Changes!

Hello All!

I've been on hiatus, as of late.  As school arrived, I was bombarded with truckloads of work and was unable to update this website for a very long time.  Eventually, the work also led to the end of my following of The New Yorker.  I reluctantly decided to stop reading the magazine, but I ultimately had no time to read this extremely dense magazine on top of the reading that was required for my Literature in Translation and Psychology classes.

I do wish, however, to revive this site and to continue my commentary on covers.  Therefore, I have decided to change the format of my posts so as to cover different magazines' covers.  There are lighter monthlies that I have begun reading, and I hope to comment on their covers, despite them being less provocative than those of The New Yorker.  My commentary may or may not be related to some of the covers themselves, but, as always, may comment on the person depicted or an idea that was spurred by the image on the cover.  In addition, however, I may, at times, also comment on the typesetting and arrangement of the cover.  As you may or may not know, I am a Graphic Design minor at my school and will be taking up my first course in Graphic Design this semester, so I will use this blog to engage my knowledge of Graphic Design, since I may end up one day working in publishing.

Someday in the future, I will return to my reading of The New Yorker.  My hope is that you will be here still following this blog and that my efforts to help keep it alive will help it to survive so that you may see the return of the cover of The New Yorker to The Cover Judger!

~Kev, The Cover Judger

Recession Much?

March 31, 2008 - "All Downhill from Here..." by Richard McGuire

The people holding power fear pointing out the true status of our economy sometimes because such a declaration can lead to further disaster and panic.  They have to hold steadfast in these times to try to help improve our economy, but it seems like no matter what they do, we are heading for dark times.

The only thing we can do is try to hang in there and hope that the recession ends soon and the upturn in the economy returns quickly.

What Becomes of the High and Mighty...

March 24, 2008 - "The Emperor's New Clothes," by Mark Ulriksen

Governor Spitzer and Congressman Vito Fossella were high and mighty people in our state of New York and our hometown of Staten Island.  They did so many great things and I would've definitely voted for both of them again.

Oh!  How the mighty have fallen!

All you can do is hope that whoever takes over for these positions will do a better job and be honest with us.

Change!

March 17, 2008 - "I'll Get It!" by Barry Blitt

It has already been determined that Obama will be the Democratic Candidate in the upcoming election and we are even close to seeing who will be the Vice Presidential Candidate, but we are at least still able to comment on this cover.

This cover was made at the time of the "Red Phone" issue that arose during Primary Season.  Now, many people have debated who would do a better job and all of the issues in this day and age, but the most striking thing I find about this upcoming election is the concept of change.

For me, this will be the first Presidential election that I am eligible to vote in (I have been able to vote since last year.).  I know that whomever the nation and I vote for will definitely be a huge change in this nation's history.  And I am really looking forward to it!

The Fashion Craze

March 10, 2008 - "Blossoms," by Ana Juan

From this year's Style Issue, we are presented with another cover produced by Juan that captures the essence of a modern and relevant topic: the fashion and style industry.

Today's fashion is something that is often thought of being something very bizarre and strange to the average American.  In this picture, which depicts a model dressed for some show perhaps, there is a flashy and chaotic atmosphere in the image.  The model's hair is black and blowing in the wind, as if she were walking briskly down a runway.  The blossoms on her dress seem very natural, as if they are growing on some sort of vine, chaotically growing all over the place like in a forest or field of flowers.

In all of this ruckus, the blossoming flowers encompass the spring feeling.  The bright colors of the flowers is reflective of the bright and new days of summer that are to come.  They also point out the beauty, or at least what society has determined to be "beauty," that is found in today's fashion industry.  Even though many people may think that fashion is stupid or weird, there is still a large amount of skill to create these clothes.  Designers often have to spend many hours sewing, cutting, and matching different kinds of fabrics together.  These skills require a large amount of training and practice.

