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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 bloggerMediaSlutZA.

I’m loving the fact that Art Departments are increasingly ‘writing’ the cover lines instead of using the same old fonts. I’m seeing it more and more and I’m hoping that this trend will be picked up sooner rather than later by the South African magazine industry. So below are three international titles showing off their cover line creativity.

INTERNATIONAL
Attitude, March 2012

Not only do I love the two primary colours on the cover but the use of ‘handwritten’ cover lines is very smart! Attitude, a gay magazine out of the UK, is moving away from its normal staple of bare chested guys on the cover, to something more playful. It’s a great new look!

Status (Asia), February 2012

This “Youth Culture Magazine” took a different approach with the Black & White cover photo while using  striking and colourful colours for the cover lines. It’s definitely targeted at a specific market and wouldn’t work on many titles.

Bloomsberg Businessweek, February 2012

Even ‘conservative’ magazines and getting more playful. It’s one of those covers that will make you look a bit longer than usual. I can just imagine people trying to read all the text and turning the cover from side to side.

LOCAL
ELLE, March 2012

The ELLE girls are definitely getting more adventurous and rightly so having scooped “Consumer Magazine of the Year” at the 2011 PICA awards! After some research, I was so happy to see that this wasn’t just a “Copy and Paste” cover from an International ELLE cover. Lady Gaga appeared on the January 2012 cover of ELLE UK, and this image was inside in the feature spread. Hats off the ELLE girls for not just copy and pasting, but rather trying something different, and according to me, it actually works better than what was done in the UK. I’m sure the International editions of ELLE are all now jealous of not thinking of this one first.

– 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

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Published by Herman Manson

MarkLives.com is edited by Herman Manson. Follow us on Twitter - http://twitter.com/marklives

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