John McGann: The Cover That Almost Was

There are a lot of things that factor into the decision of what picture goes on the cover of the magazine.

You'd think that the best picture of the issue automatically gets the cover, but that's rarely the case. A magazine cover is as much a marketing piece as it is a piece of art. You need to hook the reader's attention, get them to pick the magazine off the newsstand, want it enough to buy it, and eventually become a subscriber. A cover picture needs to tell the story visually, as well as complement the words we put with it.