A close-up of thinly sliced cured meats piled together. White text in the centre reads “Eat Me” and “A Home Cook’s Resource Book”.

The best recent magazine covers around? Two new shortlists unveiled

Words: Rob Alderson
—
Date: 23 April 2015; Work
Graphic Design

Call me a massive magazine nerd if you must but I really enjoy the conversation about what makes a great cover. Is there a science to it as Tyler Brûlé maintains? Does it have to be meticulously planned or can it be the simple execution of gut instinct? Where is that fine line between bold and daring on the one hand, and obtuse and gimmicky on the other? Anyway yesterday two “best cover” shortlists were unveiled which gives us a glimpse into what two leading industry bodies think (The Society of Publication Designers and The Professional Publishers Association).

The SPD list includes two well-deserved nods for Gail Bichler and her team at The New York Times Magazine alongside offerings from Variety, Wired, New York Magazine and Volkskrant. The PPA list is much more mainstream but both the Time Out and Shortlist covers deserve a mention. I’ll admit that for a couple of these I can’t see what differentiates them from countless others, but presumably the judges saw something which I’m oblivious to.

A magazine cover for “Food & Drink New York” features a close-up of thinly sliced, cured meats. The meat is curled and layered across the frame, with the headline “Eat Me” and the subtitle “A Home Cook’s Resource Book” centered over the image. — Above
SPD Cover of the Year Medal Finalist: New York Magazine

A graphic illustration of a fried egg on a bright pink background. Below the egg, a small figure of a child looks up at the yolk, with the text “WHAT SHOULD CHILDREN EAT?” curved along the bottom of the white. — Above
SPD Cover of the Year Medal Finalist: The New York Tmes Magazine

A crumpled white envelope serves as a magazine cover. Bold black text reads “ABORTION BY MAIL”, with a smaller caption explaining how activists aim to make clinics virtual. — Above
SPD Cover of the Year Medal Finalist: The New York Tmes Magazine

A Variety magazine cover featuring an upside-down Kermit the Frog against a pale green background. The main headline reads “It’s Not Easy Making Green”, with a sub-headline about the rise and fall of the Muppets. — Above
SPD Cover of the Year Medal Finalist: Variety

The cover of “Volkskrant Magazine” features a close-up of a person’s stomach and navel. A small, black illustration of a person stands on the skin, looking towards the belly button. — Above
SPD Cover of the Year Medal Finalist: Volkskrant

Edward Snowden looks directly at the camera, wearing glasses and a black T-shirt. He holds a US flag draped around his shoulders. Above him, the yellow masthead of Wired magazine reads “WIRED”, with a small tag that says “PATRIOT ACT SEP 2014”. — Above
SPD Cover of the Year Medal Finalist: Wired

A yellow magazine cover for Time Out London features a brown rope handle, making the page look like a shopping bag. Bold text at the bottom reads “LONDON’S BEST SHOPS”, with a smaller caption asking “What’s number one? It’s in the bag...”. — Above
PPA Awards Cover Of The Year: Time Out

A person in a red and black military dress uniform sits in a wheelchair against a plain white background. They wear several medals on their chest and look directly at the camera. The image is a cover for The Big Issue, with the magazine title and the text “EVERY MONDAY £2.50” in the top right. In the top left, text reads “This is now. We must not forget.” and to the right of the figure, it reads “SERGEANT RICK CLEMENT, 34”. — Above
PPA Awards Cover Of The Year: The Big Issue

The cover of Country Life magazine from 30 July 2014. A grid of various colourful butterflies is laid out against a white background under the headline “Our gorgeous butterflies”. — Above
PPA Awards Cover Of The Year: Country Life

The cover of Crumbs magazine from September 2014 features several large, ribbed red and green tomatoes scattered across a wooden board. Bold text reads “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes!” with a smaller caption clarifying that “killer” means “amazing”. — Above
PPA Awards Cover Of The Year: Crumbs

A magazine cover featuring a reindeer lying in a bed with white linens, wearing a red sleep mask. Bold text reads “A big dream” above a sub-headline about the story of Kakslauttanen. — Above
PPA Awards Cover Of The Year: Norwegian

A magazine cover for Shortlist featuring Caesar from Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. The chimpanzee wears a grey tailored suit and black bow tie, posing with a finger to their temple. Large white text reads “EVOLVE YOUR STYLE”, with a caption below stating Caesar “models the year’s finest tailoring”. — Above
PPA Awards Cover Of The Year: Shortlist

Emma Watson looks directly at the camera on the cover of Elle magazine. The issue is titled “The Feminism Issue” and features the headline “The fresh face of feminism”. — Above
PPA Awards Cover Of The Year: Elle

The cover of British GQ from October 2014 features Pharrell with red and white paint across their face. They wear a white coat and a black bow tie. The cover reads “Pharrell” in large letters at the bottom, with the headline “Is it ever ok to wear leather trousers?”. A list on the left names “The 17th Men of the Year Awards Issue 2014”. — Above
PPA Awards Cover Of The Year: GQ

A magazine cover for Radio Times featuring a close-up portrait of Peter Capaldi as the Doctor. The headline reads “I am The Doctor”, with smaller text below stating “Peter Capaldi talks fame, fortune & wobbly sets”. — Above
PPA Awards Cover Of The Year: Radio Times

The December 2014 cover of Red magazine features Jamie Oliver and Jools Oliver posing together outdoors. Jools wears a red floral dress and Jamie wears a dark suit. Bold white text reads “Here Comes Christmas” and “Easy Party Glamour”. Other headlines mention a “food & drink special” and a guide to “181 gorgeous gifts”. — Above
PPA Awards Cover Of The Year: Red

Further Info

www.spd.org
www.ppa.co.uk/

About the Author

Rob Alderson

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Rob Alderson is a freelance writer, editor and strategist. He was previously editor-in-chief of It’s Nice That and WePresent, and editor of Design Week. He publishes the newsletter Undo, which tries to make sense of how AI is changing design work, the design process and the design industry.

The best recent magazine covers around? Two new shortlists unveiled

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