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For the past eight years, Senior Art Director Scott Hilling has had a huge influence over the award-winning visual impact of ENR. His efforts are well known, due partly to a recent American Society of Business Publication Editors award, for dramatic design of ENR’s popular annual construction photo contest issue. He likened it to preparing “an art exhibit in a gallery.”

What’s somewhat less well known is Hilling’s leadership and research in choosing photos and illustrations, shaping their arrangement on each page with the words and data they support to tell the story—whether for an ENR cover story, news article or cost report.

To make it come together, Hilling’s worklife is a fast-flowing river of meetings with writers, editors and art colleagues, photo evaluations, layout preparation sessions—and reviews, negotiations and revisions to perfect the finished product into a harmonious, engaging and informative whole. The entire process is not over until last-minute adjustments are made prior to approval for printing.

*Click on the images for greater detail

The impact of ENR art direction has been demonstrated this year in some dramatic visual presentations of complex projects and topics. 

Among them are the Yusefeli hydroelectric dam project in northeastern Turkey; the Trans-Canada Highway section in Kicking Horse Canyon and giant Canada LNG export terminal, both in British Columbia; and design and construction of the new Tampa Bay breakwater. In those stories, images seem to burst from the pages to provide an instant pictorial explanation of what the writer is trying to describe.

Then there are Hilling’s nuanced covers, such as the “deceptively simple” New York City performing arts center set against a background highlighting the texture of its marble facade. Visual challenges also include showcasing human subjects to present the right message and developing art icons for covers on obtuse topics like the economy.

Since he took over as art director, Hilling has improved many of the basic elements of ENR’s story design. This includes big intro photos, often sprawling across two pages, and a clean headline typestyle. (For those who love design, the font is Dunbar Tall.)

ENR forced Hilling to develop his skill in arranging photos and graphs in a way that enhances and coordinates with the writer’s storytelling. For this quality he credits his work with ENR’s veteran journalists.

A native of Dearborn, Mich., and graduate of the University of Michigan, Hilling was already an experienced designer for BNP Media. When BNP acquired ENR and named him Art Director, he gained several dozen new colleagues. Hilling says he could not do his job without ENR editors, as well as Regional Art Director Jordan Bowens and Junior Art Director Dylan Schutter.

Construction may be considered gritty and grimy, but Hilling sees it differently: “I often tell people the imagery is incredible, and, yeah, construction is beautiful.”