Author: Andy Cowles

The winning September issue cover revealed!

It’s that time of year again, as made made famous by Vogue’s movie ‘The September Issue’. Sadly their cover this year is rubbish, with the rest of the market not much better. But the clear winner is this brilliant Harpers’ cover. Aside from the access and technical perfection, it borrows heavily from sixties’ title Nova, which is […]

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Honest Andy’s Guide To The PPA Cover Of The Year Chase

Welcome, fellow punters, to the annual PPA Front Cover Of The Year Chase, decided as always by public vote. You can cast yours here, but to guide you in your deliberations here is Honest Andy’s annual guide to this year’s big British race-off. . . NME (4-5 Favourite) Rihanna looks by far the toughest filly […]

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Download the 1976 NASA graphics manual for FREE

Download the entire 1976 NASA graphics manual here. For free. Millennials. Who are they and what do they want? Engagement up the wazzoo. Excellent deconstruction of ad speak. Buzzfeed slashes its revenue forecast in half PPA CEO Barry McIlheney’s amazing eulogy for Kevin Hand, who died last week.  

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What happened when I sold the Big Issue for just one hour

Buying a copy of the Big Issue is a highly complex transaction. Are you paying for the journalism, or are you supporting a homeless person trying to make a go of something for themselves? In the world of publishing, the Big Issue has a unique business model, as it’s the interaction with the vendor that delivers […]

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Download 180,000 vintage New York images for FREE

The New York Public Library just digitized and made available more than 180,000 high-resolution items, which you can now download for free. Four more good links: Brilliant and original example of interactive storytelling from Buzzfeed Why ecommerce photography is so important. Successful content marketing: Old school print plus tons of video. Excellent writing from James Murdoch on […]

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Yummy Mummy will take away your identity crisis

As seen somewhere in West London, this picture was pinched out of Richard Huntingdon’s excellent twitter stream. It perfectly illustrates why print magazine covers can be so compelling. Not quite sure who you are these days? Never fear, Yummy Mummy will take away your identity crisis. Or perhaps create one…

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How to capture eye contact without permission

Taking pictures of strangers in public places without their permission requires some nerve. Photographer Ed Walker clearly has plenty of that, as he’s taken loads of pictures in this very way. There’s an extraordinary quality to his images. Because the sitter is given no notice that they are to be photographed, the look Ed gets […]

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What’s next for banks: rock n’ roll meets corporate finance

Along with my colleagues Andy Pemberton and James Lumley, I’m presenting at this top-notch event next week. Our agency Furthr has teamed up with White Light Media to challenge your expectations with a provocative line-up of speakers with backgrounds in business investment, disruptive thinking, brand development… and rock music. It’s an invitation-only, free event for senior […]

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The Big Issue’s stunning show of editorial expertise

The Big Issue has won the prestigious 2015 PPA Cover of The Year award with this powerful image of former Sergeant Rick Clement. The cover was designed by art director Scott Maclean and the photo taken by rock star turned photographer, Bryan Adams.

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Apple’s new system font – ‘The interface is the product’:

Here’s a video from WWDC 2015 where Apple introduce their brand new font, San Francisco. It’s similar to Helvetica, but with several key differences that create a warmer, more gender neutral feel. In my opinion it draws heavily on the success of Proxima Nova discussed on this blog at length a few weeks ago.

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