One of the more challenging aspects of my position at the Independent Weekly is collaborating with editors, writers and designers to create a compelling image for the cover week in and week out — or at least until my monthly rotation is up and I’m back in the solitary world of freelance work. The task is as varied as the subject material and sometimes the cover story is better served by an outside illustrator or the always entertaining V.C. Rogers.
When the cover does call for a photograph and the subject is something other than food or a simple portrait to accompany a profile, we must come together and pitch our best ideas and sort it out with one another. The conversation is usually lively and we all do our best to keep the peace. Ideally, a good cover image is literal enough to help readers quickly understand what the story is about without being dull or lacking any sort of graphical punch. The ideal cover image should be engaging enough to stand on its own without the words that accompany it, but both should inform one another equally. It’s a highly subjective process, but it’s also a thrill when you think you’ve come close to the mark.
Other than the occasional reader feedback, it’s hard to know for sure how effective a particular cover has been. Our circulation manager, the remarkable Rob Vanveld, has devised a system to give us some indication based off the number of papers left on display racks after one week. His usual verdict goes something like “it’s still boobs and burgers that move papers off the racks man.” Though I certainly don’t disagree with Brother Rob, there are a number of other factors that keep people from picking up the paper in the course of a given week. A few of the more dependable factors include the number of rainy days, whether students are on break and if the cover story is too local. Readers in Raleigh don’t seem to care about stories too focused on Durham and the feeling is quite mutual.
The hardest factor to take into consideration when calculating INDY readership is the recycler; readers who pick up the paper, breeze through it and then put it back on the rack instead of taking it home. My favorite time and place to read the INDY is over lunch (it makes for such a handy placemat). I have to catch myself to not put the paper back after I’ve finished eating. The Audit Bureau of Circulation has stated that papers similar to the INDY, freely distributed alt-weeklies, could expect an average of three readers for every single copy of the paper. All things considered, the covers that work are usually the covers that pique our interest at first glance, especially, and unfortunately, if they appeal to our preternatural instincts.
Unlike daily newspapers, we usually know two weeks in advance what our cover story subject will be, though this does not preclude us from the occasional deadline dash — when the subtle and nuanced principles of good design take a backseat to the rigid demands of a printer waiting “for those God damned pages!” Looking back through the covers, I remember all the decisions and conversations that lead to each one, along with the lucky breaks, kooky ideas that never were and wishes in vain for just a little more time to give it another try. As with any artform, there’s always room for improvement.
The following slideshow is a collection of 72 covers featuring my photography and photo illustrations since starting at the INDY in November of 2005. I will be posting a smaller edit of my favorite covers on the portfolio site in the coming weeks. Please feel free to vote for your top covers in the meantime.
Independent Weekly Covers – Images by DL Anderson
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