Darhil Crooks Named Creative Director of The Atlantic

Washington, D.C.--Darhil Crooks has been named creative director of The Atlantic, Editor in Chief James Bennet announced today. In this role, Crooks will oversee art direction of The Atlantic across its platforms: in print, online, and on mobile and tablet devices. He will also oversee the look of The Atlantic's sister brands, The Atlantic Wire and Atlantic Cities.

"Darhil's imagination and passion for ideas-driven work make him the perfect creative force for The Atlantic," Bennet said. "It's asking a lot to hope for vision, exacting standards, a delight in taking risks, and a collaborative spirit all in one person, and we feel very lucky to have found that."

Crooks joins The Atlantic from Ebony magazine, where, as creative director since January 2011, he oversaw the first cover-to-cover redesign in the title's then 66-year history. Working closely with editors, photographers, and illustrators, he helped redefine the magazine's visual identity.

Before joining Ebony, Crooks served as the art director of Esquire magazine from 2005 to 2010. In that role, he developed design concepts and layouts; conceptualized, commissioned, and directed photo shoots; and edited photography. He also helped develop and design Esquire's iPad app, named a finalist for best mobile edition by the American Society of Magazine Editors in 2011. In addition to consecutive ASME nominations for design in 2010 and 2011, Esquire received a nomination from the Society of Publication Designers for 2007 Magazine of the Year.

Before joining Esquire, Crooks was the associate art director at Complex and then Men's Journal. He began his design career at The Source.

As creative director of The Atlantic, a publication with a 154-year heritage of outstanding writing and design, Crooks will be responsible for the overall art, design, look, and layout of all Atlantic-branded content. Beginning in early August, he will be based in the magazine's Washington, D.C., headquarters, where he will oversee the art department and work closely with editors, photographers, artists, and the production department.

"It's truly an honor to be joining the talented staff of The Atlantic and Atlantic Media," Crooks said." "I look forward to being part of the next chapter in the company's rich history."

Pentagram, a leading design firm, stepped in to temporarily oversee art direction of The Atlantic last fall, when the magazine began its search for a new creative director. Pentagram produced some of the year's most-talked-about covers, including November 2011's "All the Single Ladies," by Kate Bolick, and December 2011's "The Ally From Hell," by Jeffrey Goldberg and Marc Ambinder. Both issues were nominated for ASME's Cover of the Year.

About The Atlantic
Since its founding in 1857 as a magazine about "the American Idea" that would be of "no party or clique," The Atlantic has been at the forefront of brave thinking in journalism. One of the first magazines to launch on the Web in the early 1990s, The Atlantic has continued to help shape the national debate across print, digital, and event platforms. With the addition of its news- and opinion-tracking site, TheAtlanticWire.com, and TheAtlanticCities.com on global cities, The Atlantic is a multimedia forum on the most critical issues of our times--from politics, business, urban affairs, and the economy, to technology, arts, and culture. The Atlantic is the flagship property of Washington, D.C.-based publisher Atlantic Media Company.

The condition has long been considered untreatable. Experts can spot it in a child as young as 3 or 4. But a new clinical approach offers hope.

This is a good day, Samantha tells me: 10 on a scale of 10. We’re sitting in a conference room at the San Marcos Treatment Center, just south of Austin, Texas, a space that has witnessed countless difficult conversations between troubled children, their worried parents, and clinical therapists. But today promises unalloyed joy. Samantha’s mother is visiting from Idaho, as she does every six weeks, which means lunch off campus and an excursion to Target. The girl needs supplies: new jeans, yoga pants, nail polish.

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At 11, Samantha is just over 5 feet tall and has wavy black hair and a steady gaze. She flashes a smile when I ask about her favorite subject (history), and grimaces when I ask about her least favorite (math). She seems poised and cheerful, a normal preteen. But when we steer into uncomfortable territory—the events that led her to this juvenile-treatment facility nearly 2,000 miles from her family—Samantha hesitates and looks down at her hands. “I wanted the whole world to myself,” she says. “So I made a whole entire book about how to hurt people.”