School Library Journal» Mark Tuchman http://www.slj.com The world's largest reviewer of books, multimedia, and technology for children and teens Wed, 18 Sep 2013 18:01:43 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 So What’s with all the ‘People Covers’?: SLJ’s Art Director Explains the Method to Our Madness http://www.slj.com/2013/07/books-media/publishing/so-whats-with-all-the-people-covers-sljs-art-director-explains-the-method-to-our-madness/ http://www.slj.com/2013/07/books-media/publishing/so-whats-with-all-the-people-covers-sljs-art-director-explains-the-method-to-our-madness/#comments Mon, 01 Jul 2013 23:44:13 +0000 Mark Tuchman http://www.slj.com/?p=49004 We recently received some feedback from a subscriber who wrote to say, “I am often confused by your choice of covers. There are so many creative possibilities. Although photographs of notable people are interesting, they don’t necessarily serve as a great introduction to the latest issue.”

I was delighted that a reader was paying attention to the visual presentation of the magazine! My next reaction was agreement that perhaps we were skewing a little too much toward portrait covers lately. Then I thought this was a golden opportunity to share our cover strategy and some of my favorite recent covers.

In each month’s SLJ print magazine, one feature article gets chosen as the cover story. Figuring out how to represent this feature on the cover in a way that engages the reader, is a fun challenge—one that I look forward to each month.

No matter the topic, the goal of the cover is simply to encourage the reader to open the magazine. While our subscribers are most likely interested in the topic, the cover still has work to do. A compelling cover will be the difference between someone who intends to read the magazine and someone who actually reads it. When imagery and cover lines work together effectively, they do more than communicate information. The ideal is that the cover reaches deeper, connecting with the reader on an emotional level. Working with top illustrators and photographers, as we do, makes it all the more possible that we may end up with such a cover.

Here are some of my favorites from the past few years. Click through to view the image alone, and click once again for a larger version.

 

SLJ July2013 e1372702868471 127x170 So What’s with all the ‘People Covers’?: SLJ’s Art Director Explains the Method to Our Madness SLJ April 2013 e1372257390417 127x170 So What’s with all the ‘People Covers’?: SLJ’s Art Director Explains the Method to Our Madness SLJ August 2012 e1372257417951 126x170 So What’s with all the ‘People Covers’?: SLJ’s Art Director Explains the Method to Our Madness SLJ May 2011 e1372257112777 127x170 So What’s with all the ‘People Covers’?: SLJ’s Art Director Explains the Method to Our Madness SLJ October 2010 e1372257145561 127x170 So What’s with all the ‘People Covers’?: SLJ’s Art Director Explains the Method to Our Madness SLJ November 2012 e1372257029394 127x170 So What’s with all the ‘People Covers’?: SLJ’s Art Director Explains the Method to Our Madness SLJ September 2012 e1372257288154 127x170 So What’s with all the ‘People Covers’?: SLJ’s Art Director Explains the Method to Our Madness SLJ September 2010 e1372257239786 127x170 So What’s with all the ‘People Covers’?: SLJ’s Art Director Explains the Method to Our Madness SLJ March 2013 e1372257003491 127x170 So What’s with all the ‘People Covers’?: SLJ’s Art Director Explains the Method to Our Madness SLJ September 2011 e1372257265154 127x170 So What’s with all the ‘People Covers’?: SLJ’s Art Director Explains the Method to Our Madness SLJ October 2011 e1372257213787 127x170 So What’s with all the ‘People Covers’?: SLJ’s Art Director Explains the Method to Our Madness SLJ October 2012 e1372257185642 127x170 So What’s with all the ‘People Covers’?: SLJ’s Art Director Explains the Method to Our Madness SLJ February 2010 e1372256599853 126x170 So What’s with all the ‘People Covers’?: SLJ’s Art Director Explains the Method to Our Madness SLJ August 2010 e1372257461267 127x170 So What’s with all the ‘People Covers’?: SLJ’s Art Director Explains the Method to Our Madness SLJ March 2010 e1372256980659 127x170 So What’s with all the ‘People Covers’?: SLJ’s Art Director Explains the Method to Our Madness SLJ March 2011 e1372256950920 127x170 So What’s with all the ‘People Covers’?: SLJ’s Art Director Explains the Method to Our Madness SLJ July 2011 e1372256920434 128x170 So What’s with all the ‘People Covers’?: SLJ’s Art Director Explains the Method to Our Madness SLJ January 2010 e1372256883150 126x170 So What’s with all the ‘People Covers’?: SLJ’s Art Director Explains the Method to Our Madness SLJ February 2013 e1372256775247 127x170 So What’s with all the ‘People Covers’?: SLJ’s Art Director Explains the Method to Our Madness SLJ July 2010 e1372256853375 130x170 So What’s with all the ‘People Covers’?: SLJ’s Art Director Explains the Method to Our Madness SLJ December 2011 e1372257498767 127x170 So What’s with all the ‘People Covers’?: SLJ’s Art Director Explains the Method to Our Madness ]]> http://www.slj.com/2013/07/books-media/publishing/so-whats-with-all-the-people-covers-sljs-art-director-explains-the-method-to-our-madness/feed/ 0