Since the originally designed series for The New Press was so strong, we wanted to keep the same powerful impact of that series, without slavishly copying their design. The focus and design hierarchy remained the same: big type with one great image.

What was the public perception for World War II? How does a worker feel? What images best sum up these two very different states of being, yet stay within a series feel?

I remember sketching out some possible comps for Working last summer, on one of the sultriest nights that year. The Soviet-era worker posters were an obvious cultural cue, as was the the typically communist color-blocking of red, black, and white.

But the last and most pervasive imagery came from an unlikely source (add one or two cocktails and voila); I remembered a showing of Koyaanisqatsi from my art school days. Instantly, my mind went to the scenes of rush hour NYC crowds (and also the Vegas street scenes), walking down the sidewalk en masse, and their expressions. That was the feel I wanted; their slow, inevitable progress.

Here are my final solutions.