SPIN's 25th Anniversary Cover Zips Up, Counts Down

SPIN Creative Director Devin Pedzwater shares some of the thinking that went into the magazine's new anniversary issue:

There has been a lot of excitement in the SPIN office in anticipation of our 25th anniversary. With the May issue, we carefully curated a list of 100 impactful moments that reflected the past 25 years and SPIN's role as an observer of--and at times, participant in--that cultural history. The package presented us with a unique cover design challenge.

Traditionally we peg our covers to a specific artist, but because the 100 moments list was organized chronologically we concluded there was no singular personality that could represent our 25 years as magazine and a brand.

This gave us the opportunity to run a conceptual, typographic cover. Even though it's something that SPIN had not attempted in 25 years (see for yourself: http://books.google.com/books/serial/ISSN:08863032), it felt appropriate for this issue.

The May cover had to be dramatic and memorable, so we explored different gatefold configurations, including the zip-strip closure. One of my favorite album covers, the Rolling Stones' "Sticky Fingers" immediately came to mind (see below).

We swapped the denim crotch for a leather jacket and commissioned rock star lettering artist James Victore to paint the cover lines directly on to the jacket. He took it one further by painting every inch of the jacket with words, icons and phrases from the issue, making it a one-of-a-kind piece.

Beneath the zipper, we wanted to show the breadth of the magazine's coverage over the years by creating a collage of some of SPIN's best covers. Sure, the zipper is a gimmick, but the leather jacket is an unmistakable symbol for us and we knew it would click immediately with our audience. Go check it out on the newsstand, just make sure you buy it before you unzip it!! -- Devin Pedzwater, Creative Director, SPIN