What's the story behind the covers?

Magazine editors and designers spend weeks -- sometimes months -- conceiving and executing their covers. And thousands of dollars. At Runner's World, for instance, our photo editor is on a plane each month to oversee the shoot of our cover. Often she spends two to three days on location -- in LA, or Portland, or NYC, or Miami -- making sure every detail, from the lighting to the backdrop to the shoelaces on the shoes the model is wearing, is perfect (or as close to perfect as possible). Then, once she is back in the office, she must go through hundreds of shots in search of the one that will go on the cover of the magazine.

And then she has to wait to see if her work -- her effort and time and precision to detail -- pays off.

That pay-off comes when we get the sales reports from Barnes & Noble and Wal-Mart and other big retail chains. We get weekly reports for each of the four weeks the magazine is on the newsstand. We can tell pretty quickly if we have a winner or a clunker. And you want winners because, obviously, sales drives revenues which drives profits.

Losers, well, drive everyone nuts.

And the line between a winning cover and a losing cover can be the 5 or 6 seconds someone like you -- the consumer -- has to glance over a row of magazines at a newsstand. Magazine editors and designers spend hours and tons of money on their covers. You spend seconds.

It can be maddening.

But as intense as it may be, it's what drives the creative energy at pubs: To come up with the cover that will draw a reader to the magazine, and entice him or her to spend 4 or 5 or 7 dollars on it.

It's kind of cool.

For a look the stories behind some of the most successful covers of recent years, check out this link.

http://www.magazine.org/asme/about_asme/asme_press_releases/2010-best-cover-winner.aspx

Apple Rules the World

As I perused the magazine section at the bookstore, my eye was instantly drawn to the sections that I often look at - the fitness section, the food section and the gossip section. Instead of picking one of those up, I took a step back to be able to absorb the entire picture. While the picture often only includes the three sections that I read, it now included sections from cars to politics to technology.

Since I was venturing into a new territory, I decided to pick up a magazine with lots of simplicity. Mac Life has a white cover with very few words and limited pictures cluttering the cover. Often the covers of magazines have a lot going on, perhaps because the editors of the magazine want to convey to their readers that the magazine has a lot to offer. However, the editors of Mac Life took a drastically different approach.

My first thought of why the magazine is so simple is because they are saying that Macs are simple. By saying Macs are simple and their advice on Macs is simple, they may hope to attract an audience of technology amateurs. As I perused through the magazine, the main content of the magazine was how-tos including 10 for Macs, 5 for iPhones and 5 for iPads. Not only were the how-tos very applicable and general to the common user, some of the questions that were answered were questions that my mom had asked me about the iPhone. These pieces were written in very simplistic manner with step-by-step guides on how to do one thing or another on your Apple device.

I don't own a Mac so why would I pick up a magazine called Mac Life. One reason was to see whether the magazine included information about other Apple devices such as the iPhone, iPod and iPhone (which it did). Another reason was to see whether it would intrigue me at all. Surprisingly it did. One main difference between Mac Life and the other magazines that I read on a regular basis is the mere appearance and set up of the articles. Mac Life is more systematic and doesn't include as much creativity in how the articles are laid out. While it was fun to pick up something new, I'm sorry to say that Mac Life can not expect to earn a dime from me.

Oh Em Gee - It's the Biebs

Have you been to the Lehigh bookstore recently? It's had a major face lift.  The Market Place, a food and convenience store across Campus Square, has since closed its doors and relocated to the bookstore and taken the place where the magazine racks were.  I had some difficulty finding the new location of the magazine rack (it's now to the left of the stairs near the best sellers).  When I found the magazines, I was pleasantly surprised many covers caught my eye. Perhaps because it's February and SI's swim suit issue is obviously dead center on the rack. The swim suit issue did not however divert my attention away from Vogue, featuring Lady Gaga on the cover, with of course, a new hair style making her barely recognizable. It did not surprise me that several magazines featured at least one Kardashian sister - those girls really know how to market themselves!  

One publication I've always liked, but never had the opportunity to read is Rolling Stone. This month features Justin Bieber with an edgy new hair cut. I'm stunned! In my opinion,  "The Bieber Fever" is based primarily off his tween looks and long, flowy shag hair cut. Naturally, I picked up the magazine to check if the article discussed this pressing "issue".

"The adventures of Super Boy: God, girls and boat loads of swag. How Justin Bieber went from Canadian YouTube oddity to the biggest teen idol in the world". A long deck and headline for the feature article, but appropriate. On page 56, the feature confirms my previous accusation; "The hair of the Biebs is a whole article in itself. It's a pleasant hue, made up of all the colors found in hay, and as luxurious in person as it appears on screen.". Ah, this description is music to my ears (pun intended). The article also discusses The Bieb's rise to fame via YouTube and Usher, his " relations" with Disney star Selena Gomez (jealous) and his brand new Range Rover, which he received for passing his road test ... Last week (just kidding!) 

Aside from the Bieber feature, Rolling Stone covers a variety of topics, from an article on Wall Street to upcoming Indie rock artists. I always struggle to keep up with music trends inside the Lehigh bubble, so I benefit from this magazines' input. I'm definitely going to pay more attention to this publication in the future.  

