by MediaSlut (@MediaSlut) A ‘bad’ cover isn’t just always about bad layout or Photoshop. It’s also when a cover tries too hard, is too creepy, or makes you go WTF. And there are more than a few WTF-moments this year…! Here’s my #MagLoveTop10 list of the worst magazine covers of 2015, in no particular order.
This year’s #MagLoveTop10 will include new sections covering travel and business, and here’s the publishing schedule:
- Friday, 4 December 2015: Best South African magazine covers of 2015
- Friday, 11 December 2015: Best international magazine covers of 2015
- Friday, 8 January 2016: Worst magazine covers of 2015
- Friday, 15 January 2016: Sexiest magazine covers of 2015
- Friday, 22 January 2016: Best food magazine covers of 2015
- Friday, 29 January 2016: Best travel magazine covers of 2015
- Friday, 5 February 2016: Best business magazine covers of 2015
Want to view all the covers at a glance? See our MagLove Pinterest board!
Find a cover we should know about? Tweet us at @Marklives and @MediaSlut.
View 2014’s worst magazine covers here.
Interview, December/January 2016
Rolling into the Top 10 Worst covers are Interview and Kylie Jenner for the very recent cover that upset people. A lot of people! And rightfully so, especially when reading accounts such as that from a “full-time wheelchair user” herself. But on the flipside, it’s also raised awareness in a strange way, with wheelchair users recreating their own covers and making themselves heard. Either way, it’s still in very bad taste.
In 2014, Interview made it to #6 on this list.
POP, Spring/Summer 2015
Gemma Ward is a beautiful model, but this zombie-like look and strange-picture crop doesn’t do her justice at all, unfortunately. Definitely my least favourite cover of her, especially when comparing it to the great work she’s featured in previously.
This is POP’s first appearance on this list.
Das Magazin, 11 July 2015
Zurich’s Tagesanzeiger’s weekly supplement, Das Magazin, has had some great covers over the past year, including some that I’ve featured in my weekly posts, but this rehashed image seems more like a publicity stunt (which is what it was rumoured to be originally in 2009). Featured is South African model Denni Parkinson on the back of Richard Branson. Read the story behind the image here, or listen to Branson himself below, but it went viral in 2009, and again in 2013, and now for Das Magazin to use it again seems desperate. And for those who don’t know the background story, or the full context, it makes him look like a chauvenist pig who thinks women are monkeys and less. That’s not the case, but still…
This is Das Magazin’s first appearance on this list.
TIME, 17 August 2015
This image of “wunderkind founder of Oculus Rift wearing the VR headset he invented”, Palmer Luckey, caused a stir when it appeared — partly because the production quality seems poor and unrealistic, while others are saying it’s how it should be. I think the essence of the unhappiness is because TIME usually has brilliant conceptual covers, and one expects much more on this topic. A missed opportunity. But poor Luckey got the crap end of the stick, as his picture went viral on quite a few memes…
This is TIME’s first appearance on this list.
Creative Review, May 2015
Sometimes in your mind a concept seems creative, but at execution it just looks like a fungus-growing mess.
This is Creative Review’s first appearance on this list.
Cosmopolitan UK, December 2015
Okay, I get that it might be cold in the northern hemisphere, and you still need to look sexy on the cover of Cosmo, so a balance needs to be found. But that should include a fashion stylist or some sort of direction, at least. One of the most uninspiring Cosmo covers I’ve seen…
In 2012, Cosmopolitan Poland made it to #10 on our list.
VICE, Volume 22, Issue 1
You’re saying it’s free? No, thank you, you can keep it… No, really, I don’t want it. But if you’re really, really, really interested in knowing more about this issue, you’re welcome to read here.
This is VICE’s first appearance on this list.
New York, 1 June 2015
Don’t get me wrong, the meat bull it a masterpiece in itself, if you really think about it, but the thought of all the meat (wastage?) is too much for me to stomach. I’m not sure if it’s real or not, but it kinda puts one off food for as long as one can look at it, especially for vegetarians… But the story behind it, “The Story of the Hamburger”, is brilliant and a great read! It’s also visually very well put together in this online article. If you want to read some of the positive and negative comments (yes, there’s always two camps), click here.
This is New York’s first appearance on this list.
Momma Tried, Issue 2
Momma tried maybe too hard (no pun intended) to get attention with this NSFW cover, but it apparently worked as it announced on Facebook on 16 November 2015 that it sold out!
To put things into perspective, Momma Tried is an “interdisciplinary art project” from New Orleans and also an “installation piece about print in the age of the internet, an experiment about the peculiar nature of advertising, and impersonation of familiar media, and an outlet to address political issues through art and humor”.
A lot of big words and things (no pun intended) to try and explain what it stands for, but all I see is what is poking me right in the face (pun intended). And it smells like a publicity stunt… But it worked!
This is Momma Tried’s first appearance on this list.
Предельная Глубина, Issue 4, 2015
Is it medical magazine with a wound on the cover? Is it a sexual magazine of some kind? Is it an astronomy magazine with the solar system on it? No, it’s a Russian diving and snorkelling magazine! Duh…! Well, that very (VERY!) close crop of the fish eye (!?) is enough to haunt little children…
This is Предельная Глубина’s first appearance on this list.
MagLove by @MediaSlut is a regular slot featuring the best local and international magazine covers every week, recognising well thought-out, powerful and interesting (and hopefully all three-in-one) covers and celebrating the mix of pragmatism, creativity and personal taste that created each of them. The (for now anonymous) blogger behind MediaSlut knows way too much for his own good about media in South Africa, magazines in particular. His mission is to show when SA magazines fail but, most importantly, also when they succeed. If you’re looking for a library about SA magazines and news, this is your one-stop pitstop.
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