matt higgins

Saying the cover of a magazine is the single most important page isn’t exactly the most profound statement to be made about media. And yet many magazine architects seem to ignore the fundamentals of cover crafting. Making matters worse, covers, especially cover lines, are often the last thing checked off the list, whipped up as a drop dead deadline looms. Even if you only have the afternoon to write all of your cover lines, get them placed around an image and get everyone aligned, you need to know and respect the fundamentals of magazine cover design. So, what are the fundamentals? Glad you asked. Here’s a crash course.

There are three essential elements or parts to a magazine cover: the logo, all those cover lines and the main image. They each have subparts, but these are the three main elements. They are each absolutely critical to selling issues, but in order of importance they rank logo, cover lines and, most essential, image.

LOGO
Changing or redesigning the logo (or masthead) is a risky move and something that makes most people in the branding business cringe, so the best advice is to get it right the first time. It’s not that it can’t change, but logos are serious business and there’s no getting it right next month. Even with how incredibly important logos are to a magazine, I rank logos third. Logos do sell magazines, but they generally only sell issues to existing readers of the title. Logos don’t sell issues to the fringe customer, which is who we are really after when it comes to single-copy sales.

COVER LINES
Crafting cover lines is a unique writing skill that, simply put, not everyone in the magazine business has. Some fantastic editors and writers struggle with cover lines. It’s short form writing at its shortest. To put it in current day perspective, a cover line makes a tweet look like a novel. Writing great cover lines, ones that make people buy magazines is hard work. The good news is that, just like the cover as a whole, there are some fundamentals to follow. The first and most important rule is to write cover lines that articulate a benefit–lose weight, make money, save time, etc., etc. The next rule is to remember the cover is not a table of contents. Don’t just list the article titles. Instead, focus on why someone would want to read the article. Let the reader know what’s in it for them.

A well-established fundamental is to use numbers (e.g., 11 New Ways to Save Time & Money–this could be truncated with a sub line: Save Time & Money/11 New Ways; 25 Best Retirement Towns; The 5 Best Presidents). Keep cover lines short, to the point and use sub lines as needed, but keep in mind that you may not have the luxury of someone taking the time to read second lines. The widely accepted premise is that you have a fraction of a second to grab someone’s attention. That may to be true of magazines on end caps in grocery stores, but sitting on a newsstand, you probably have a little more time as those eyes are there actively looking at magazines. These customers probably want to buy a magazine; you just have to convince them yours is the one.

While this may be a multi-front battle, with editors, graphic designers and publishers all weighing in with different opinions, covers work best when built around the “classic L” format and with a top to bottom arrangement. The classic L or upside-down L format has the logo across the top with the bulk of the cover lines down the left side (also known as the left third). This arrangement is easy to quickly visually absorb and stands the best chance of being seen on a crowded and often messy newsstand. Some magazine cover designs use a skyline or sky bar above the logo. Given that this is often the only piece of visible real estate, it’s very much worth incorporating into your cover design. The top down arrangement is a philosophy that cover lines are best stacked with the most general audience widely appealing lines at the top flowing down to the most core audience centric lines at the bottom. This plays into the what’s actually visible on the newsstand scenario. Special interest magazines will have a much easier time identifying the fringe- and core-appealing lines than a lifestyle magazine, but with a little thought, all cover lines can and should be ranked. That skyline, a design element that I firmly believe in, is the perfect place to put a cover line that would hook anyone walking by. Even if you make a completely niche magazine about, say, surf casting off the Jersey shore, a cover line such as 100 Ways to Have a Fun Summer will serve you much better than Steel Leaders Explained. Both may work as cover lines, but if I had to put one at the top, I know which one I’d pick.

Another rule–really a helpful hint–is to use alliteration. Use this device sparingly. Don’t fear over using, but don’t force it. Alliteration helps write short, snappy cover lines that get attention.

Know the difference between the denotation and connotation of words. Basically, know how the words you’re using impact people. There is a book called Words That Sell by Richard Bayan. It’s worth having. In fact, I’d say it’s a must-have for editors.

