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This weekend at the MoMA, I saw a collection of covers photos George Lois did for Esquire in the 1960s. The work, like the Nixon cover pictured above, is arresting, witty, and compelling. Which got me thinking about magazines today. Sure you can talk about market shares, and technology, and the ADD generation, but find me a single Esquire—or any other magazine—cover from the last few years as sensational as the one above (or any of the other Lois Esquire ones… here). Note: and by sensational, I don’t mean controversial like the recent Obamas’ New Yorker cartoon. The only one that comes to mind is Demi Moore naked and pregnant on the cover of Vanity Fair in 1991 (which is still, technically pre-internet I guess).

This weekend at the MoMA, I saw a collection of covers photos George Lois did for Esquire in the 1960s. The work, like the Nixon cover pictured above, is arresting, witty, and compelling. Which got me thinking about magazines today.

Sure you can talk about market shares, and technology, and the ADD generation, but find me a single Esquire—or any other magazine—cover from the last few years as sensational as the one above (or any of the other Lois Esquire ones… here).

Note: and by sensational, I don’t mean controversial like the recent Obamas’ New Yorker cartoon. The only one that comes to mind is Demi Moore naked and pregnant on the cover of Vanity Fair in 1991 (which is still, technically pre-internet I guess).