What makes a great magazine cover?
We've been talking about magazines at the office lately and it's got me thinking about the most impactful covers and why they work.
- Be bold.
- Make a statement.
- Grab the readers' attention.
- Toy with expectations.
- Tell a story.
- When art directors and editors work together, the results are always better.
- Find the right balance of visual story-telling and smart cover lines.
- Defy expectations.
- Readers are smart! When we remember that, we can create covers that ask more questions than they answer.
- Keep the reader wanting more.
- Keep it simple.
- The most impactful magazine covers communicate the message with the fewest elements.
- Limit the cover to bold visuals and simple, punchy covers lines.
Want some examples?
Here are a few of our favourite Canadian magazines (some are pretty old!) showing us how it's done.
