Video Interview with Legendary Esquire Magazine Designer George Lois

In an Advertising Age video, legendary design guru George Lois ridicules the recent 'big idea' from his former home of Esquire. Saying their "E-Ink" cover was "silly" and "gimmicky," he echoed much of the sentiment around the 75th anniversary experiment. E-Ink had arrived like a thud in the haphazard world of Internet Age magazine hype. Lois went on to chastise the flailing industry, saying, "Oh lord, How long will it take for them to learn?"

Lois has the bonafides to level this critique. Besides being a world class advertising agency art director at DDB, he was responsible for some of the most memorable and politically charged Esquire covers of the last century. At a time when safe and PC was the standard, this including classics with Ali, Nixon and Warhol.

Old school pros like Lois are a fading breed. Brash, bold and pioneering, he's from the generation that the series Mad Men celebrates. I suppose today's versions might be overachievers like agency superstar Alex Bogusky, Apple guru Jonathan Ive and art guerrilla Banksy.

It was nice to hear Lois say, not entirely surprisingly, that he's a Barack Obama supporter. Which makes me want to ask, where's that soon-to-be legendary campaign poster or magazine cover, George?

Click here for the video.