Magazines Part II

1. Early Magazine Covers

The earliest magazine covers looked a lot like book covers. The covers were always vague and didn't really show what was specifically in the contents of the magazine. Most covers only showed the title of the magazine and had a table of contents or a picture that either symbolically showed the spirit of the magazine or was just there for decoration.

2. The Poster Cover

Poster covers were commonly seen from the late 19th century to the mid 20th century. Poster covers had a picture that didn't specifically describe or relate to any article in the magazine, but mostly described the emotion of the magazine. The logo almost never covers the picture. Professional artists were often hired just to make magazine cover illustrations. Cover lines were almost never on the front cover, and when they were they were often overshadowed by the colored picture.

3. Pictures Married to Type

These covers relied heavily on text and cover lines to draw readers in, rather than pictures and illustrations. Over time, photographs took over illustrations on magazine covers. The text on the cover gives the reader an idea of what will be in the magazine, unlike other covers which gave the reader of an idea of the mood of the magazine. As time progressed and the magazine industry became bigger, cover designers began to experiment with the relations with cover lines, logos, and pictures to create what modern magazine covers look like.

4. In the Forest of Words

These covers rely very heavily on text, and the text that describes what's inside the magazine is usually more prominent than the picture on the magazine. They are usually used for music magazines. The cover lines and logo almost always cover over the photo, and use bright colors to catch the reader's attention.