tableaux vivants

by Jesse Marinoff Reyes:

…I present my list of the TOP GREATEST NO DEPRESSION COVERS OF ALL TIME. But who am I to judge? Perhaps because I’d been looking over Alden’s shoulder for the entirety of No Depression’s 75-issue run (plus three “bookazines”) and providing commentary and advice along the way; designed the book covers for two compilations of the magazine’s best writing; and crafted a fistful of editorial illustrations for the magazine over the years—I think I might have some idea of what went into the creation of this remarkable, short-lived (but a good 13+ year run), and much-missed magazine.

No Depression was iconoclastic. Although a newsstand magazine, Alden did not confine himself to the standard prerequisites of that category. He was interested in exploring the possibilities of that limitation, treating No Depression more like a large format publication—and more often than not, experimenting with how design could challenge preconceptions of what a newsstand magazine should look like.

The covers I thought stood out the most were fully design-driven, or art or photograph-dominant designs married to unique type-treatments. Some were outstanding by virtue of their simplicity, others for simply being counter-intuitive. You can’t do that! Yes, yes you can!

JMR Design

No Depression No. 56, March-April, 2005 issue
Design: Grant Alden
Photograph: Thomas Petillo
Art Director: Grant Alden

No Depression excelled in the presentation of cover photographs that were more tableaux vivants than magazine cover shoots tend to be, and much more the province of cd album packaging.

JMR Design

No Depression No. 57, May-June, 2005 issue
Design: Grant Alden
Photograph: Thomas Petillo
Art Director: Grant Alden

This qualifies for sheer art direction chutzpah alone. A warm four-color black and white (or a soft sepia, I can’t tell which) but essentially colorless image—and white knockout type and masthead. The end result? Sublime.