MarkLives.com runs a regular slot featuring the best local and international magazine covers every week. We recognise well thought out, powerful and interesting (and hopefully all three in one) magazine covers and celebrate the mix of pragmatism, creativity and personal taste that created each of them. By media blogger MediaSlutZA.
Everyone has their own opinion about what makes a cover great (or not). This week Sports Illustrated is the only South African cover that ‘did it’ for me.
INTERNATIONAL
ESPN, November 2011
For their annual “Body Issue” ESPN Magazine published 4 different covers with a sports personalities on each one. All of them naked. The Hope Solo cover is getting the most attention in the media but the Blake Griffin cover (above) is the one that stood out for me.
Key (New York Times Real Estate Magazine), Fall 2011
If I can look at a cover for more than 30 seconds, it’s a success. If you can look at a cover for almost 3 minutes to look at each detail that captures you every time you revisit the cover, it’s a mammoth success.
Dutch Esquire, November 2011
For me this isn’t a good cover, or one that will sell, but what makes it unique is that only the subscribers of Dutch Esquire received this conceptual cover. I think South African magazines should also start producing special covers for subscribers only…
LOCAL
Sports Illustrated, November 2011
Sports Illustrated took several risks this month. First they made their annual Swimwear issue a standalone title for the first time, which was published 2 weeks before the ‘usual’ issue appeared on shelf. And for their November issue, they decided on a very striking and strong conceptual cover and issue, which I hope will work for them!
– The (for now anonymous) blogger behind MediaSlutZA knows way too much for his own good about media in South Africa. Magazines in particular. His mission is to show when South African magazines might fail, but most importantly, succeed. If you’re looking for a library about South African magazines and news, your one-stop pitstop is MediaSlutZA. #MagazinesForTheWin
– Find a cover we should know about? Tweet us @marklives and @mediaslutza