Image via Complex Original
The challenge of a publication's art director is to create a magazine cover that is visually pleasing, informative about what is inside, and able to fly off newsstands. Whatever is on the cover can make or break an issue, so there is plenty of pressure to create an iconic image that will make people care about the magazine's content. It takes a combination of artistic formal capabilities and witty concepts to create that ideal magazine cover, and only a few succeed. The Coolest Magazine Covers of October 2013 reflect incredible graphic design and show that publications all over the world put a lot of thought put into the final, glossy product. Check out these incredible magazine covers from across the globe.
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15. Industrie
Photographer: Alasdair McLellan
Art Director: Joerg Koch
It seems like Cara Delevingne has been on every billboard and in every magazine lately. We get it—she's hot and she's not afraid to be herself. While some celebrities might snubbed for having a "fuck you" attitude, her carefree vibes have lead to her friendship with Rihanna and landed her on the cover of 23 magazines in just two years. We love Industrie's cover because it shows Delevingne is removed from any kind of stigma or expectation. She seems relaxed, natural, and young, while appearing stunning at the same time. What can we say? She's good at her job.
14. Vogue Korea
Photographer: Cass Bird
Art Director: Lee Eun Joo
Vogue tends to lean towards the more safe and commercial aesthetic, which can easily bore design-oriented types. Although we like to read about our favorite actors, we have become pretty tired of seeing them in the same glitzy, superficial manner. Vogue Korea's cover, on the other hand, is simple, classic and quirky, without being too commercial. Karen Elson's mask is a clever and subtle nod to Halloween festivities without being so obvious. The color scheme, minimal text, and typography help pull the whole look together.
13. Brand Eins
Photographer: Unknown
Art Director: Mike Meiré, Meiré & Meiré
We are well aware how weird Brand Eins' cover is, but in this case, weird and cool can be interchangeable. In fact, the cover says, "We're all normal. You're not" in German. This cover is hilarious while maintaining aesthetic integrity, which is an important skill when it comes to design. We couldn't tell you what the article is about, but we appreciate their effort to change our expectations from serious and prestigious publications. A sense of humor and individuality is important for up-and-coming magazines.
12. Fantastic Man
Photographer: Collier Schorr
Art Director: Unknown
Fantastic Man is widely acknowledged for its great design. If you have read any of their sister publications, like The Gentlewoman and BUTT, you're well aware that they have their magazine aesthetics on lock. This portrait of the director Spike Jonze is simple and flattering without being too flashy, which we appreciate. Their unconventional placement and size of text, however, throws you off just to remind you that they are anything but boring.
11. Printed Pages
Photographer: Joseph Burrin and Phillip Cronerud
Art Director: Will Hudson and Alex Bec
Pop art isn't dead, and Printed Pages is here to keep it alive. The perfect shade of yellow is a great contrast against the green details of the mysterious figure in the center of the cover. The image will make you stop in your tracks because of the vibrant colors and trompe l'oeil effect. It is unclear what the cover signifies, and the ambiguity will push the reader to open up the magazine and discover the content inside.
10. Volkskrant Magazine
Photographer: Nina Broersen
Art Director: Jaap Biemans
Volkskrant Magazine held a contest where they published eight different magazine covers by very talented designers. Nina Broersen's cover ended up winning the contest, and we would not object to her triumph. Surely, this is an unusual block of cheese, but it is so unconventional that it might as well be some other unknown object. Broersen finds a way to make a commonplace object appear strange and beautiful just with her design talents.
9. Eye
Photographer:
Art Director: Simon Esterson
Illustrated covers are definitely underrated. Eye magazine's cover is beautiful and so visually pleasing that you cannot help but pick it up and find out what is inside. Sometimes words and letters can get in the way of understanding an image, but the hot pink 'A' is an impressive use of typography as an element of the cover and not necessarily the focus. Considering the fact that the magazine addresses graphic design and visual culture, we are sure that the readers also appreciate the clever use of typography and illustration.
