January 17, 2008
A different kind of cover star
I thought this was a joke at first. Pentagram have just redesigned US trade magazine Dairy Today and introduced the cow as cover star. ‘I wanted to show portraits of dairy cows on the cover that showed their individual personalities—so that they were more than just commodities the way beef cows are,’ says art director DJ Stout.
How do you art direct a cow? The Pentagram blog has hilarious footage of the shoot taking place – anyone who’s ever been involved in a fashion shoot will recognise the scene.
Here’s the old cover – the new design is an improvement as you would expect.
Apparently they’ve shot enough cows to create the next two years worth of covers. That’s a lot of cows. But can cow portraits hold a monthly front cover indefinitely?
(thanks to Richard for link)
11 Comments
Comment on January 17, 2008 by horst says:
find ich super!
muhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Comment on January 17, 2008 by richard says:
i tihnk this is one of the most inspirational pieces of design ive seen in ages. what a dire brief, the sort that would make most slit their wrists, but its just such a great cover, fun, cool, clever..
Comment on January 17, 2008 by Andrew says:
Can a cow always be cover star? I guess it depends how you dress them up.
Comment on January 17, 2008 by Wayne says:
I’m with ya, I don’t think the idea can hold up for that many issues… unless you make the cow portraits topical for the editorial piece… like on the old issue, mean and impotent, if you could make your cover cow really show those things, I think it could work from month to month :)
Comment on January 17, 2008 by dadif says:
They do 6 a year and they sell exclusively to people who love the cow almost certainly with 99% subscription. I think the idea has about a year or so. What the frick do you think it had on its cover before? Wolves?
Comment on January 17, 2008 by jeremy says:
Maybe not wolves, but it wasn’t always cows…
Comment on January 18, 2008 by Matthew says:
It looks like 032c and Pop have been getting some type ideas from the old Dairy Today!
The new look Dairy Today is beautiful and would enhance any coffee table but it doesn’t look very immediate or news worthy. Does it explain what the magazine is about inside? There aren’t any news, service or features on the front page. Does it meet the needs of the market?
Comment on January 18, 2008 by jeremy says:
More on photographing cows here.
Comment on September 28, 2009 by David Ross says:
Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease, this is r*tarded. Know your audience people. Diary Today DID need a makeover but this art-school prattle is too much. Diary Today looks like its intended as a serious industry-insider magazine. This redesign does not convey that at all. This is even worse then their Tennis magazine redesign.
Comment on September 29, 2009 by Russ says:
I love this! Anyone know how I can get hold of a copy of this?
Comment on October 5, 2009 by Andrew says:
This is the most inspired remake of a quintessentially pedestrian trade mag. The simplicity of the cover photography and logo mark have immense branding power and cut through the clutter like no other in its market. At David Ross: “Know your audience people.” The cover images speak directly to a culture of business owners who grew up as members of 4H and Future Farmers of America. As kids they showed livestock, competitively, for ribbons and trophies. To them, cows, bulls, chickens, sheep, pigs, etc. are beautiful. I imagine these cover shots would hold huge favor with their target readers.
