THE ASSIGNMENT: The Boston Globe Magazine commissioned a cover and feature illustration for a story examining the growing debate around whether smartphones should be banned in Massachusetts schools. The article explored the tension between the benefits of technology and the increasing concern that constant access to social media is affecting students’ focus, learning, and mental health.

The challenge was to create a visual concept that captured how smartphones and social media can dominate a student’s attention, even in environments designed for learning.

The image needed to feel contemporary and relatable while also delivering a clear visual metaphor for the story’s central question: are phones becoming too powerful a presence in the classroom?

The Concept:

After reading through the article, I began developing a series of sketches exploring different ways to visualize the relationship between students and their phones.

Early concepts included exaggerated phone scale, students physically overwhelmed by devices, and visual representations of social media icons surrounding the subject.

The idea that resonated most strongly was a portrait of a student sitting at a desk with social media icons floating around her head, suggesting the constant mental presence of platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube.

A second concept extended the metaphor further — showing the student being pulled into a giant smartphone, symbolizing how easily attention can be drawn away from the physical world and into the digital one.

These sketches helped establish the visual direction and served as the blueprint for the final images.

The Process:

Once the concept was selected, the production focused on creating a portrait that felt grounded in reality while allowing the digital elements to appear almost intrusive.

The student was photographed in studio seated at a desk with a textbook open in front of her, holding a phone in her hand. The lighting was designed to create a moody, cinematic atmosphere that emphasized the glow of the phone and the presence of the floating icons.

Individual social media icons were created as separate graphic elements and later composited into the scene, allowing precise control over placement and depth around the subject’s head.

For the interior feature image, the concept expanded into a more dynamic moment — the student being physically pulled toward a giant phone as classroom objects scatter into the digital void. This image pushed the metaphor further, illustrating the powerful pull smartphones can have on attention and focus.

Behind-the-scenes motion captures of the production process were also recorded, showing how the portrait, props, and digital elements came together to build the final images.

Final Cover & Feature Images

The finished Boston Globe Magazine cover presents a student surrounded by a constellation of social media icons, visually representing the constant digital noise competing for her attention.

The interior feature image takes the concept further, depicting the student being drawn into a giant phone — a dramatic visualization of how easily the digital world can pull students away from the classroom.

Together, the images translate a complex policy debate into a clear and immediate visual story about the growing influence of smartphones in students’ lives.