The online periodical, Medium, takes a clear look at Magazine covers over the decades. In most cases these have morphed from simple illustrations to glaringly sexualized images crowded with eye-grabbing text.
One standout: The New Yorker
It’s true, The New Yorker’s covers have changed little since its introduction in 1925 with dandy Eustace Tilly examining a butterfly through his monocle.
1925 Cover Illustration
As a long-time subscriber, I’m particularly fond of The New Yorker. My son has taken to examining their beautifully witty cover illustrations to try to extract all the meaning from each – a great exercise in art, current events, and history.
Inside, its longer articles actually do go ‘beyond the headlines‘ – not just claim to. On the pages, surrounded by the wrapping text of the articles are the cartoons and incidental illustrations that may or may not have any bearing on the stories themselves.
Not to steal any of the impact from Karen Cheng and Jerry Gabra’s Medium article, I present three New Yorker covers highlighting clever takes on the news from the past several years:
The death of Steve Jobs
Anthony’s Weiner
Debating an Empty Chair
References
- The Evolution of Magazine Covers: https://medium.com/@karenxcheng/the-evolution-of-magazine-covers-d55514210a57
- New Yorker Cover Illustration: “Original New Yorker cover” by Source. Licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Original_New_Yorker_cover.png#/media/File:Original_New_Yorker_cover.png
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