All Covers Are Not Created Equal.
I came across the Glamour magazine and saw that Rachel McAdams was on the cover. But besides that, I realized there was so much copy on the cover I can barely decide what to read first. So I decided to investigate magazine covers. I looked through series of magazine covers for 2012 and I have found 4 that caught my attention.
The first one being Glamour magazine, the February issue, I realized that personally, there was too much copy on the cover. Usually covers are supposed to be the most appealing, where the image and type works together to persuade and sell the magazine. In this issue, I found that there was too much copy for me to even want to read the cover. There are varieties of copy in all different sizes, points and color. It seemed too distracting for me to actually want to read it. It might be a bit bias because it is a magazine geared towards women. However, I felt that this cover had way to much copy for me to even want to open it.
Another bad cover I found was Men’s Health magazine, the January/February issue. I feel that this cover is a bit easier to read than the Glamour magazine however, I still feel that it was a bit distracting. The arrangement of copy around the body is interesting and different but, it was just not a magazine cover that I preferred. It is definitely easier to get around the copy even though it is in all different points and color. I think it was easier to read because it’s not over flowing with copy and there is a sense of balance between the copy because it want so huge compared to Glamour magazine.
Harper’s Bazaar magazine however, seemed very beautifully done. The January issue with Kate Beckinsale seems like it is much easier to read. There is a whole less copy than the other magazines and there is a sense of balance of color between the use of blues throughout the cover. There is a big contrast around the cover between the color of the logo as well as her dress. Also, they incorporated that color to the copy which makes it much more interesting and beautiful. I thought this was one of the covers that was beautifully crafted.
The last magazine cover I saw was GQ magazine, the February issue. I’m personally a big fan of GQ magazine so this might be bias as well however, I thought this was done pretty well too. I don’t really like Michelle Williams so I don’t really like the cover but I think it was designed well. They used the same principle as Harper’s Bazaar by adding contrast and balance throughout the cover with the use of black and white. The black from her lingerie is used throughout the type so it makes a balance around the cover. It does have a lot more copy than Harper’s Bazaar however, I think they used the type well enough that there is a sense of hierarchy so it was much easier to understand.
If you want to look for horrendous magazine covers, I found websites where they show you the worst covers of all time. I found it very interesting! So go check it out!
