Recently in Inspiration Category

SVA: Off Course Show

Step away from your desk for an hour soon and get over to the School of Visual Arts (209 East 23rd Street). You have to see Kevin O'Callaghan's most recent MFA Designer as Author first-year show; OFF COURSE. I have to admit that I'm just a bit partial here, having taught this talented group of students last fall--but they really are a spectacular bunch. And they've created 18 holes of phobias (!!) that you can actually play through, so give make sure to take a long lunch...
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Inspiration, or....???

Here's the latest example of cover "inspiration, homage, or.....?" On the left, the current issue of Woman's Day, dated April 2011. On the right, the May 2003 issue of Real Simple. … MORE

Inspired: God and The Web

In the latest titillating issue of WIRED (November 2010), Design Director Wyatt Mitchell shares the inspiration behind their "The Web is dead" cover:

[The WIRED cover] was inspired by the April 8, 1966, Time, which famously asked, Is God Dead? "The idea was to take that general architecture and make it WIRED," design director Wyatt Mitchell says.

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Still More Inspiration, or...???

We've got another example of cover design inspiration, one of the boldest to date. Portland Monthly art director Jason Blackheart sent us two covers "inspired" by his original December 2006 cover. Read his comments after the jump...

(Left) : Portland Monthly, December 2006. Art director: Jason Blackheart, photographer: Steve Bonini. (Center): Sacramento, June 2010. Art director: Debbie Hurst, photographer: Gabriel Teague.  (Right): Toronto Post, The Kids edition, Fall 2010. Art director: Lance Garvey, photographer: Steve Bonini.
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Another Inspiration, or....???

Sharp-eyed SPD student member Travis J. Bonilla passes along this recent example of "inspired" cover design. On the left, the current issue of Rolling Stone's Brazil edition. On the right, the September 2008 cover of Esquire.

We're not sure about the extent of the "inspiration" on this one, but it seems like it's time for some new approaches to hand-crafted cover typography!

Check on Travis's new blog, Mags and Stuff, for some nice examples of magazine design. The Rolling Stone cover is courtesy of NASCAPAS, our favorite magazine cover website.
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New cover of The Stranger "inspired" by Time

The latest cover of Seattle alternative weekly newspaper The Stranger is a straight knock-off of the recent Time magazine cover of novelist Jonathan Franzen. The Stranger profiles novelist Tao Lin. This is the kind of homage/inspiration we like!

The Stranger cover: art director, Aaron Huffman. Time cover: art director, D.W. Pine


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Small Town "Inspiration"

Here's another good example of "Inspiration, or...???" On the left, "The Best Small-Town Cafes," from the December 2008 issue of Texas Monthly, art directed by T.J. Tucker. On the right, "Small Town Trips," from Indianapolis Monthly, July 2009.

Eat Cheap / Cheap Eats

Illustrator Brian Taylor, the wise guy behind the Doppelganger Design website, has compiled this amazing collection of city and regional magazine covers all devoted to the theme of Eat Cheap or Cheap Eats. Besides the fact that it reveals an aggressive sense of sameness in editorial conception, it also appears that a couple of these magazines (Atlanta, StLouis) have found quite a bit of "inspiration" from New York magazine covers. As a special bonus, Taylor has included a ringer cover from the new Ready-Media template collection. See if you can spot it! And be sure to check out Doppelganger Design for many more examples of design "inspiration."… MORE

New York magazine vs. The Social Network: An 'Inspired' Poster?

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury: On the left, the April 13, 2009 cover of New York magazine, "Facebook Revolt," with a photograph of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. On the right, the poster for the upcoming Facebook movie, The Social Network, directed by David Fincher, which debuts on October 1.… MORE

Another "Inspiration?" Cover

Sharp-eyed (and obsessive) Seattle Met magazine art director Benjamen Purvis submits this latest in our ongoing "Inspiration, or.....???" series. The cover on the left is from New York magazine's Cheap Eats issue, from July-August 2007. The cover on the right is from St. Louis magazine's Cheap Eats issue, June 2009.… MORE