New Cover...

[Bernardo]

So, I've been wondering, what are your opinions on the cover we selected for the new issue? I'm rather a fan of it myself, but some people seem to be a little traumatized by it. I admit it *is* rather frightening. What do you all think?

[estiel]

I received my new issue yesterday. I love the cover. Great choice. But when I turned to the photograph inside, it was on a split page. No, no. Not with art--only with things that have no aesthetic purpose (tables, charts, graphs, etc.)

[Bernardo]

Well, that's definitely a suggestion worth considering. How do other people feel about this? Our reason for the split page in this and other photographs is to allow for better appreciation of the detail. Other lit mags (take a look at the Paris Review, for instance) often do this, and I do think it can be helpful, though I also agree it can cause problems in terms of distorting the image.

[job]

Bernardo,

I would think a landscape turned 90 degrees on a page would be a good compromise. I've seen other reviews do it that way - although you're right, you do lose the detail. Perhaps the solution is to utilize the online version in a way that affords that detail which might be missing in the printed version. I don't think this will involve much doing, though, since the online version already does an excellent job.

As for the cover, I think you shouild continue in this vein of "edgy" covers. It draws the reader in with a mental "Hmm...?" The vaguely erotic content of the previous cover had something similar going for it - not because "sex sells" but because the suggestive often has more power than the explicit (and besides, Catholic art can maintain these elements without fear of contradiction). Put simply, the covers intrigue - which is, I would think, the major purpose of a publication's cover art.

My hard copy arrived the other day too. It really is a feast. Congraulations again.


JOB