Thus, because there is so much skill involved, style and fashion has become an art form.  The designers are trying to discover innovative designs that would appeal to a person.  Despite all of the money that is involved, the ultimate goal for the artist to capture someone's taste and satisfy them.

The beauty of it all is that fashion and style is not only for the high and mighty.  In wearing the clothes that we are wearing now, there is our own personal style.  Each style is unique and has its quirks, and despite them seeming normal to us unlike "high fashion," they are all crazy and beautiful.

Ending Trends

March 3, 2008 - "Fading," by Ana Juan

In this issue, we are presented with an image that captures an older era, fading away.  The face, formed by the smoke drifting away depicts someone of a past era.  At first, I thought that the image was a silhouette of Abraham Lincoln, but upon closer examination of the image, I realized that it was someone else.  At the moment, I am still unaware as to whom is depicted on the cover, but it is clearly someone from the past.  The fact that the image is formed by cigar smoke is further evidence of a depiction of the past era because cigar smoking is something that has recently gone out of fashion.

All of this is symbolic of change that is taking place.  The man formed by the smoke reminds me of some kind of rich investor of the early 1900s.  The cigar just strengthens this thought because I often think of cigar smoking as something done in celebrations often in the presence of wealthier people.  The fact that the title is "Fading" may be symbolic of this wealthy man's wealth fading away as we, today, similarly are entering a time of economic uncertainty.

The image is a sad one.  The man is looking down and you can tell that he wears a stern expression on his face.  As we head into these troublesome times, I feel that Juan really captures what many Americans may be feeling today.  These seem like bleak times for our country, for we are surrounded by such darkness, violence, uncertainty, and despair.

Painstaking Efforts in Vain, Perhaps?

February 25, 2008 - "Shelf Life," by Adrian Tomine

In this issue, following the Anniversary Issue of The New Yorker, we have a cover depicting a young writer, hard at work writing a novel.  She gets approval from some sort of editor and her book goes to the press.  Soon after, a young man purchases the book, reads it, and discards it.  Upon discarding it, a homeless man picks the book up from the pile of trash that the reader has put out and takes it with him.  The homeless man uses the book as a source of warmth by burning it.

The story depicted in this piece forces us to contemplate how much our efforts really matter in this world.  Obviously, the author has put a large amount of work into this work.  As you can see in the upper left panel, as the author of the book works, it is snowing outside.  We can tell that she took a long amount of time to write her book.  In the top right panel, you can see that the editor finishes reading the manuscript and approves it as he is sitting in front of a window in which a tree's leaves are green and growing.  Thus, a substantial amount of time has passed.

Now, as an observer of this cover, we can only make assumptions as to why the author is writing this book.  Given the fact that the young man reading the book throws it away soon after he finishes reading it, we can assume that it was written for entertainment purposes.  As a young and aspiring writer, the author probably hopes that her book would be a big hit and sell many copies.  She wouldn't want readers to throw away the novel, but maybe pass it on to new readers.  Her hope, however, may be in vain, because the reader disposes of the book so fast.  We can question, however, whether or not the homeless person read the book.  As seen in the changing panels, the homeless man does not burn the book until it is snowing out.  It's possible that the homeless guy read the book before he decided to burn, but we won't be able to determine what really happened.

Now, in a time when our lives are so hectic in this huge city, you may sometimes become overwhelmed at what you have on your plate.  At times, you come across people that may question how they could make a difference in, let's say, limiting global warming.  People may say that no matter what you do, you can't make a difference.  I think, however, that despite this hopeless and helpless feeling, your little bit of effort can still make a difference.  In this issue's cover, you can see that, even though the homeless person is burning the author's hard work and it's not being used as she intended it to be used, she is helping the homeless person stay warm on that day.  This can be compared to our efforts to make differences in today's world.  Even though what we do may seem useless and in vain, it can ultimately have an effect on someone's life in the future.

If we were to all to our little parts, then maybe, change can be brought about and our world may just become a more tolerable place for everyone.