🙁 As of April 2026, Tone Madison is no longer actively in operation.

Tone Madison
A collage of Tone Madison's original editorial art. From left to right: Shaysa Sidebottom's illustration depicting the silhouette of a person in a cap standing by their bike. A building is visible next to them. It is coated in dark blues, with two streetlamps illuminated in red, casting a red glow on the outline of the bike. Next image: Andrew Mulhearn's illustration of a body cam in gold. In the body cam's lens, a depiction of a police officer raising his hands. The cam is at angle, giving the appearance of toppling over. Next image: Madeline Vogt's illustration of a woman crying, holding her hand to her mouth. A bookshelf is visible behind her. Next image: Maggie Denman's patterned, near-surrealist depiction of cell clusters, outlined in pinks and pruples, appearing in front of a series of pale pink and dark brown dots.

From the archives: Editorial art over the years

·

,

·

As Tone Madison‘s 10th anniversary approaches, we look back at some highlights from the past decade.

Tone Madison turns 10 years old this year. To mark a decade of our fiercely independent, reader-supported coverage of culture and politics in Madison, we’re revisiting some highlights from our archives. Got a favorite Tone Madison story you think we should include? Let us know by sending an email to editor@tonemadison.com.

Editor’s note: Before joining Tone Madison’s editorial team, I mostly worked at newspapers without staff photographers or editorial illustrators. One of the papers did have one guy who did illustrations, mostly for ads, but if you planned ahead, he could put one together for a news story. To say editorial art at those institutions was an afterthought is a gross understatement. Reporters are already stretched thin and under tight deadlines, and now we’re expected to take engaging photos while listening, taking notes, and writing a news story about a City Council meeting? Screw it—just slap on that decent exterior shot of City Hall and call it a night.

Image description: silhouette of a hand holding a phone doing a google search for “emergency pregnancy options madison.” Results include the Pregnancy Helpline Madison and Planned Parenthood. In the background are images about the delegitimacy of crisis pregnancy centers, including the Pregnancy Helpline logo with text painted over it “WARNING FAKE CLINIC.” End image description.
M.Rose Sweetnam, from “Babies and Beyond’s timely rebrand won’t erase its 40-year legacy as a crisis pregnancy center”
Claire Warhus, from “Brat Fest’s own prison”
Shaun Soman, from “How the Crystal Corner Bar’s website got (and stayed) that way”
This illustration is a collage of images of birth control, an IVF needle penetrating an egg, mid-century children, and a judge's gavel to symbolize the topics that will be covered in this series.
Kay Reynolds, from “Post-Roe family planning in Madison”
An illustration shows a horse wearing a police hat and a necklace that reads “Mom,” all placed within a gilded frame with a dollar sign at the top. Images of roses and diamonds float outside the frame.
Rachal Duggan, from “At UW-Madison, a horse gets better parental leave than humans”
Shelby Floyd, poster for Tone Madison’s 2014 launch party, iterating on his design for our logo
Maggie Denman, from “The Meriter nurses’ victory will resonate beyond one hospital”
T.L. Luke, from “When a ‘public art’ call is a bad deal”
An illustration shows multi-colored images of a keyboard, a turntable, a microphone, speakers, a
Shaysa Sidebottom, from a set of “stock” illustrations for Tone Madison
An illustration shows the face of a middle-aged white man under a magnifying glass. A slash of black ink obscures his eyes and nose. Surrounding him are graphics of red speech bubbles, and under him can be seen the roof of a recent-model apartment building.
Kay Reynolds, from “A landlord-shaming project in Madison goes national”
American Trash, from “Wisconsin’s prisoner-made furniture business is still booming”

It didn’t even click what a difference editorial art could make, especially for an online outlet, until I saw it for myself. A thoughtful work of editorial art can enhance the emotions of the piece and put the reader in the right mindset. And we have very thoughtful editorial artists who know how to render ominousness in the face of power abuse. They astutely mock bad narratives and frustrating takes, and highlight the silliness when we take on a lighter topic. I cannot overstate how much I appreciate our editorial artists and how proud I am to be part of a publication that pays for art. Choosing an artist whose style fits the piece and then seeing what they create has become one of my favorite parts of working at Tone Madison.

