Book Review: Covering Print: 75 Covers, 75 Years

Print magazine has been around since 1940 and apparently is still going strong.

Collected within this book are 75 out of the hundreds of covers that Print has published over the years. That's like one in six covers that are selected.

Looking back, many of the covers would probably be classified under contemporary art. The art can feature typography, illustrations, comics, collage, tattoos. I guess you can say that every cover is a little surprise.

Context for each cover art is not exactly clear and since it's not an editorial magazine like New Yorker, it can baffling to figure out that's the concept behind. Having said that, author Steven Heller has include brief text that talks about the context, aesthetic, history and the designer behind each cover.

I belong to the editorial print design group so as I'm looking at the art, I can't say for sure that the covers appeal to me. They definitely have their appeal, but as art is subjective, I would recommend you check out the pages before getting. One thing for sure is, the covers feel unrestrained by rules or convention.

If you have been a subscriber of the magazine, it should be easier to appreciate how the magazine has evolved over decades.

One minor quibble is the covers and accompanying text are not printed on facing pages. I find that weird. The way it is now, when you're looking at the spread, you see a cover but the text is actually for the cover from the earlier page before.

Covering Print: 75 Covers, 75 Years is available at Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | JP | CN)

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