Magazine Cover Part II

1. Early Magazine Covers

The early magazines where more short books than actual magazines. They started on the front cover, and there was just a generic picture, if at all, adorned on the front of the magazine. They where short and very book like. It was the beginning of over a 100 years of magazine innovation.

2. The Poster Cover

Here, the first mentioning of individual covers came about. The images appearing on the front of the magazines negated the need for cover lines. It made the cover cleaner and smoother in appearance. Several magazines made good use of this and hired experienced artists and made gorgeous pictures.

3. Pictures Married to Type

However, with many things, it was not to last. The words on the cover came back, and the grand pictures that decorated the covers now where blemished by cover lines advertising a great many things. Apparently, it was more important to tell what was inside the magazine on the outside, than the inside.

4. In the Forest of Words

Now here, we look at a magazine, blasted by words with silent screams etched on covers and boisterous images, high in quality, but generally the same. Words fought with the images, and in many magazines, powerful images is not enough for them, and the protrude lines of text onto the crowded cover.