these covers can go on forever....and yes I went to Five Guys after compiling these.

Parody: EW's Take on the New Yorker Cover

Tribute: Texas Monthly's Nod to National Lampoon

Men's Health Doubletake

Same coverlines. Found via gawker. According to editor it was intentional. Maybe that earlier cover sold really well?

Billboard vs. Mediaweek

Similar covers spotted by Robert Newman. I actually did a few illustrations for that issue of Billboard.

The Incredible Shrinking...

Here are few more similar concepts. Credit to Neil Jamieson and Robert Newman.

Esquire vs. Wizard

I quite like the Wizard one. Less words makes it an easier to read than the Esquire original. Thanks to Ben!

Burger War! NY Mag & St. Louis covers

Thanks to Benjamen Purvis.

Esquire vs. Texas Monthly

Another one spotted by Benjamen Purvis. Thanks Ben!

'Friends' & 'Glee' RollingStone covers

Both covers photographed my Mark Seliger.

Seattle & New York Magazine

As spotted by Benjamen Purvis.

'A Clockwork Orange' Tribute

Found an unexpected tribute to 'A Clockwork Orange' during one of the cartoons my kids watch. Cool in a graphic design way but creepy in a parenting way.

Boston Phoenix & Time Magazine

Design for the 11/13/09 Boston Phoenix and TIME magazine’s 11/23/09 issue.

Thanks to Kristen for this one.

New Republic, Time & Newsweek

Doubt that any of these are direct ripoffs. Not an uncommon concept, although the New Republic's version is a bit more interesting.

Disney Doppelgangers

Looks like even Disney rips themselves off to save a little time animating...

Texas Monthly Look-A-Likes

Both Texas Monthly covers preceded the Rhode Island and Boston magazine covers. These covers could almost be coincidental, but given the popularity of Texas Monthly in the magazine design world, I doubt that they are. I could almost forgive the Rhode Island cover, but the way the long headline runs above the masthead is almost identical to the TM cover, revealing it's not an accident. The Power cover is just too close for comfort.

My Ralph Steadman Tribute

More on this illustration here: btillustration.blogspot.com

German Maxim likes Esquire, Too

Here's another case of the Esquire type look spreading to other mags.

Esquire / Transworld Snowboarding

Transworld Snowboarding bit off Esquire's cover text treatment. Esquire's been doing this 'text behind the image' thing for a while. While the Snowboarding cover isn't executed that well, you can hardly blame them for trying to mimic the technique.

The Joker's Take on Obama's Poster

I know everyone has seen about a million parody versions of the Obama Hope poster design. While most are lame, this one rocks!!

Attack of Stock Photos

Time Magazine and the "X" Covers

I like these covers. Simple, effective. Prediction: The next time they employ the "X" cover design will be when they find Bin Laden.....

New York Times vs. Coast magazine

New York Times got ripped off by Coast magazine. Found here.

Harper's Bazaar vs. W Magazine

I'm guessing this probably isn't an intentional or direct ripoff. The Harper's Bazaar cover was done about 15 years ago and I'm sure this type of make-up/pose is fairly common in the fashion world.

Vanity Fair Does Milton Glaser Dylan

This ones goes in the tribute department. I really like this layout Vanity Fair did. It's a great nod to the famous Glaser poster illustration of Dylan.

MKE magazine vs. Milwaukee magazine

A 2009 Milwaukee magazine cover made an obvious ripoff of the now defunct MKE magazine, which was done 2 years ago. The editor is blaming the photographer, who evidently had photographed both magazines covers but did not disclose the fact that he had already done this cover concept before. Hmmmm...very interesting...