Covers of 2007

The American Magazine Conference finished with a bang this year, with supermodel and activist Petra Nemcova on hand to announce the best magazine covers of 2007.

Held in Boca Raton, Florida and in only its second year of existence, the Best Covers Competition attracted a total of 1, 773 entries submitted by 334 print and online magazines. Only members of ASME and MPA were eligible to enter the competition, which was judged by a panel comprised of magazine editors, design directors, art directors and photo editors.

Top award of Cover of the Year went to The New Yorker’s September 11, 2006 “Tightrope-Walker” issue, which marked five years since 9/11. Designed by John Mavroudis and painted by Owen Smith, judges called the cover “magical” and “a memorial to the spirit of humanity”.

The cover steered away from the now-familiar images of 9/11, instead recalling the marvel of Phillippe Petit’s tight-rope walk between the towers in 1974. It features the walker suspended in white space, with the towers and rope absent from the page. Inside on page 3 the same image is again featured, this time with the background of New York City added.

Other notable winners included Wired for Best Celebrity Cover and TIME for Best Concept Cover. Described as “provocative” by the judges, TIME’s winning cover-image for the October 15, 2006 issue featured the backside of an elephant on a black background. With the elephant symbolizing the GOP, the cover came out a week after an alleged cover-up by House Republicans was revealed, following the scandal set off when Representative Mark Foley’s inappropriate relationships with Congressional pages was exposed.

Showing a lighter side, Wired won for its August 2006 issue depicting TV comedian Stephen Colbert sawing an ipod in half,m eant to illustrate “the notion of hacking—tinkering with and improving—everyday life” according to the judges.

The award for Best Coverline went to Texas Monthly for its January 2007 issue. The cover features a picture of Dick Cheney holding a rifle, with text underneath reading: “If You Don’t Buy This Magazine, Dick Cheney Will Shoot You in the Face.” Additional copy under the coverline states: “Yes, this is a photo illustration. If we don’t say so, Dick Cheney will shoot us in the face.”

Other categories included Best Celebrity Cover, Best News Cover and Best Fashion Cover. A full list of Best Covers winners and the stories behind them can be found at the ASME website:

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