Australian Vogue’s 2010 September issue/50th anniversary cover, featuring a David Downton illustration of actress Cate Blanchett, has beat out the likes of Waves, Who, Better Homes and Gardens and Donna Hay to be crowned Australian Magazine Cover of the Year.
With judging criteria that rewarded “a high standard of imaginative design, photography, illustration and sales impact; successfully balanced the image with the cover lines, and encapsulated the brand with something unexpected that grabs the attention of the consumer” the cover garnered over 75,000 votes to secure victory.
In a statement released today UK Illustrator David Downton hopes the win gives more Editors the courage to go sans photo: “Maybe this award, and the fact that the magazine sold out, will help convince more magazines to use illustration on the cover. We are a world saturated by photographic imagery; everyone with a camera phone is now a ‘photographer.’ But illustration tells an alternative story of fashion, one that is highly personal and just as valid.”
Editor-in-Chief Kirstie Clements also said of the award: “It’s lovely to be recognized. I’m very proud of this cover. It was our art director Ella Munro who came up with the idea of commissioning David Downton. Melding the tradition of fashion illustration with a modern actress wearing current fashion was a visual summation of the magazine’s history. We were celebrating the past, with an eye on the present.”
Check out 2010’s best magazine cover below. What do you think? Is it a deserving victor?
By Jordan Kretchmer
