US versus UK: Magazine Covers, March 2011

It's the first week of the month, and you know what that means! It's time to look at the March magazine covers in the US and across the pond. If there are readers here who didn't see my February Magazine Match-Up, what I do is compare the US cover to the UK cover of a magazine, then pick my favorite between the two based completely on just the cover- not content. Design, captivation, typography, colors, etc. Then pick a winner overall! I'm not claiming I have any real important insight or expertise on magazine design, (though someday hopefully I will!), since I am but a humble student, but it's just fun to see them together. And it keeps me true to my blogs purpose-- fashion & design ABROAD... and as always I would love to hear all of your opinions and favorites!

1. VOGUE

Vogue US: Woah Lady Gaga! You are fabulous. Though I'm not a fan of her new song/video (if you haven't seen the video, prepared to be more than a little grossed out.) Vogue did a wonderful job making Gaga look classy & high fashion, but still her eclectic self. The pink wig is pulled off flawlessly with her bleached eyebrows & interesting purple lipstick. The text is thin and light, which is great, because I can see Lady Gaga first and foremost and then move on to the magazine highlights.


Vogue UK: These two covers are actually both really amazing and captivating. There is no clear-cut winner here! But who is Rosie Huntington-Whiteley? Well, I don't know, so I looked it up. She is British model, known for her work with Victoria's Secret, and is actually replacing Megan Fox in Transformer's 3. She looks pretty much fantastic on this cover, and the red on red, with the background and blazer, really works. Then with the orange font and shimmer to her skin, this cover is pretty hot. 


WINNER: This is really hard! They are complete polar opposites-- I mean, Lady Gaga is this strange, badass music artist, and Rosie a British supermodel/actress... then the US cover is light & cool, and UK is hot & steamy. However, I'll have to go with Vogue US. Just because it is so original and.. weird. But still chic. Some might say that's only because Lady Gaga is on the cover, but isn't that what makes a cover what it is? The cover star. 


2. COSMOPOLITAN 

Cosmopolitan US: Here we see Lea Michelle having no problems discarding her clean image as a Glee cast member and choosing to be very  sexy with an extremely low-cut, tight black top. (I just remember her, Dianna Agron and Cory Montieth's spread in GQ and all the controversy that ensued. Dianna issued a statement of apology, but Lea did no such thing! And pretty much continued with covers like these. Ha. And in those GQ photos, Lea really looks like she is trying WAY too hard to be sexy.) Anyway, this is still a nice cover I'd say. Here Lea looks natural- and like a bombshell! She has a great face with strong features, that really bring a reader in.


Cosmopolitan UK: Kimberly Walsh (British singer & actress), also looks very bombshell on this cover. The sparkly blue dress... I can't tell if I like it or not, or maybe if it's appropriate as a cover outfit.. but then again, it's Cosmopolitan not Vogue! What I'm slightly disappointed in is the cutesy fonts, colors & graphics that I loved on last month's cover, has been repeated again for this cover! I thought it was intentionally done for Valentine's Day, but I see it is actually their layout. (And Cosmo's UK cover won last month! I wouldn't take it back though, since Kelly Osbourne made it too cute for words.) Really, if you look at last month's cover compared to this one, it is almost identical in design besides the cover girl. Take a look.


WINNER: Cosmopolitan US. Even without the revelation of Cosmo UK's almost-too-consistent-layout, Cosmo US's cover is very strong. And Lea Michelle looks effortlessly hot this time.

3. GQ

GQ US: Sleek, smart and rock 'n roll. Channing Tatum looks STYLISH. I just love men's magazines and this cover is brilliant. The colors are consistent, (that red-orange is a pretty, yet still manly of course, color), the photo is crisp with great definition, and the text is minimal. I sometimes wish women's magazines could take note of the text on men's magazines because it isn't overpowering, but still effective! It looks CLEAN. 

GQ UK: If you can recall, last month's issue of British GQ featured nearly naked Victoria's Secret models... and here we have a completely naked Naomi Campbell. I don't know, I just feel like with men's mags, you have to space out the naked lady cover stars throughout the year. Or else you, (or your wife), will wonder what kind of magazine you actually subscribed to. Plus, it's a style magazine! I want to see stylish men. Still Naomi looks kickin', and I'm almost always a fan of low opacity text over a photo.

WINNER: GQ US: That cover just rocks. I feel like it exemplifies a lot of things I love about men's magazines. Even the straight-forward stare is just piercing. 

4. GLAMOUR

I don't think I need to split this one up, since it's really not even close. Diane Kruger's dynamic pose, the interesting outfit, and sharp,almost grainy photograph is 10000000x ore captivating than Lea Michelle's of Glamour UK. What is with the spring dress meant for an 11 year old and hand-on-hip pose most commonly seen on blurry facebook photos? Though Lea looks really pretty and sweet from the waist up, it can't compare to Glamour US. 

5. INSTYLE

InStyle US: Lovely and very spring-y! Julianne Moore looks so soft and elegant- it really fits with the"500 pages of Spring Fashion" plug, though I think the letters are a bit too close together for comfort. Otherwise, it's lovely! There are a lot of nice textures in the cover photo: soft hair, the light chiffon of her top, silk ribbon belt and the piece-y, furry shawl/overcoat.