While there’s much more that can be said about cover lines, the last thing I want to mention for now is the concept of building it backwards. Issues get planned out a variety of ways. I used to work with an executive editor that created issue lists based solely on what we could get done at the last minute. Everything was done at the last minute with the cover lines being a complete afterthought and just something to get done, so the graphic designer would stop asking. To the opposite extreme, I worked with a different editor who had a template for the year that was exactly the same as the year before. Last year’s cover lines were essentially the same as previous years. As you can probably guess, the ideal is somewhere in the middle. Craft your cover lines well in advance. Come up with great cover lines and then assign articles to those cover lines. That’s building it backwards. This will help you make great issues built on great content.

MAIN IMAGE
The main image is the single most important aspect in that, more than the other elements, stands to be what grabs a potential reader’s attention. The best cover lines in the world and the most recognizable logo are hardly likely to matter if the main image is a dud. In general, people out perform landscapes and products. The late Princess Diana is said to have sold more magazines than any other person. Main images set over white backgrounds also traditionally do very well. It’s the contrast that makes them pop and get attention. Drama (visual interest) works well with images. Cutting off an image by having it bleed off an edge or having an image slightly overlap the logo creates drama. Our mind completes the image and we are all of a sudden more mentally involved or engaged.

In-office focus groups can help identify, or at least narrow down, what may work as a main cover image. Put five images on the wall and invite people from other departments in one at a time. Ask them which image got their attention first. You may get zero valuable feedback or you may quickly see a pattern get established. In a similar fashion, when a cover is close to being finalized and the usual group (editors, artists and publishers) are going into war room mode, I advocate inviting someone removed from the process in on the discussion. I can’t say everyone always values this as much as I do, but it may be the single best tool at avoiding groupthink. The phenomenon of groupthink has been the only possible explanation for those covers that are so horrible that they are essentially the print equivalent of a dumpster fire.

GETTING CRITICAL

The main cover line used for this issue of Jp is simply a textbook example of a great cover line. I may or may not have gone with “Beat the Heat” and I’m sure that was considered. It articulates a benefit, is hard to miss and uses simple-but-effective word play. I would, however, cut back on the sub lines under the main cover line. There is too much and it’s too hard to read. Losing one would probably help significantly. This cover also uses plenty of alliteration–Wicked Willys, Tire Test, Spring Test Secrets. “Test” and “secrets” are also strong words for cover lines. I would, however, have given the tire test cover line stronger and more predominate treatment. With all of the cover lines on the lower half getting the same treatment, they all essentially equally disappear.

This is an example of my work from 2009 when I was executive editor of this title. The skyline is designed to appeal to anyone, is strengthened by the unrelated “Free!” offer and uses of a number. Even though it’s the January issue, its on-sale date was the 2008 holiday season. “Hot For 09” may not articulate a life-improving benefit, but guides traditionally sell magazines. I peppered this issue’s cover with classic hooks, such as “Only Here!,” “World Exclusive!,” and “First Look.” The more core audience appealing cover lines are saved for the bottom.

These two magazines are well put together with lots of numbers, visual interest (especially on the foreground example) and use of lists and guides. Both titles are made by Lighthouse Media Solutions, and the Travel Guide in the background is an example of custom publishing and is commissioned by the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce. The “Best of” cover line is well designed and the type of article that has proven to work well.

Boys’ Life, now called Scout Life, is the magazine of the Boy Scouts of America and is similar to a controlled circulation title. It is (or at least was) sold single issue and members do have to opt in for the magazine, so it is not a true or exclusive controlled circulation title. The graphic treatment is probably the strongest part of this cover, but the skyline is also strong. “Get Started” is easy to understand and has a clear benefit.

I wrote a few articles for the now former Four Wheeler, which was a long-running special interest magazine with a tremendous amount of brand recognition among its prospective audience. The positives I see on this magazine is that the skyline is used and used for a cover line that has solid general audience appeal. Along the same lines, the cover lines towards the bottom, such as “Long-Arm Lift” are more for the core audience. The main cover line, however, doesn’t convey any sort of benefit, which is a missed opportunity. It articulates a theme, but that theme may or may not appeal to prospective buyers.