Some of My Favorite Covers - Clients (and former clients) Part 1

So in case you ever wondered what some of my personal all time favorite covers were. Here are some from the list of clients (and former) clients and magazines I have known and loved:

There are more articles published all over the internet and in industry rags about what makes a good magazine cover than you could shake a stick at. So what's my wisdom worth? After a lot of thought and consideration, it seems to me that cover design is mostly inspiration and art than any actual science. But there are some rules of thumb about what works and most people who understand single copy sales understand what makes a good newsstand cover. You'll note that I said newsstand. There's a big difference between a cover that is designed to sell on the newsstand and one that is simply designed to appeal to a subscriber who's already paid for their copy (in order to get their hands on that mini mp3 player). My number one piece of advice to all of my clients has always been to not be too cute,  too stuck on yourself, or too inside. You're offering a reader a service. You're knowledge and expertise. Unless you're Spy Magazine (which hasn't published in years), don't be too cute, or snarky. All of these covers are: >Very clear about who they are. >Have very clear images that are almost immediately identifiable (who wouldn't recognize Troy Polamalu?) >Made some use of their skyline. More on covers coming up. Plus, some more of my favorite covers from other national and local titles.