InStyle UK: In contrast, this cover seems very severe. The slicked down hair, intense eyes and silver & black color palette does not seem very spring-y. I'm not saying there needs to be flowers springing from the page, but spring is coming and people are excited to see color and pretty outfits. This seems like the opposite is happening-- and there isn't a large body of text to be the focal point. I believe it's nice to have various sizes of text, and if you look at the other covers you can see most have them to bring the eye around. The text on here seems very horizontal and mostly the same size.

WINNER: InStyle US. For the spring fashion issues, this cover just embodies what it is advertising. Plus, we can see the cover star's outfit and natural beauty.

6. ELLE

Elle US: Baby, you're a firework!! Sorry, when I see Katy Perry I instantly think of a lyric from one of her hits-- whichever one is the most popular at the time. This cover was very interestingly styled. Very bright, (for spring of course), shimmery & shiny. Almost too shiny. I kind of think Katy Perry looks a little plastic. The hair seems stiff, then there is so much shimmer- the jacket, belt, lipstick... then the clothes kind of look like Barbie clothes, don't they? Maybe a little?

Elle UK: Okay, Keira looks fierce. (Fun fact: we share the same birthday. March 26 baby.) There are so many angles and interesting juxtaposition... it looks so high fashion and chic I can't even control myself. While Katy looks a little stiff, Keira looks natural and smooth. The messy, sexy bob and smokey eye look fabulous. And I'm glad they aligned the text center, horizontally and light because it fits well with this high fashion shot. 

WINNER: Elle UK. It's just a fabulous cover photo-- and I feel like Keira's look is achievable-- and would be sought-after! (I for sure want the look!) While Katy's look probably wouldn't realistically be worn altogether... her outfit just looks uncomfortable to me.

7. ESQUIRE

Esquire US: Esquire has continued with its slight redesign and brought it's text IN and smaller. It makes me sad, but I need to get over it. I like how on Esquire covers the men are usually always doing something interesting with their posing-- pointing, throwing water, sitting on a stool, smoking a cigar, etc. Then the fonts are bent or look handwritten or something cool like that. And unlike women's magazines they chose to put the text behind the person, so they aren't blocked. I like it. Anyway, it's a nice cover. Not my favorite, but fairly minimal and clean. 


Esquire UK: Dizzee Rascal! His accent is so heavy and interesting... you all should listen to some of his songs. Anyway, the UK offices have continued with their black and white, heavy contrast, graphic covers-- just like last month. I don't love this cover, because though not having any text on a cover is okay once in a while, Dizzee is so far from the camera. Then the stripes are just too obviously digitally created. I would be a lot more impressed if they actually constructed striped walls and set them up behind him. And I know it's not impossible because Esquire UK did construct walls for Mark Ronson's shoot. 


WINNER: Esquire US. Though I'm not crazy for either cover, I feel like Esquire US is an altogether more effective cover. Can you tell I'm getting a little burned out? But we venture on!


8. HARPER'S BAZAAR

Harper's Bazaar US: Once again, Bazaar's text is SO LARGE and over-powering. I feel like Kim is just slightly peeking through the words to look at the camera. Peek back up at Vogue UK-- the red on red works because of the different textures and use of shadows. On this cover there isn't anything dynamic and the colors are blending. There really isn't anything about this cover that makes it original or would make it stand out compared to all of Kim's other covers.


Harper's Bazaar UK: Similar to Elle UK, Bazaar UK looks pretty high fashion. This one is different though since it's very close up, bright and gritty. Gwyneth's intense eyes and contoured cheeks really grab my attention... then the words are minimal like on Keira's cover. So it's an overcrowding of text on the US cover, to barely any at all. Which is better? Which is worse?


WINNER: I would have to say Harper's Bazaar UK. And it will continue to be UK until this overload of text goes away... lets hope the size is reduced soon.


 9. MARIE CLAIRE

Marie Claire US: I cannot hide the fact that I am not a huge Miley Cyrus fan. But I will try to not let it affect anything, though honestly that might not be an issue. I really really like this cover! Miley looks elegant, and though over the shoulder cover shots can be tricky, I feel like this was done really well. Her face looks smooth, the curve of her back and eyes alluring, and her hair looks CLEAN. (It usually doesn't whenever I see her.) Plus, she was photographed outdoors- the only issue here that did even though a lot of these magazines are advertising the coming of spring fashion! It seems just bright and fresh. 


Marie Claire UK: Nicole Kidman looks fantastic with red hair. I really hope she keeps it. Similar to Dianna Agron's Elle Canada cover last month, the lipstick is used as a color pick for the the text. Like I said before, the red, black and white are a great color combination. The lace is divine on her, though her hair is being blown back a bit awkwardly.


WINNER: Marie Claire US. Elegant and fresh. And the use of different texts on the cover looks great-- not busy or confusing, but clean & interesting. "Big Fashion Issue" is the large focal point of text, and the use of slants, boxes, and bolded words really works great. 

And there we go! Lord, I'm tired... but it's completely worth it. I hope you all enjoy these little (by that I mean long) comparison posts! So here is the final count:

US: 7

UK: 2

Wow! The US really stepped it up this March... or maybe UK magazines need to get on their game! No, most of the UK covers really were quite good.

So my personal favorite out of the bunch:

Elle UK with Keira Knightley! The look, pose, and clean photo editing looks amazing and still original. The sultry, smoky, tousled, natural feel just exudes from the cover. I'm just impressed and want to dig into this magazine!

Which cover is your favorite?