The Plain Dealer's cool Sunday tax cover on biz section front

Cleveland Plain Dealer business editor Paul O’Donnell calls the paper’s Sunday business section on taxes a “killer cover.”

“Every year at tax time, we produce a host of consumer-oriented stories on news you can use to help you file your tax return,” says O’Donnell. “We kicked off the coverage Sunday with the attached.” (See below.)

“The centerpiece story examines what should be a very eventful tax-filing season this year, especially with the prolonged AMT debate in Congress, the likely delays in getting refunds and the rebate issue clouding everything up,” adds O’Donnell. “As you can see, we chose to devote most of our Sunday cover to the subject.

“The cover illustration was conceived by a terrific graphic artist on our staff, Andrea Levy, who worked with page designer Lisa Griffis to come up with this year’s idea. Andrea Levy is absolutely tremendous at taking the subject of taxes and turning it into a page-stopper of a cover. The one she did last year just won a gold medal in SND’s annual contest.”

Last year’s tax cover art for the Plain Dealer was of Little Red Riding Hood and the wolf. Here’s how Levy did this year’s cover:

She hired a male model and put together a paper mache model that sort of resembled the world. She posed the male model as if he was holding up the paper mache. Then, with some Photoshop mastery, she was able to convert her paper mache creation into a globe of the world with the word “TAXES” etched into it.

“The design is as stunning as it is straightforward,” says O’Donnell. “It quickly and clearly conveys the weighed-down feeling we all experience at tax time.”