The Grid's Vanessa Wyse picks her favourite mag covers

Scaachi Koul

This year, The Society for News Design, which recognizes excellence in visual journalism, named Toronto's own The Grid as the world's best-designed newspaper for their circulation. "The design is minimalistic and cool," said the panel.

In honour of the honour, we asked The Grid's creative director, Vanessa Wyse, to pick five of her favourite magazine covers of all time. Here's what she picked—and designed—for the RRJ. (You can click on the image for a larger view.)

Posted on April 20, 2012

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COMMENTS (3)

D.L.

The problem is about the commentary too. But at the end of the day, all choices are really, really obvious choices.

Posted on 04/21/2012

Cynthia

There's something strange about this selection. I'd have to agree with Dana: On the cover of Australian Creative we see "the kind of colors and layouts you see in first year typography." First year are some of my favorite students—because they're fresh and hold no visual religions—but I'm not sure their simple typography exercises are worth of a magazine cover. Not because the design is good or bad, but because it's been seen a million times before. There's nothing fresh or interesting or unique about it.

Also, Vanessa Wyse claims the text is used as "metaphor" for the chaotic way ideas are generated. This loving comment may sound fancy because of words like "metaphor", but is nothing more than personal opinion risen to the level of professional pseudo-science. Just because Wyse has, indeed, watched over the re-design and award-winning newspaper weekly, The Grid, doesn't mean her word is gold without question.

Instead, this Australian Creative cover looks like nothing more than a metaphor for how ideas should not be generated. "Cool, but listen to this idea I've had!!!" reads the cover. Think about it. For yourself. And forget what a professional is telling you and consider what other professionals can bring to your table: The tools to think for yourself. Case in point: People make a list of awesome! stuff they like! with an overdose of exclamation points!!! A way great way to generate ideas? Again, think about it.

Having spent quite a few years myself in the publishing business and in meetings with creative firms, this cover design is like the trap of so-called "brainstorms" propagated by BBDO's Osborn since the 1940s. It's just that in reality these are more like "storm" minus the brains. For The New Yorker, Lehrer wrote a great piece about the bogus claims of Osborn and brainstorming: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/01/30/120130fa_fact_lehrer

Again, think about it.

People sitting around a table and talking about stuff they like is no more or less creative than your mom and her friends talking about stuff they like. This suggests that design, typography and the way ideas are generated, are nothing more than a matter of taste.

Therefore, both the cover design chosen and the commentary provided for Australian Creative are sorely lacking both in the imagination category and in the critical thinking category known as brains. It's such a pity to see something like this posted in the Ryerson Review of Journalism. It's more like an advertisement for Wyse's taste and "likes." Why the advertisement?

Posted on 04/21/2012

D.L.

Vanessa Wyse you designed a wonderful newspaper, but in your magazine covers you could be so much more wiser! A bunch of New York mags—New York Times Magazine, surprise, surprise—and Aussie creative mags with the kind of colors and layout you see in first year typography. Shame.

Posted on 04/21/2012