A blue and black illustration shows several garbage bags in the grass right next to a bus stop.
Rachel Litchman, from “Drawing the inaccessible bus stops of Metro Transit”
Ashley Wilkinson, from “The work is all around us”
Illustration shows people pulling open a giant book which will crush a school.
Andrew Mulhearn, from “Republicans use milquetoast phrases to dress up the same old attacks on public education“
An illustration by Shaysa Sidebottom shows a film camera against an abstract background. Emanating from the camera's lens are a ghost, a hand holding an umbrella, and various other objects including a framed picture, a book, and a smiley face.
Shaysa Sidebottom, from a set of “stock” illustrations
Rachal Duggan, from “Aaron Rodgers burns down his crappy facade“
Next panel: Image: The mayor of madison announces another new affordable housing initiative* *that requires you to still make between (or slightly under) $40,400 and $62,600 Next panel:Image: A series of Madison’s “affordable” housing complexes lined up next to each other. Income thresholds are posted on the buildings, indicating all renters must make around 50 - 60% AMI or 50 - 80% AMI, and the rent will be between $1,075 and $1,325. Next panel: Image: A city official handing over tax credits (represented as stacks of money) to a group of developers fighting for the biggest stack. *And very rarely, under 30% of the AMI in exchange for bigger credits Next panel: I sit at a table for my interview for section 42 housing. The leasing agent states, “Congrats, you’ve been approved! Your affordable rent is $1,175/month!” I respond, “But that’s way more than 30% of my income. I can’t afford that.”
Rachel Litchman, from “Madison’s (un)affordable and (in)accessible housing problem”
An illustration shows a childcare worker playing with blocks with a small child. Both have their hands on a block, and the worker has turned away from the child with a tear running from their eye. In the background is a stuffed animal, a shelf of books, and a childlike drawing of cows.
Madeline Vogt, from “A strained industry leaves Madison’s kids without care and workers without options”
Shaysa Sidebottom, from “The Kastenmeier Courthouse is Madison’s blocky blue Modernist marvel”
Illustration of fighter jet reflected in a cup of coffee. The yellow mug sits on a kitchen table alongside a bowl of fruit, a plate of toast, and a salt shaker.
Andrew Mulhearn, from “Housing development within F-35 flight path expected to proceed”
Rachal Duggan, from “Sunnily seeking shelter”
M.Rose Sweetnam, from “Marsy’s Law is creepy and cruel”

As we celebrate 10 years, we want to celebrate all the artists and the great art they’ve contributed over the years. My fellow Tone Madison editors and I compiled a series of galleies displaying many highlights from over the years, with links to the original stories and the artists’ websites or Instagram profiles. This is far from comprehensive—and that just shows you how fortunate we are to work with such a wonderful variety of local artists. —Christina Lieffring, News and Politics Editor

An illustration shows a close-up of a boxy police body camera. In the center of the rectangular device is a circular lens with the blades of an aperture appearing to close, with a small uniformed police officer standing in the center with his arms raised.
Andrew Mulhearn, from “A new Wisconsin law undermines the transparency pitch for police body cameras“
Shaysa Sidebottom, from a set of “stock” illustrations
Shaysa Sidebottom, from “I’m a midwife on Madison’s north side, and the F-35s will harm the families I care for”
An illustration shows a small handheld radio device with its antenna extended toward the night sky. The sky is framed in a line of trees, and criss-crossed with abstract blue and yellow patterns that suggest sound waves.
Andrew Mulhearn, from “Listen to the sky“
An illustration shows a map view of the Madison area, including Lake Monona and Lake Mendota, with the Yahara River extending upward from Lake Mendota to the edge of the frame. Overlaid on the green and blue map are outlines of several of the Indigenous mounds, including, in the center-left, the two-tailed water spirit mound that is the focus of this article. Illustration by nipinet.
nipinet, from “Damage to a mound disturbs UW-Madison’s Indigenous community”
Illustration: Collaged map of the Southdale neighborhood with the current and proposed bus routes drawn. The current route for the area is in orange, it weaves through the Southdale neighborhood and includes 11 stops. The proposed bus route is in black along Rimrock Road and includes a single stop in the Southdale neighborhood. Illustration by M.Rose Sweetnam.
M.Rose Sweetnam, from “Madison’s Southdale neighborhood fights for transportation, without representation“
Collage showing power lines, electricity meters, solar panels, and clouds of pollutants spewing from smoke stacks.
Kristen Billings, from “It’s time to dump MGE and Alliant for a new paradigm“
David Wolinsky, from “Rebooting Madison’s videogames conversation”
An illustration shows four targets on a shooting range, each with a different symbol on it: a house, a red cross, a police badge, and an apple. Each symbol has the concentric circles of a shooting target drawn over it, and each bit the police badge has multiple holes in it.
Kay Reynolds, from “Fitchburg makes a misleading pitch for its own ‘Cop City’“
An illustration shows the pink, blue, and white stripes of the trans pride flag at an angle, emanating from a pink and blue megaphone at the bottom of the frame. An array of vivid pink and blue flowers and green leaves appear to explode outward from the megaphone. Text in the foreground of the image in large block letters reads
Rae Senarighi, from “PP with Sami Schalk: Support trans joy“
Jeremy Nealis, from “Madison’s zoning debate is a distraction from a meaningful affordable housing strategy“

More posts