C A N VA S
I like covers that dont carry too much fuzz. I think
you can say the Dutch design approach is also like that.
That also means that everything within the cover has
got to be perfectly situated, as there's no hiding possible
behind graphic elements. As for the rest, I start my day
at 9:30 and work, read, watch; inspiration does not
come to you by doing nothing so get yourself inspired!
Ultimately what do you want coverjunkie to
accomplish? What is your audience takeaway?
Haha! there's no goal. I started small and it exploded
cause it received a lot of attention. I considered going
commercial with it, but decided early on not to;
keeping it pure maintains its credibility as a place that
does nothing but celebrate creativity and connect the
magazine world. I’d love to do even more with it, but
then, as a one-man army, I’d need 14-day weeks. But
then again, I've reached this audience on my own;
the possibilities are endless, particularly if the right
publisher came along. Wouldn't it be nice to extend
the project with interviews, mags, and even events?
Name a favorite cover you have done and quickly
dissect the design process behind it.
My all time favorite Volkskrant cover is this one
(opposite page, top left)
This cover is about an academic survey about beauty
preferences amongst men. What do men prefer? The
image of a bellybutton got stuck in my head. I centered
it on a cover but was looking for an addition to make
it more approachable. I sent a raw cover sketch to the
fabulous artist Paul Faassen and he drew this little
figure with a boner next to it. It was done in 10 minutes
and it still makes me laugh to this day. I feel lucky to
work with talented people like Paul, truly one of the
highlights of my job.
What lies in the future for Coverjunkie? Any
future plans you can share with us?
Maybe I'm gonna reach out to some publisher, not
sure yet; it's an amazing platform with opportunities.
There are some plans for a book, would be pretty
exciting if you ask me. You know the best thing ever was
publishing Coverjunkie Magazine five years ago. It is so
fullfilling to publish, write and design it all together.
What for you are the hallmarks of excellent
magazine cover design?
You know it's easy to make one ace cover, but
the truly excellent ones are the art directors that have
created 50 ace covers a year, now thats inhuman! Like
New York Mag or the New York Times magazine, they
often create a buzz. Readers are always happily surprised
with what they're bringing every week. That's a good
feeling. There are many good ones out there: Metropoli,
Zeit, Suddeutsche, Wired, California Sunday Mag... The
great thing here is that there's really no formula to
create a great cover; it's about talent.
If you could collaborate with a design legend for a
magazine cover, who would it be and why?
Haaa, many! Arem Duplessis come on! I wanna see
more of his work since he moved to Apple. Or George
Lois, Richard Turley. Billy Sorrentino, Mirko Borsche
from Germany. My biggest wish would be to work,
watch, just to be in his neighborhood, the designer of
all designers, the late Alexey Brodovitch
Starting out in a competitive and fast paced
industry such as publishing and media can be
daunting. What advice would you give upstarts
who'd like to pursue a career path such as yours?
Never settle for the easy approach. Design is about
kicking ass, not kissing ass. Always take the extra step.
It's that extra step to distinguish yourselves from others.
All this talk of magazine covers will of course lead
to the project you started in 2010, Coverjunkie! Tell
us a little something about how it started.
I hated those 'print is dead' statements while I
saw all these beautiful stuff around me. Nobody was
emphasizing the good stuff that can be done with paper.
That's turning a bit now, luckily. I wanted to create a
podium for excellent cover design and give a shout-out
to the peeps making it: art directors, photographers and
illustrators. I think it projects positivity, and it connects
magazine creatives from all over the world.
How would you describe the editorial/publication
design landscape of today? What aspects can be
improved? And which publications do you think
are doing a great job riding the tide?
Sometimes I see competition inside a title between
media platforms. All platforms must collaborate together,
make each other better, as they all complement each other.
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