Practical explorations - Cover Research - Iconic covers

I want to discover what makes people buy into independent magazines, what gets them going back to them and how I can apply this to create my own small publication. 

I plan to use a survey to begin then moving on gradually as the brief processes. 

To begin I will be surveying, peers within my class as well as friends and family, again as I progress I will look into extending this to, people in relation with my chosen topic. 

I will find people face to face but will look into ways I could put this online. 

My biases with this to being will be only survey students within the age range of 19-21 

I expect to discover why people purchase independent magazines, and which topic are peoples favourite. 


What I noticed from looking at iconic magazine covers are they all tend to be photography. However I am aiming to more go down the illustrated route. 

Angela Lansbury, The Gentlewoman. Autumn/winter 2012Angela Lansbury jumped from the newsstands on this powder pink cover for The Gentlewoman, shot by Terry Richardson. The magazine has always offered an alternative vision of women's magazines, but this issue showed that they were willing to represent women of all ages in a way few other titles are.

Are You Mom Enough? Time magazine. May 2012

This cover created ripples when it was released in the US. The topic at hand was "attachment parenting" and the image of a mother breast-feeding her son beyond the normally accepted age (he's 3 years old) really made people sit up.

The Passion of Muhammad Ali, Esquire. April 1968

This 1968 cover came at a time when Ali was stripped of his boxing titles for refusing to fight for the US Armed Forces in the Vietnam War. The art director, George Lois, chose to depict him as a modern day, sporting St Sebastian (an early Christian martyr).

Helmut Lang, Fantastic Man. Autumn/winter 2006

A bare-chested Helmut Lang hugging a cockerel was a stroke of genius from Fantastic Man. Bruce Weber shot Lang far away from the fashion world, showing him on his farm in upstate New York, where he had moved to pursue his art. It's oozing the offbeat humour that the magazine is known for and was his first big interview since his fashion retirement

Andy Warhol, Esquire. May, 1969

Another one from legendary designer George Lois. The issue, hailing "the final decline and total collapse of the American avant-garde" showed Andy Warhol drowning in a can of the Campbell's soup that he made iconic through his pop art. It was an early case of cut-and-paste and retouching.

Kim Kardashian, W Magazine. November 2010

W was one of the first magazines to recognise Kim's potential to be taken, or analysed, seriously. She fronted their 2010 Art issue, all fresh, plump-faced, with clever coverlines by artist Barbara Kruger.