Over the years, American Illustration has developed a loyal following among creative people who regularly work with top illustrators. While most illustrators work quietly, alone in their studios, art directors, as a group, tend to be somewhat outspoken. Following are a few juicy bits overheard in the corridors.

“[AI] totally succeeds, year after year, at its stated goal. It is the one gathering place for all the work that’s hip, arresting, and intriguing by the top people in the field, and the talented ones on the verge of getting there.” — Françoise Mouly, Art Editor, The New Yorker, AI22

“AI has always taken a refreshingly oblique view of its subject, but the passage of time has indicated that the most innovative work of the last 20 years has appeared in its pages.” — Milton Glaser, AI20

“AI has always been my favorite among the illustration annuals. It’s the only one I go out and buy year after year.” — Stefan Sagmeister, AI16

1988: 5.105 Billion Plus 1,  by Filip Pagowski
The year my daughter Kamila was born, and a day that redefined my life, with a start in an adventure that’s still thrilling, inspiring and spooking me today.

Filip Pagowski is a New York-based graphic artist, born and educated in Poland. He studied drawing, painting and poster design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, with renown poster artist Henryk Tomaszewski. Since the mid 1980s, Filip has created illustration, animation and design projects for variety of clients in New York, Paris, Tokyo and Warsaw.

Among his career highs are an ongoing collaborations with The New Yorker magazine, the position of staff illustrator for Talk magazine, as well as long and fruitful multi-faceted collaboration with the Japanese visionary fashion powerhouse Comme des Garçons. Other clients include: Random House, Le Monde, Barneys New York, Visionaire, Saks Fifth Ave, Travel & Leisure, The New York Times, Flaunt, and Diane von Furstenberg, among others. Apart from his graphic work, Filip is the author of a  short live action film, presented at the International Film Festival in Torino, Italy. Other interests include music and DJ-ing. He is an avid traveler and backcountry skier.

1989: 14th Street Barber Shop Sign, by Ruth Marten
Hairstyles on Manhattan’s 14th Street.

Ruth Marten: Career highlights
I got my first illustration job from Jean-Paul Goude at Esquire in 1973. Since then, I've illustrated for all the major publishers, magazines, and music companies. One week, I had the dubious honor of being published in both Sesame Street and Screw magazines. In and around this, I had a two-year career as a fashion illustrator specializing in shoes, eight years as a tattooist, and throughout, I've exhibited my paintings and drawings in New York and in Europe. I've been lucky.

We've all had a wonderful time working with Mark Heflin over the years and this year's timeline is inspired! I got to paint something I've always wanted to do; an African barbershop sign (though I'm not African and the scene depicted is 14th street, New York City.) I'm grateful for the opportunity.

1990: Untitled, by Matt Mahurin
Bart Simpson is born as we lose artist Keith Haring; the Soviet Union gets washed out to sea as Nelson Mandela gets his freedom; and we all go “mad” for the Internet.

Matt Mahurin: Career highlights:
Political and social illustrations for Time, Newsweek, Mother Jones, Rolling Stone, Esquire, The London Observer and New York Times Op-Ed pages.
Forty TIME magazine covers.
Contributed political drawings to the Los Angeles Times Sunday Op-Ed page for 22 years.

Photographic essays on the homeless, people with AIDS, Texas prison system, abortion clinics, mental hospitals, Nicaragua, Haiti, Belfast, Mexico, Japan, and France.
Published three books of fine-art photographs.
Photographs in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Gold and Silver Medals from The Society of Illustrators.
MVPA Lifetime Achievement award for directing.

Directed music videos for Peter Gabriel, U2, REM, Tracy Chapman, Sting, Bonnie Raitt, Ice-T, Metallica, David Byrne, and Joni Mitchell.
Wrote and directed the feature film, "Mugshot" which won best film at the 1996 Hamptons Film Festival.
Documentary “I Like Killing Flies” chosen for 2004 Sundance Film Festival and debuted in New York in August 2006.
Wrote and directed feature film “Feel,” to be released in 2007.

Continues to teach workshops and lectures on the craft of image making at schools and professional organizations.

Lives in New York.