Long-Time Award-Winning Art Director to Retire CHICAGO, Feb. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Senior Vice President and Art Director of Playboy magazine, Tom Staebler, today announced his plans to retire from the company after a highly successful and award-winning 39 years, 28 of those as art director. Staebler leaves his post to take on a consultant role with the company, passing on the position to Rob Wilson, currently Playboy's deputy art director. Staebler joined Playboy in 1968 as a designer and has held positions of increasing responsibility during his employment. Within his first year he was promoted to assistant art director to Arthur Paul, the magazine's founding art director and creator of the Rabbit Head design. Staebler and Paul are the only two art directors in the magazine's 53-year history. In 1979, Staebler took on the responsibility of overseeing the magazine's visual look, was named vice president in 1980 and was awarded additional responsibilities in 1988, acquiring the title of president of Special Editions, Ltd. He was promoted to the position of senior vice president in 1997. Under Staebler's leadership, Playboy has won gold and silver medals from the Society of Illustrators, the Society of Publication Designers, Graphis, Communication Arts and the Art Director's Club of New York. A University of Kansas graduate with bachelor's and master's degrees in fine art, Staebler has lectured on art direction and photography at university and art forums throughout the country. "Tom Staebler's incredible art direction has been a crucial part of the mix that has made Playboy the best selling men's magazine for decades," said Hugh Hefner, Playboy's Editor-in-Chief and Chief Creative Officer. "We will miss him as the magazine's art director, but he will always be a part of the Playboy family. We are fortunate that Playboy magazine will continue to benefit from Tom's expertise through his new consulting role." Said Staebler: "It has been an honor to work for Playboy for more than three decades. This has been my home, and I can't imagine having spent my career elsewhere. I look forward to continuing my work for Playboy magazine as a consultant. I know I leave my responsibilities in the very capable hands of Rob Wilson." Wilson began working for Playboy's Special Editions in 1998, and for the Art Department of Playboy magazine in 2000. Wilson has a Bachelor's degree from the University of Kansas in fine arts. His work for Playboy magazine has been featured in Print, Communication Arts, Creativity, as well as other publications, and he has won a Gold and Silver medal from Creativity and a Gold from the Society of Illustrators. Playboy Enterprises is a brand-driven, international multimedia entertainment company that publishes editions of Playboy magazine around the world; operates television networks and distributes programming globally; owns Playboy.com, a leading men's lifestyle and entertainment web site; and licenses the Playboy trademark internationally for a range of consumer products and services. DATASOURCE: Playboy Enterprises CONTACT: Lauren Melone, +1-212-261-5000, x3188, , or Linda Marsicano, +1-312-373-2447, , both of Playboy Web site: http://www.playboy.com/

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