BEHIND OUR FAVOURITE COVERS
Previous cover collaborators share their inspiration
With our competition to design Stylist's 100th issue cover in full swing, Quentin Blake, Rob Ryan and a host of other talents who have created some of our most memorable covers share their tips and tricks on how to make your magazine cover have the wow factor.
1. QUENTIN BLAKE
Quentin Blake needs no introduction. He has written and illustrated a vast compendium of children’s and adults books and is most well known as the illustrator of Roald Dahl's back catalogue. He collaborated withStylist earlier this year on an exclusive cover for our feature 'The Books We Never Outgrow'.
What was the inspiration behind the cover you designed forStylist?
I have always liked the idea of stuff bursting out of books, like a jack-in-the-box. It’s a kind of visual equivalent of what happens when you open a book (though generally not quite as quickly!).
If you could design another cover for Stylist and had no limitations, what would you do?
What about a gatefold of fashion drawings? I’d quite like to make some up. Or maybe a cover for a period issue – of 1811, say or 1911?
What advice do you have for Stylist readers designing their own cover?
I think it helps if it is an image that strikes the eye immediately if you hold the magazine at arm’s length, but if possible has other details to look at when you inspect it more closely.
2. ROB RYAN
Rob Ryan created one of readers favourite covers to date – The Art of the Perfect Picnic. His unique way of cutting paper into intricate pieces of art has made him one of Stylist’s favourite artists.
What was the inspiration behind the cover you designed forStylist?
I love the old London Transport posters from the Thirties, Forties & Fifties that advertised simple, good things that were happening in and around London. There would be posters telling you that the Snow Drops were now blooming in Kew Gardens or the Daffodils were out in St James' Park and to get a bus or tube and go see them. The illustrations had a brightness and joyfulness that matched their subject. I thought it would be nice to just suggest the idea of going for a picnic and it just be a simple, sweet thing to do and nothing more.
If you could design another cover for Stylist and had no limitations, what would you do?
I'd like to celebrate the people who clean up our streets for us.
What advice do you have for Stylist readers designing their own cover?
Keep it simple. Don't try and say too much.
3. CHRIS FLOYD
British portrait photographer Chris Floyd shoots for a variety of magazines from American GQ to the Sunday Times Magazine. For the cover of Stylist he has photographed both Lily Allen and Kristen Wiig. For Kristen he had to create a pop up studio in a hotel bar in central London.
What was the inspiration behind your Stylist covers?
I just get a big buzz from having the full attention of my subject and the inspiration is the interaction that takes place between us. There is a brief from the Stylist team, but long story short, I make it up as I go along. Is there any other way?
If you could create another cover for Stylist and had no limitations, what would you do?
I would like to dress Simon Cowell up as King Kong and have him on top of the Hollywood sign with a tiny Cheryl Cole in the palm of his hand.
What advice do you have for Stylist readers designing their own cover?
Leave plenty of negative space. It creates the feeling of being able to breathe properly. Nearly all magazines today crowd their covers with an overload of information. It's not attractive and it looks desperate.
4. NATO WELTON
Photographer Nato Welton has worked with Stylist from our first issue and photographed the bold colourful cupcakes that graced the 'Turn Your Hobby Into a Business' cover.
What was the inspiration behind the cover you designed forStylist?
The magazine wanted an innovative way to illustrate what can be quite an un-visual feature. Cupcakes were very popular at the time and it’s a lot of people’s dream to open their own cupcake shop. Finding the right cakes took more time than we thought. They had to be bright and have texture, yet not look fake. The car delivering the cakes also crashed on the way to the shoot so we had less to work with to get the cover shot. I wanted the cover to be bright and quite pop art-like. Myself and the photography director set up various backgrounds and I just took lots of variations. The actual cover image was the final shot and one we hadn’t really planned.
If you could design another cover for Stylist and had no limitations, what would you do?
I would shoot a nude portrait of someone well known but publicity shy and not conventionally good-looking. Male or female, fat, thin, old, skinny - just someone with a story to tell through the lens.
What advice do you have for Stylist readers designing their own cover?
Don’t look at any old issues.
5. MARK HARRISON
Mark Harrison has shot four Stylist covers: Nigella basking in fake snow, a pregnant man, Miranda Hart acting up and five Apprenticecandidates - we like to challenge him! Mark's work can regularly be found on the cover of the Radio Times and the Saturday Times Magazine.
What was the inspiration behind your Stylist covers?
Whilst the overall direction comes from Tom Gormer on the Picture Desk, I always smile when I get a Stylist commission as I can expect an open-minded approach to interpreting the brief. Inspiration for me comes from my own mini mood board that I do for some shoots. I look at existing images of the subjects (so that I don't echo them) along with magazine and book copies that have the right colour and lighting flavour, and then distil all this into a few pages of childlike sketches of scenarios and lighting plans. The rest of my inspiration happens on the day, unplanned and usually because Tom will expect me to try something offbeat and unexpected. Breaking the rules is the rule for Stylist covers, and not many photographers get that chance. The infamous Nigella cover was from the last few frames when we just decided to go a bit nuts and show that the whole thing is not real. It was also the only way to get Nigella really relaxed and moving around.
If you could create another cover for Stylist and had no limitations, what would you do?
Perhaps a picture of a woman with her hands shot with a wide angle lens (so they are large) holding a mirror to the camera. The mirror is then printed on the magazine with a reflective surface so that the reader sees themselves - the issue might be 'All About You'. I also quite like working portraits into shapes and might think about getting seven women of note to be shot so that they sit into the shapes of each of the letters making up the Stylist banner.
What advice do you have for Stylist readers designing their own cover?
Break the magazine cover rules - there doesn't have to be eye contact. You can use different colours and textures. This design needs to jump off the page. People collect these covers so think about impact. Simple, direct, bold design that has to be memorable and far from the obvious.
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