A lot of thought and art goes into a great magazine cover.
First, there is the concept or idea you wish to communicate, then the decision
on photography or illustration and the construction of the visual metaphor that
tells the story 

A well crafted photograph must have visual impact sufficient
stand out against the deluge of images we are bombarded with on a daily basis.
It must also be composed as to permit it to be the canvas upon which the
graphic artist or art director can add text, logos and additional artwork.

We’ve all seen the horribly cluttered and busy publication
covers where someone thought it would be a great idea to put EVERYTHING they
had on the cover. Oh, and you Digirati are not immune. A good looking website
is even harder to achieve and easier to make a mess of.

One magazine that has consistently produced well designed,
photographed and illustrated covers is the Globe and Mail’s Report on Business
magazine. For photographers and illustrators it’s a great experience to work
with art directors that treat your work well.

On the Globe and Mail website they have posted two
interesting galleries of cover images. The first is a collection of the ROB 25
Best Covers. For the second gallery, ROB asked some of Canada‘s best
designers to take a crack at this month’s cover with Design Our Cover. There
are 6 finalists. Be sure to read the comments on each. It will give you an art director’s
view of cover design. The pie chart PacMan as a visual metaphor is inspired for
a business story.