Wonder. Not Worry.

Learning. Working with the cover team at National Geographic was stimulating and humbling. Success was measured in monthly newsstand sales in an era when the marketplace for magazine retail sales was crumbling.

Even though NatGeo is known for its imagery, it was the topic and the title that sold magazines: Science and history, culture and Christ. As our wise circulation director constantly reminded us: “Wonder, not worry.”

I was Creative Director for the magazine for 10 years working for Editor in Chief Chris Johns. An incredible time of evolution of NatGeo, the magazine industry, the flip to digital photography, the tremendous hope of apps to save slumping circulation numbers, the disappointment that there was no silver-bullet solution, the honor of having a role in 23 National Magazine Awards—four General Excellence Ellies, four Best Tablet Edition Ellies, three Photography Ellies, and Magazine of the Year in 2012.