by MediaSlut (@MediaSlut) As the last in our 2015 #MagLoveTop10 roundups, we’re introducing another new category: Best Magazine Business Covers! As a collection, they give us a snapshot into the state of affairs, locally and internationally, financially or politically. They’re able to tell us so much, with so little…
This year’s #MagLoveTop10 has included new sections covering travel and business (today’s column), 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.
#10. Finweek, 14 July 2015
While this cover is dated 14 July 2015, when Finweek reported on “The Rand” that received a very big knock, fast-forward five months to the Zuma-Nene-situation, and the team could have easily replicated this cover, but definitely with the poor boxer out cold on the floor, and on life-support… Read more here.
#9. The Economist, 5 September 2015
In retrospect, this Economist cover is spot-on with ‘warning’ Americans of what is coming… the Toupée-Trump-Tornado! It looks a bit like a fake cover, and something someone did without much photoshop expertise, but it couldn’t be more real, and more true. Read more here.
#8. New Scientist (Netherlands)
This cover execution stretches all around the issue (cover and backpage) to illustrate the massive polluter which is plastic, and the harm it’s doing to the whole world. Hard-hitting truth. Read more here.
#7. Newsweek (various)
After being around for 79 years (launched in 1933), you might remember that this well-respected weekly print title was cancelled, with the 31 December 2012 issue being its last, continuing only in an all-digital format called Newsweek Global. The print title was later given a second breath when it relaunched with the 7 March 2014 issue. In 2015, it continued showing it deserves a place in the market by showing off with some clever and quirky covers, illustrating cover stories brilliantly. Read more here and here.
#6. FORTUNE, 15 March 2015
FORTUNE’s “100 Best Companies To Work For” issue is always something to look forward to, and not just to see which organisation comes out on top (spoiler: it was Google for the sixth year running), but also to see what the team does with the cover. This time around, readers had a five-way split-cover to choose from, with four of them designed simply yet beautifully and with “100” being shown off in four different ways. Read more here.
#5. Forbes (Spain), September 2015
Just two days ago, on Wednesday, 3 February 2016, Uber unveiled its new look and logo, and proudly stated that Mr Cover Guy himself, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, personally helped design it all and was involved from start to end, which is apparently very un-CEO-like. Always colouring outside of the lines and breaking the mould, this cover with Kalanick is even more awesome this time around. Read more here.
#4. The European (Germany)
If you were to ever cut lines of Coke for the sake of cover lines, you could probably learn a lot from The European, but I doubt you’ll be able to do it better! The text translates to “Give the Coke for Free — Germany needs a new drug policy”, and I would say “Give this team a Bell’s” for this black-and-white beauty! Read more here.
#3. Internazionale, 17–23 July 2015
In one (photoshopped) picture, Internazionale was able to convey the possible doom and gloom, and the dark cloud that was hanging over the heads of the people making the decision for Greece to withdraw from the Eurozone. This cover picture says much more than any article, and so deserves a Top Three position. Read more here.
#2. Bloomberg Businessweek (various)
If you look at these four Bloomberg Businessweek covers and read what I’ve had to say about them previously, I’m sure you’ll agree with me that the editorial team’s strength lies in its covers, and by it illustrating cover stories in unique ways, with so many layers and depth. And this is done on a weekly basis! It must be an amazing experience to sit in the boardroom with the team, and to see its process of coming up with some of these ideas… Read more here, here, here and here.
#1. JSE and JSE+ (various)
And a small local title takes the no. 1 slot! Yes, JSE and JSE+, the quarterly magazine and supplement of the JSE Limited, deserve the prize and recognition for the unique (and South African) way they convey their message through their covers. Look and learn, international folks. Look and learn… Read more here, here and here.
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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