How the cover gets made

① “The cover story is on GE. Its current CEO, Jeff Immelt, is trying to reinvigorate the company by focusing on software for industrialscale machines like plane engines.”

“Interesting. When were GE’S glory days?”

“The company was mythic under Jack Welch. Also the period after Thomas Edison founded it was quite innovative.”

“The lightbulb is a tough act to follow.”

② “This would be perfect if we were Smithsonian magazine.”

“It just needs a headline.”

③ “It’s better, but it needs more energy to balance off the fact that our cover subject has been dead for 85 years.”

④ “What do the squiggles mean?”

“This is what youthful energy looks like. Don’t worry, we researched it for accuracy.”