Cover Stories
How Five Newsstand Successes Were Conceived and Created.

Runners World
(January 2006)

Newsstand sales for the January issue of Runners World magazine usually spike, which may not come as a surprise to anyone who has visited a packed health club on January 2nd. “Everyone wants to get fit when the year starts,” says former Runners World photo editor Don Kinsella, who recently joined Travel + Leisure Golf.

But the January 2006 issue did particularly well, with newsstand sales of 99,171 copies compared to a monthly average over the previous year of 89,400. The cover image, of the minimally dressed, muscular model Andrea C. Robinson, had plenty to do with it.

As it turns out, the photo of Robinson was an outtake from a fall 2004 cover shoot in Malibu by Los Angeles-based photographer Gregg Segal, who has 12 Runners’ World covers to his credit. “She sold really well in 2005. We thought it might work again, and it did,” says Kinsella.

If running an outtake sounds a bit haphazard, most cover shoots for Runners World were anything but. Kinsella described them as “very specific” undertakings, which had to balance the concerns of both editorial and design departments.

Casting was a major consideration. The creative staff at Runners World frequently used the services of the Bobby Ball Talent Agency which specializes in athletic models. Robinson, also a star on a PAX family show starring Billy Ray Cyrus, ran track in college and had the kind of slim, sinewy body runners strive for. She was chosen not only for her blonde good looks, but also “the definition and tone in her quads and abs,” says Kinsella.

“For both male and female covers, it was important to show the body,” explains former design director Robert Festino, who is now art director at ESPN magazine. Showing the abs was key because it was important to appeal on newsstands to both hard-core runners as well as general fitness enthusiasts.

In fact, Festino thinks the image worked particularly well because of the way the horizon cuts through the middle of the runner’s body and “punctuates the abdomen.” “People who are buying the magazine for weight loss are really looking at that,” he adds.

Wardrobe was another careful consideration (and interestingly, not related to advertisers). Kinsella said the “almost pornographic” super-skimpy shorts favored by female runners in magazines (but almost never in real life) were a popular cover choice “because they really define the leg muscle and make the quad pop.”

While the majority of Runners World covers feature, well, runners, Festino says he tried to mix it up each month while always maintaining the magazine’s signature look. Sometimes he played with typefaces or cover lines, other times with different crops and scales or pictures shot at different times of day. On rare occasions, cover models weren’t even running at all (but they were often at least in the middle of a stretch).

“One thing we learned was that unless you knew who this person was, a tight shot didn’t sell as well because it didn’t show the physical ideal [that readers aspired to],” says Kinsella.

But no matter how much prep went into the pre-production, casting or wardrobe and art direction, often it all came down to a “crisp, clean photograph,” says Festino.

“If you let the photographer make their pictures, they come up aces sometimes,” agrees Kinsella.

When you ask Festino how he chooses that one perfect shot, he’ll tell you “gut instinct.”

Especially if that gut has great abs.

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Dwell
(December/January 2006)

Eschewing fussy furnishings and overly staged photographs, Dwell is the antithesis of traditional architectural magazines: a lightly rumpled study in resourceful (though still upscale) contemporary living.

For their 2005 year-end issue, the architecture and design magazine featured on its cover a Venice, California-based “ecologically sensitive” residence–a sprawling compound that is the picture of chic sustainability and luxurious social conscience. The inclusion of the architect’s children adds a homey touch to the picture.

“A lot of times architecture is perceived as very cold and intimidating,” says photo editor Kate Stone. “So what the magazine has always strived to do is make it feel warmer and more attainable” by striking a balance between lifestyle and architecture.

The December/January 2006 cover was particularly successful in hitting that balance, setting its own newsstand record of 83,487 copies sold.

But Dwell’s creative team is reluctant to attribute that success to any particular rule or formula. In fact, says creative director Claudia Bruno, it may just be the opposite.

“I don’t think our covers feel canned. I think they feel true.”

“Other magazines manufacture covers almost like in a factory,” she continues. “There’s been a hundred Polaroids to get it just so, and by the time you take the picture it’s just dead.”

Adds Stone, “We don’t concept a specific cover. All of our shoots come from a story within the magazine.”

