The Political.
When I first stumbled upon this it stopped me in my tracks. It's received a lot of accolades and it's easy to see why...
Featured in heroic-like poses during the election and his first year in office, President Obama came under closer scrutiny during 2010 - with many questioning his impact in The White House. For this issue, Fortune magazine investigated Obama's relationship with Google and asks whether his view is biased...
The cover is fantastic piece of satire that manages to communicate the story at the simplest of levels.
Frankly, It doesn't get much better than this.
The Artistic.Once de-riguer on fashion titles and popular on other mags, illustration is now sadly an overlooked medium.
Photographic shots of stars (often in similar poses) is now the norm, meaning grabbing buyers attention on newsagents shelves is difficult. One magazine that managed to cut-through is this anniversary cover for Vogue Australia. Cate Blanchett appears in the form of an illustration from a fashion designers sketchbook - a whimsical cover which contrasted nicely to the homogenous, photoshopped faces on other fashion covers in store.
Also worth mentioning: This cover won 'Cover of the Year' at The Maggies.
The Playful.Pretty much any cover that comes from this title is fantastic! We picked this one though thanks to the playfulness of the illustrations interacting with the cover furniture. This makes for a disorientating and arresting piece.
The Collaborative.For the August issue of Wallpaper* the cover design was created by readers. imagery, patterns and graphics were placed on the titles website and arranged by readers who received their own customised cover. A huge feat, demonstrating print can also be as interactive and interesting as digital offerings.
The Simple.No big idea, no clever photo treatment, no additional coverlines.
the result? A simple, powerful and intriguing cover which commanded attention on the newsstand shelves. The cover coincided with the iPad launch and saw Jobs interviewed by the Apple enthusiast and twittertastic Stephen Fry.
The Extreme.The opposite to Time mags simple copy-lite cover is this offering form Esquire US.
They've been experimenting with the over-egging of coverlines for some time. They are now using this treatment to great effect, creating a vibrant, active appearance. We've selected this particular cover for a few reasons:
1) Tough but soft! While the eye-grabbing cover lines are full-on, the effect is not overwhelming.
2) Smiles are back! It's nice to see a shot that's not the usual, brooding pic on mens mags - A welcome, breezy and contemporary offering for readers.
3) Shock-horror! Eco-groovy Leo manages to pose with two taboos on covers: booze & tobacco!
4) Photoshop wizardry! We're frankly in awe of the repro teams handywork on that whisky cut-out.
Bravo chaps.
The Technical.For the 40th birthday of German title Zeit Magazin, the publishers chose the countries most famous supermodel, Claudia Schiffer, to appear as cover-girl. They then produced 40 different covers for the issue with Claudia styled as 40 different personas. (Hippie, Punk, Yuppie, Clubber). A bold and ambitious cover which guaranteed media coverage and hype for the title.
The Surreal.OK. So, it's time to come clean. At Plump and Spry we love our pop culture and this extends to a good dose of reality TV! I'll admit it - I'm a fan of the Rachel Zoe Project. Thanks to my obsession with Rachel, I got to see the behind the scenes of this cover-shoot which she styled. (Note to Rach: great choice on those shoes...). The final result was a dreamy, Dali-esque cover shot by iconic fashion photographer Steven Meisel.
The Ridiculous.Creative Director Scott Dadich left Wired to head up Condé Nasts Apps. The title since then still seems to be in safe hands with the team producing some of the finest publishing work anywhere. This cover features a faux-futuristic Will Ferrell on some of the inventions that never quite happened. A humorous look at technology that's bang-on target for their audience. It's also worth checking out the iPad version for the extra movie scenes in this edition...
The Cliché dodger.For us, Nat Geo has always had fantastic story spreads, but the covers rarely manage to impress...
This cover however is a fantastic treatment. Eschewing a typical, screensaver-eqsue shot of water, the team instead boosted up the headlines and applied water droplets over the top. The final result catches readers attention, conveys the story and tricks the eye into wiping your cover dry!
