11. NUMBER 17
Emily Oberman and Bonnie Siegler of Number 17, waiting in an airport
security line, glimpsed an X-ray image of a fellow traveler’s bag. Instantly,
they knew the image—with slight modifications—would be the fall 2004
cover of Colors, which focuses on drugs. “We wanted something that
would be nonjudgmental,” says Oberman. “And we realized,” tag-teams
Siegler, “that this was a way we could show drugs as visually arresting and
a part of everyday life.”
Later discussions determined the suitcase would be a user’s,
not a dealer’s, allowing a broader range of contraband than any
one-trick pusher could boast. “More people could conceivably
relate to a user’s bag,” Siegler notes.
The bag does offer something for everyone, packed with narcotics,
a bottle of wine, joints, cigarettes, condoms, cocaine, a
hairbrush, and a brick of heroin. Its renaissance owner hopes
also to find time for pleasure reading (paperback, lower left) and
sightseeing (camera, lower right).
An acidic green—set against the palette’s deep purples and
yellows—underscores the toxicity of the suitcase’s illegal viscera,
which carries through to the title. Other than color tweaks, the
image is just as you might see at LAX. “Turning these objects into
X-rays,” says Oberman, “makes them beautiful.” Tiffany Meyers
ART DIRECTORS: Emily Oberman, Bonnie Siegler
DESIGNER: Wade Convay
PHOTOGRAPHER: GUSTO/Hugh Turvey
CLIENT: Colors Magazine
CONTACT: 212.966.9395, www.number17.com