Indeed, this particular image sprung from the instincts of photographer Misha Gravenor who was given little instruction other than to show how the home blurred the lines between indoors and outdoors (He was also instructed to leave some quiet space for typography).

By Stone’s account, he “succeeded brilliantly,” although Gravenor laments he had no luck coaxing young Max into the glittering courtyard pool. “Those kids had no idea what they had,” he laughed.

Once the picture was chosen for the cover, Bruno went to work to make the most of the marriage between text and image. Because Dwell is part of the very crowded shelter magazine category, Bruno tries to make each issue stand out from the newsstand clutter with a “very graphic and clean” look. She also says she designs with colors that provide contrast with the image, often favoring fluorescents, or “aggressive” colors that “startle and vibrate.”

Adding to the appeal of this particular issue is the undeniable “hot-buttonness” of sustainability right now. The creative team also cites the power of the succinct, direct coverline–Green is Good.

Tempting as it is to deconstruct the cover elements to explain its success, Stone suggests that its appeal may be more basic than we realize. “I mean,” she says, “who doesn’t want to be riding a skateboard next to a pool in California?”

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Money
(September 2005)

When Money magazine was redesigned in April 2005, it was overdue for a makeover. The magazine had been going for 30 years. There was certainly a lot of brand recognition, but visually it didn’t always reflect the creativity or diversity of its potential audience. There were “a lot of white guys in suits,” says creative director Davia Smith.

The new look was intended to broaden the magazine’s appeal. Families and couples replaced the overly formal solitary businessman portraits of yore. Editors insisted on subjects’ eye contact with the camera. The logo was updated. Cover lines were pared down to “one main sell,” and market research revealed that readers wanted cover images “that related to the main sell line, but at the same time, [weren’t] too literal either,” Smith explains.

The September 2005 cover turned out to be a particularly successful application of the new principles, selling 140,062 copies on the newsstand, compared to average sales of just over 110,000. It features a portrait of self-employed consultant Terry Taylor, looking relaxed and successful at his lakeside “office,” under the cover line “Declare Independence! Afford the Life You Want Without a Paycheck.”

Smith assigned Chicago-based portrait shooter Bob Stefko to photograph Taylor for the cover. Money wanted to make sure the image showed Taylor disconnected from the corporate world, but “we wanted to make sure it was clear that he was working, and not on vacation,” says photo editor Jane Clark.

The art department gave Stefko several set-up options to try out. Since Taylor was a non-professional, Stefko remembers that “just trying to make him comfortable was half the battle.”

After a few tries with the subject in a variety of poses (in a hammock and then a lounge chair, with a laptop casually placed in the shot), Stefko took 20 minutes with Taylor on the dock out back and came out with the winning shot–a sort of Fortune meets Real Simple photo that has the kind of “supermarket appeal” that the magazine is striving for.

Taylor’s average nice-guy demeanor carries the image, with the sunny backdrop playing a supporting role. “Blue skies test well with our audience,” says photo editor Jane Clark.

Smith attributes much of the success of the cover to the strength of its message. “The cover line has the broadest possible appeal for anyone who is interested in money. The image doesn’t contradict and the subject is very relatable.”

“[The image] really sold the promise of the [sell] line, and it was really clear and easy to read. It just works,” she concludes.

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Martha Stewart Living
(December 2005)

With its features on crocheted snowflakes, hand-carved jack-o-lanterns, and shamrock boutonnieres, Martha Stewart Living is perhaps more attuned to the season than any other magazine. For this reason, covers for the publication are often shot an entire year in advance to ensure authenticity and ease of propping

“Ever try to find a pumpkin in the middle of spring?” asks Eric Pike, executive vice president and creative director of Martha Stewart Publications.

Their sensitivity to the seasonal needs of their readers appears to pay off. The December 2005 issue sold whopping 549,000 copies at newsstands, compared to an average of 345,000 monthly newsstand sales. In fact, the issue did better on newsstands than all other issues of the magazine for the past four years.

Even so, Pike says, “We’re not surprised. We know our readers come to us for craft projects, entertaining and gift ideas for the holidays.”

Some credit for the success of any issue of Martha Stewart Living goes of course to the undeniable synergy of Martha Stewart’s television, radio and web presence and brand reinforcement. The Martha Stewart Living team also prides itself on the consistency and simplicity of the whole Martha Stewart look, articulated each month through the magazine’s cover.

