Interview with Richard McGuire

Named after Juno, the Roman goddess of marriage, June is considered to be one of the best months of the year to elope. This week’s New Yorker celebrates wedding season with a playful cover by Richard McGuire entitled, “I Do.”

Odd-couples aside, the illustration wonderfully reminds us that the world is filled with an infinite possibility of companions.

If you aren’t already familiar with Richard McGuire, he is a talented all-rounder with a diverse output. He started out penning the comic strip “Here” at RAW magazine, along with playing bass in the experimental punk band, Liquid Liquid. He also writes and illustrates children’s books at Little Lit, designs toys and animates segments on PBS Kids. 

Worth checking out are his imaginative films including Micro Loup, a funny short which is cleverly staged from above and Peur(s) du Noir, a French b+w animation which could give you night sweats even if you are not afraid of the dark. His illustrations also appear in The New Yorker, McSweeney’s, The New York Times Book Review, Le Monde and other publications.

I feel lucky to be able to ask him a couple of questions about this week’s cover:

Without spoiling too much about your process, how did you come up with the concept for “I Do”? Were you brushing your teeth one morning and thought, “toothbrush…toothpaste,” and then riffed off the theme of marriage?

Earlier this year The New Yorker asked me to do a drawing for an article regarding ‘gay marriage and the legal system.’ I submitted a drawing of two gavels holding hands. It wasn’t accepted for whatever reason, but this anthropomorphized couple got me thinking about obvious pairs; salt and pepper, bacon and eggs, bread and butter. I started to make a list. Then I thought of a few dysfunctional couples that made me laugh; dustpan and broom, pencil and sharpener. And then came some doomed couples; dynamite and match, fire and ice, nut and nut-cracker. 

There’s a certain understated, or shall I say, “pair”ed-down quality about the cover. It gives just enough information for the viewer to connect the dots without explicitly solving the riddle. Do you think simplicity adds something?

My motto is always: ‘simple is best.’ There was some back and forth with the art director who felt the idea wasn’t explicit enough, but I felt the title said it all.

While we are on the topic of combinations, I noticed you are quite the multi-talented individual–author, illustrator, animator, musician. Sometimes I find having a versatile background can be a blessing and a curse.You seem to remain open to change by re-inventing yourself and not worrying about mixing styles or getting categorized. Did you start out juggling all these interests at once or did you naturally let yourself evolve from one discipline to the next? 

I used to worry that I didn’t have one focus. These days I think it’s an advantage. It’s like tending a garden. I have ideas that deal with narrative and others that are more abstract, but everything I do comes from my own sensibilities and it all connects back somehow. I enjoy the contrast of working collaboratively, with film or music, and I enjoy working alone like on my current book project. 

You seem to have a knack for plucking a scenario from life and framing it in such a way that makes it magical. In Micro Loup, the late-comer ushered into the concert with the light was a delightful observation. Does it help to shut out the stimuli living in NYC or are you always on the lookout for these happy moments in the mess?

Thanks. I think everyone who lives in NYC has mixed feelings about the ‘stimuli.’ I try my best to be observant of the small human things.

When I first saw this cover, I thought the characters with their little arms and legs could dance off the page. Since you also work as an animator, I’m curious if with magazines going digital, you could see doing a future cover in motion? 

I’m sure it’s most likely in my future and I would love to do that.