Most magazines in Australia are purchased from newsagents, general stores and supermarkets and compete visually for the readers attention and dollars. So the cover has to be designed well to grab them.
Magazines exist for all types of subject matter and their covers need reflect their content and identify with the reader. Architecture magazines will generally have a building on the cover, a fashion magazine will have a person on the cover and a motorbike magazine will have a bike on the cover.
They say not to judge a book by it's cover, but for magazines, that's just what happens. Readers scan the cover for a glimpse of what's inside. So... the single most important thing is that the cover must be engaging. When you look at a magazine it must say, "pick me up now!" So what makes a magazine cover engaging?
The first thing is imagery. It must show the most fascinating, visually attractive image available (which is relevant to the issue's content). While some magazines (especially business magazines) have only type or illustrations on their covers, photography is by far the most used attention grabber.
The quality of photography and composition can make or break a magazine by helping or hindering sales. If you walk into a newsagent and take a look at the magazines available, you'll notice that the most popular subject on the covers are people. Why? Because it works.
There a few winning tips when it comes to having people on the cover. Eye contact is a must. The eyes are the window to the soul and can convey feelings and engage you. It's a good idea to keep the subjects head towards the top so that they peer above the magazine in the row below it.
Every magazine should have an easily identifiable masthead so the reader can quickly find the magazine they enjoyed last time. Well constructed and interesting cover lines are also very important. These cover lines should show a strong use typography which does not work against the imagery but supports it.
It's important also to have a strong use of colour. The use of colour can help convey the tone of the content. You'll find that black and white covers, or those that are dark, adopt a more serious tone. For some reason, a lot of green is a sales killer. We've heard this from others and we've seen it happen first hand.
Each title has their own combination of things that work on covers. After a bit of trial and error and market research, the designer and publisher can further narrow this down to a signature style which is repeated to ensure success. Some aim to be titillating. Some aim to be ultra stylish. Much of it depends on the tone and the audience you're trying to capture.