8. The Skateboard Mag
Photographer: Anthony Acosta
Art Director: Ako Jefferson
Curren Caples, a professional skateboarder at the ripe old age of 17, stars on the front cover of The Skateboard Mag. Formally, this is a very dynamic and linear image. You can see a clear diagonal line being repeated and paralleled from the top left corner to the bottom right of the cover, which creates an essence of movement and dynamism. But this image was definitely not easy to capture. Anthony Acosta told Vans Skate that the 22-step staircase was a first for Caples, and he nearly couldn't get himself to do it. Fortunately, Caples proved everyone wrong and provided a great image for the cover.
7. New York Times Magazine
Photographer: Ashley Gilbertson
Art Director: Gail Bichler, Caleb Bennett
The photograph of the South China Sea is already stunning as it is, but the juxtaposition between the image and "A Sea of Trouble" makes for an even more enticing cover. The white font also highlights the light coming from the boat and the glow coming from the horizon, which creates a sense of calm and mystery. The fact that they chose the words "flash point" reflects (see what we did there?) the theme of light on the cover. This New York Times magazine cover gives the reader a lot to think about.
6. Thursday Magazine
Photographer: (Original) Max Halberstadt
Art Director: Adonis Durado
You will do a double take when glancing at Thursday Magazine's cover with Sigmund Freud on it. Adonis Durado took Max Halberstadt's iconic portrait of the controversial psychoanalyst and digitally manipulated the photograph to close his eyes. The minimal text on the cover makes the reader pay attention to the image, which we find to be a bit tongue-in-cheek, while maintaining the picture's formal beauty. Sometimes history can skew how we view icons, and Durado made Freud appear vulnerable and human instead of an untouchable figurehead of science.
5. Kiblind
Photographer: Andrew B. Myers
Art Director: Agence Klar
You might not know who Andrew B. Myers is, but you have definitely seen his photography. His fascination with negative space, color, and ordinary objects has attracted clients, who range from Teen Vogue to GQ to McDonald's. It takes a lot of talent to have such a variety of people take interest in your work, which explains why we love the cover of Kiblind. Myers' use of repetition and non sequitur imagery makes readers look for a bit longer, which is the purpose of creating such a dynamic magazine cover.
4. Cereal
Photographer: Unknown
Art Director: Richard Stapleton
People don't say "less is more" for no reason. Cereal, a highly intellectual food and travel magazine, is a prime example of the magic of simplicity. The magazine boasts 140 pages of ad-free, and full-color content, which is pretty rare to find these days. The wheat on the cover indicates the issue's cultural and historical exploration of grains. As expected, the publication is pretty highbrow, but it definitely won't be hard to read because of its excellent minimal design.
3. hello mr.
Photographer: Adrian Tuazon-McCheyne
Art Director: Ryan Fitzgibbon
hello mr. is an incredibly chic and well made magazine that is targeted towards the gay community. This image of Ed Droste, the front man of Grizzly Bear, will become a timeless and classic portrait of the musician. First of all, nothing is more iconic than red, white, and blue. The centered composition is simple and straightforward, providing no distractions. The crisp lighting is the perfect final touch to create a great, iconic magazine cover.
2. Stylist
Photographer: Sabine Villiard
Art Director: Tom Gormer
We love when photo manipulation is used to make a point instead of being used as a superficial touch-up. Stylist took the endlessly smiling Barbie doll and flipped her smile to create a look of distress and "misery" to juxtapose her typical, cheesy smile. Obscuring an iconic image like a Barbie's face makes the viewer think twice about what they're seeing, which provides an intellectual discussion about the visual expectations of pop culture. The choice to envelop her head with text is a great way to emphasize the doll's anguish.
1. New York Magazine
Photographer: Jeff Minton
Art Director: Thomas Alberty
The point of a magazine cover is to create an iconic image that will make people want to stop and see what's inside, and there has been no one more iconic this year than Grumpy Cat. So why not put him on New York Magazine? We love how they made the background the same color has his eyes, which only emphasizes the disappointed expression that we have all come to love. We'd also like to think that putting an Internet meme on the cover of a prestigious magazine says a lot about the state of our culture and the influence of social media.