Pike recalled from a focus group approximately three years ago that, “even if we didn’t have a logo on the cover, people could identify us because of our color palette, iconic choice of imagery, the glossiness of our paper stock, and the sensitivity of our cover lines.”

He says their “lack of over design” has become recognizable as their major brand attribute.

The December cover image of a juniper wreath inhabited by glistening red birds embodies the Martha aesthetic–a quintessentially traditional holiday decoration fetchingly updated and impeccably executed. Its simple elegance belies the amount of work that went into the picture.

A photo shoot for Martha involves an enormous crew of holiday editors, craft editors, art directors and associates. Covers are often conceived and shot separately, but editors pulled this particular image from a story about glitter shot by New York-based photographer Sang An.

“It does feel a lot like advertising,” he says of the heavily art-directed shoots where covers are digitally mocked-up and tested on-set. Despite this, An acknowledges a certain amount of freedom as well. “After you accomplish what they’re asking for, then we try something fun.”

His challenge here was “to make the birds look active or interesting.” An tried various types of lighting–harsher lighting to make the glitter come out and dapple lighting to enhance individual birds–to create a more dynamic shot. Composition was also key. “A wreath is hard because it’s basically just a circle,” he says.

Ultimately the picture embodies the striking, graphic look Pike says typifies Martha Stewart covers and has that extra ‘something’ “that’s quirky and a little bit sweet.”

He surmises that a part of the appeal for readers is that the cover provides inspiration. “We prefer that the image not also appear in the issue, so it functions as a ‘bonus’ idea or concept that readers can also recreate at home.”

He also likes the fantasy aspect of the picture: “It’s as if all these adorable little birds flocked to your door.”

Which ties in to the ultimate fantasy of the magazine itself. As An puts it, “People really want to live in Martha’s world.”

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Texas Monthly
(August 2005)

In charting out their covers a half-year in advance, the staff at Texas Monthly generally has a solid, if not foolproof, method of predicting their sales.

The team usually knows they have a winner with “big sweeping outdoorsy, National-Geographic style covers,” says former creative director Scott Dadich (who is now creative director at Wired magazine). “Texans love reinforcement of their rugged and iconic roots.”

Meanwhile, pop culture covers didn’t fare as well. Despite their Texas roots, both Beyoncé and Kelly Clarkson were relative bombs (perhaps because Texas Monthly readers skew a little older than the US Weekly crowd). And politics were a crapshoot. An issue featuring the governor, Rick Perry, was the second-worst seller of all time.

So when Houston-based preacher Joel Osteen found his way onto the cover of the magazine in August 2005, it was a bit of a gamble. “Religion was something we hadn’t tapped into for a long time,” says Dadich.

But Osteen was a local celebrity with a best-selling book. His Lakewood Church was tagged as the largest and fastest growing congregation in America. He had 35,000 parishioners, a figure which the decision-making team at Texas Monthly made note of.

“Even if only a third of them bought it,” says Dadich, “We’d still meet budget.”

Brent Humphreys, an Austin, Texas-based editorial and advertising photographer, was assigned to the shoot. As they’ve done for past covers, he and Dadich brainstormed together, and decided to photograph Osteen in a straightforward manner against a clean white backdrop. Humphreys says they wanted to create “a simple, high-key ethereal look for the picture that in someway implied religion without being obvious.”

They devised the actual lighting set-up the weekend before the shoot, testing different scenarios with Humphreys’ assistant as a stand-in for Osteen. “It’s good for when you don’t have a lot of time for messing around,” says Dadich.

And it worked. The issue became the third best-seller in the history of the magazine.

As a point of comparison, in July 2005, when Texas native Lance Armstrong was featured on the cover going into his 7th straight Tour de France victory, the magazine sold 36,631 newsstand copies. One month later, the issue featuring Joel Osteen sold 66,019 copies on newsstands.

Humphreys surmises that the “‘less is more’ look boded well with Scott’s treatment.”

And apparently it didn’t hurt that Osteen held up the issue during his services either.

“Let’s face it,” says Humphreys, “Religion is a hot topic in Texas.”

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