Publishers are continually innovating and producing ever more creative ways of ensuring their magazines leap off the shelves and catch the reader’s eye. From embedded soundcards to personalised editions, we've compiled a list of five innovative front covers from recent years. Agree? Disagree? Got a better suggestion? Click here and let us know.
1. WIRED: Privacy Cover
Wired sent personalised copies of its privacy edition to randomly selected subscribers. The editorial staff wanted to see how much personal data they could easily find out about readers from publicly available sources as a means of emphasising some of the points made in the cover story.
2. Esquire: Electronic Ink
For its 75th anniversary edition in the US Esquire pushed the boundaries with its electronic ink front cover. The October 2008 cover featured moving words and flashing images, which you can see in the video below.
3. Empire: Behind The Mask
To celebrate the original Star Wars trilogy coming out on DVD, Empire brought the most iconic baddie of all to life on its front cover. Using a small microchip similar to the ones used in birthday cards Darth Vader’s iconic breathing could be heard every time a reader opened the magazine.
4. Opium: Infinity Cover
Opium magazine used high-quality acid-free paper to print a story on its cover that takes 1,000 years to read. Featuring a story only 10 words long by conceptual artist and journalist Jonathon Keats, only one word will be revealed every century. The cover was made possible due to the way it was printed using multiple ink layers.
5. SFX: The Tardis
To celebrate the return of Doctor Who and a revamped look for its SFX magazine, Future Publishing embedded a soundcard in every front cover of the magazine. It then made the noise of the Doctor’s TARDIS when readers opened the pages.
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