The Summer 2011 issue of British Columbia Magazine is on stands now.

Art Director Ken Seabrook has introduced a new desisgn twist: a white border treatment to frame out this stunning “beauty shot.”

The corner slash (Nabisco) drives home the heft of the special value proposition this issue offers readers… 23 pages of glorious Parks coverage.

A keeper.

Both are award winners

Both publish great fiction

Both know how to turn bad news into good news

When Maisonneuve was confronted with being forced to polybag their magazine because of some, well, nipples as part of a black and white photo essay, they made it a virtue with a clever polybag treatment. The issue was a huge hit on newsstands, and won the cover of the year at the Canadian Newsstand Awards.

As embarrass ing as it must be to the legendary Hef, the sticker that was attached to newsstand copies is sure to drive sales too. Derek and Hef… two magazine legends.

The Jul/Aug 2011 issue of LEGION magazine will hit newsstands June 27th.
This classic military history cover plays to the magazine’s strong suits:

1.  An iconic image
2.  A critical moment in Canada’s military history
3.  Archival black and white photography that is evocative

What art director Jason Duprau has also brought to the party is a strong type treatment for the main sell, a  modern-day skybar treatment to compliment the vintage cover image, and an elegant starburst calling out the Battle Map inside.

 

The National Magazine Awards 2011 gala was a fabulous event…a wonderful evening to meet and mingle with colleagues, friends and clients; and the Carlu is the perfect venue.

It was great to see so many different magazines receive accolades.

With that said, I continue to be baffled by the Magazine Covers award. As the great Paul Jones famously said, “To win this category only magazines that submit “art with logo” need apply.

This year’s gold winner was The Feathertale Review (nice nipple ring, eh?):

And the silver winner was Urbania (nice hair, sorry about your sun burn, eh?):

I suspect that a very small percentage of the magazine junkies in attendance at the Carlu had ever heard of these titles, let alone ever purchased a copy. I suspect an even smaller percentage of Canadians have either. Yet these are the titles held up as the very best examples of what a great cover should look like? I suppose if this were a fashion show, it would be the equivalent of couture vs. ready to wear. On the one hand, creative and edgy, on the other, completely divorced from the reality of what it takes to sell single copies or subscriptions.

Perhaps the category should just be renamed, so as not to suggest that these covers are something other than art for art’s sake: Best Cover Art (Avante Garde). And then they could add a category Best Cover Art (Commercial). With over 40+ awards handed out, what’s one more?

This double issue from Canadian Family looks like a winner… pushing all the right buttons for a Summer issue.

Seasonally appropriate, this cover offers great advice on both eating and dieting. Perfect for busy moms… and dads too.

How absolutely delicious.

The art director has used all the best cover real estate, to take full advantage of merchandising realities on today’s busy newsstand racks:

3 great hooks in the sky bar region
Far left margin space maxed out
Star-burst button in upper right corner using the blessed words Win and Free

And we love the little arrow device pointing to the popsicle for the Easy Recipes piece.

The cover is bright, energetic, fun, up-beat and offers tons of benefit-oriented service.