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.
National Geographic is famous for a lot of things, but one aspect of NG stands out as a trademark symbol, the thick yellow border. It’s recognized everywhere and distinguishes this publication from most others. TIME achieved similar iconic status with its red border.
I’m noticing that more and more magazines are adopting and adapting this recipe of a thick border and in the centre a picture that’s supposed to sell the issue.
INTERNATIONAL
Fantastic Man, Issue 15, 2012
The most famous of the new breed of ‘boxed-in’ covers is probably cult favourite Fantastic Man where this design and it’s unique paper stock for the cover is easily distinguishable.
The Gentlewoman, Spring/Summer 2012 (Issue 5)
The little sister of Fantastic Man, The Gentlewoman, definitely adopted this recipe, adding more colour to the border.
Surf, May 2012
I won’t go as far as saying that (Transworld) Surf Magazine copied the cover-look from Fantastic Man, but there are definitely elements that seem quite close.
Stylist, Issue 121
Stylist is also famous for their covers and they just keep delivering issue after issue with something beautiful for the main-centre-image.
LOCAL
NewsNow, 5 April 2012
Locally NewsNow seems to have adapted the boxed-in look of Maclean’s – a Canadian publication. Read my post about the similarities here.
VISI 59
VISI magazine has also adopted the “white border”-element since VISI 43 (June 2009). It’s been a while and it wouldn’t surprise me if Visi dropped this design aspect soon.
– 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