Impossible photos of Erik Johansson.

YEAR
2013
MY ROLE
Interviewer, writer, editor, web producer
COMPANY/TEAM
Adobe Inspire Magazine
CATEGORIES
Photography, Photoshop
GOAL
Get inside the mind of a photographer who captures surreal ideas rather than decisive moments

Believable impossibilities.

A TED Talk by Erik Johansson, a creative and surreal photographer/retoucher from Sweden, got us thinking about not just how he does his magic but why he conjures up the scenarios that he does. Erik was keen to chat with us and give us his unique perspective of the world around us. His impossible landscapes seem alternately humorous and menacing, trapping their inhabitants in vexing circumstances beyond their control as if they’re witnessing a break in the space-time continuum. They also show off his admirable skills with Adobe Photoshop.

From interview to overview.

After the hour-long phone interview, I distilled the essence of the free-flowing conversation to get at what underlies his creative process as well as what influences or inspires him — obviously M. C. Escher but also Salvador Dalí. With the managing editor’s help, I edited the 8,000-word transcript into something more succinct and readable at just over 2,000 words.

The next step in the process was to sift through Erik’s available images and select just enough of them to show his versatility while not overwhelming the reader.

Finally, I took off my editor’s hat and put on my web producer’s hat and began to lay out the article, as well as the others in that issue of Inspire Magazine — nine in all. The final layout appears at the bottom of this page.

From web to iPad.

Adobe Inspire Magazine didn’t only have a web presence; it also appeared on Apple iPad using Adobe Digital Publishing Suite (announced in 2010, discontinued in 2019). Inspire content was published simultaneously on both platforms at roughly six-week intervals.

The agency Wrecking Ball worked with us to create each iPad edition. They helped our team discover innovative ways to present our static content interactively, making the publication as fun and instructional as possible. All iPad editions were designed to be consumed whether holding the device horizontally or vertically. The marquee video at the top of this page shows a bit of the iPad edition in action.

Below is a demo I made in 2012 to show off the “new” Inspire Magazine. It was intended to show our customers the redesigned website as well as promote the iPad edition. It was never publicly released so this lo-res review draft (with embedded timecode) is the only version I have.

Check out the live page (no longer branded as Inspire) or see the screen shot below.