Marie Claire

Sometimes, when I find myself with an hour or so of free time, I head to the Lehigh Bookstore, grab a magazine and read it over coffee. I usually choose between Vogue, Cosmo, and Seventeen. This discretion comes from trying out numerous other fashion, beauty, and style magazines and finding these three to be my favorites. I choose between the three depending on who is on each cover and what is featured in the month's issue from reading the blurbs on each cover. Before I shopped, I knew I would be buying one of those magazines, only rarely would the cover of another entice me enough to stand at my local drug store or airport and flip through its contents - and even then I wouldn't buy it.

Today I was determined to be objective and find a cover that really enticed me regardless of the name at the top of the magazine. I stood for a while, looking at the rack and judging the magazines that caught my eye. Okay's colors and fonts made it too hokey, too trashy. Rolling Stone was a little better, but it just seemed too brash and masculine for my taste. Finally, Marie Claire. I knew who was on the cover - Miley Cyrus - but what really struck me were the colors, type, and layout of the cover - it was truly elegant and alluring. The colors on this cover were done very well. The blue in background made me think of the cold winter, which is still very much a part of February. Miley was wearing a yellow chiffon dress signaling spring, which has been peeping through the winter for a day here and there. The red - which highlighting specific articles - helped topics stand out, but didnt overwhelm the cover. The crispness and beauty of the cover made me think that the magazine took their layout seriously, and suprisingly, this made me want to read more.

Maybe I shouldn't be surprised at how much a cover can affect one's desire to read a magazine. I guess it is obvious - covers are in many ways the most important part of magazines. The cover is the potential reader's first impression. They are the magazine's chance to grab your attention and say "You have to read me!" However, I was struck by just how much respect I had for Marie Claire because it produced an elegant cover, which stood out to me on the rack of tens of other magazines. The cover begged me to read on - and I did.

Simple Really Is Better

I always hesitate to visit the magazine section of the bookstore because I almost always end up spending $20 on magazines that I don't really need. Unfortunately, reason goes out the window the second I see those glossy covers and I usually gravitate to the magazines before I even satiate my thirst for a warm cup of coffee.

This week when I walked into the bookstore, the magainze that caught my eye was surprisingly one with the simplest of covers. I don't know whether I was drawn to it because it happens to be my favorite magazine or whether it stood out to me in a sea of magazine covers dominated by photographs.

This was the magazine that really caught my eye! Something about the simple white background contrasted with the bright blue dress (and one of my favorite actresses, woo Modern Family) drew me to it. Of course I had to buy it and devour it!

I was surprised that the tabloids or other magazines weren't the first thing my eyes were drawn too! The placement on the shelf of this magazine was actually right at eye level so that might have had something to do with it to! Either way, it was simple and the color scheme on the cover really worked for me! SHAPE did it right this month because I walked out with that magazine!

Simplistic Styles

Magazines can be overwhelming. Standing in front of the rack at Lehigh's Barnes and Noble, I felt like my eyes were being torn in every which way by the busy covers. Allure wants to tell me "What's Beautiful NOW" and Women's Health says, "SHRINK YOUR BELLY," among a multitude of others. Most of them have attractive women on the covers with differently sized and colored text surrounding them.

Amidst all this visual stimulation, my eyes kept wandering to one specific magazine. A magazine with a trademark yellow border. National Geographic.

I tried to look away. I fought myself. "I don't want to write about National Geographic," I thought. "It isn't any fun."

But that yellow border sucked me in. And it wasn't just the yellow border, I realized. Unlike most of the other magazines, National Geographic's cover was distinctly minimalistic. The cover image was a fox's face, centered, against a snowy white background. The very top of the page lists three articles inside. The magazine's title follows, centered. Finally, the headline and deck for the cover story. The bottom half of the cover is completely devoid of text.

I don't know if it's just because I hadn't eaten anything yet that morning, but that simple cover was much easier to swallow than the others.

With that said, I don't believe National Geographic put any less thought into their cover than any of the magazines. In fact, they may have to deliberate even more. With such minimal information on the cover, they have to be absolutely confident that their main story will be able to draw in readers. In this case, I would say they succeeded. The cover story, "Designing the Perfect Pet: Can a fox become man's best friend?" will appeal to just about anyone who has a pet, and that, of course, is a large number of people.

Spine Chilling Cover

While awaiting the arrival of my chai tea latte at the Barnes Noble at the Lehigh Valley Mall, I began to run my eyes across the various covers lying on the racks. The magazine that popped out with an abnormal intensity was the cover of W Magazine. This magazine is often known for its sophisticated take on fashion, style, and the art of living. W is supposed to fee both the eye and the mind, which it certainly did to me as I raced my eyes across the racks.

I have browsed over W Magazine before, however, I have never purchased or truly even read any of the articles in depth. My mom has always subscribed to W and previous covers had never drawn me to the magazine before. This one was different. This cover consisted of the actress Rooney Mara covered in punk apparel with bleeding knuckles. All of the writing across the cover was written in whites and reds, which made them jump out against the mundane grey background.

What really drew me to this magazine was the imagery versus the actual articles that existed within the edition. When usually looking at a fashion magazine cover, one is used to looking at color, high fashion, delicacy, etc. However, for this cover, the theme resonated more with a dark and bone-chilling feeling. It was shocking to see a woman portrayed in this manner on the cover of magazine; luckily after glimpsing through the magazine itself, I later learned that the cover was portraying Rooney Mara’s character Salander. I certainly will not be surprised if this edition sells out pretty quickly!