Best Magazine Covers of 2008

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These are the finalists for the Best Magazine Cover of 2008.

Stories of the 2008 Magazine Cover of the Year Winner and Finalists

by The American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME)

ASME’s Top 40 Magazine Covers of the Last 40 Years

Oh City, My City

I see new buildings, sparkling cafes, chic restaurants, fancy stores, and trendy night spots that stand in places that once served to remind me I was home. I see a Meat Market no more.

Oh city, My city… where have you gone?

I see a city that does not recognize me and nor I her. Feeling alone, abandoned, and estranged by the very place that raised me whom I once affectionately called home. I see a home no more.

Oh city, My city… where have you gone?

Words like NoHo and Meat Packing District, serve to remind me she had moved on without me. Tears streak down my rosy cheek bouncing off the concrete where bricks lay no more. I see a square no more.

Oh city, My city… where have you gone?

A Rebel with Style – Agyness Deyn

Agyness Deyn is a covergirl extraordinaire with her own sense of style, plenty of edge, and quirkiness.

Deyn isn’t afraid to be herself and buck the traditional spoils of model stardom. While most covergirl models await the arrival of a fancy town car to deliver them to their shoot, Deyn prefers pedaling her bicycle to her appointments if she is in New York or London. She doesn’t necessarily think of herself as a model. This down-to-earth sense of modesty appeals to many women who find her trademark platinum bleached cropped hair, fun loving spirit, and androgynous style alluring; a femininity with style, punk rock style.

In 2001, Deyn (pronounced “Dean”) signed with top agency Models 1. In 2006, she scored the cover of Italian Vogue before gracing covers all across Europe. According to Jo Crave from British Vogue  (Vogue.com UK), “She has the all important X-factor which is her own beatnik sense of style – a bit mod, or a bit punk – it’s all a bit new and different.” Glamour Magazine dubbed Deyn the “Glamopunk princess of modeling.”

This 25-year-old hip supermodel is a music aficionado who digs the Clash, Sex Pistols, and Oasis. She has been romantically linked to rock star musicians, Josh Hubbard, guitarist with the Paddingtons , and Albert Hammond, Jr. of The Strokes. Deyn has even embarked on her own music venture providing vocals for the single Who by Five O’Clock Heroes.

Deyn’s range of interest goes beyond modeling, parties, karaoke, fake tattoos, and music. She has started a jewelry line with London designer Henry Holland of the House Of Holland, known for his popular slogan t-shirts. She has also written articles for i-D magazine, a British magazine about fashion, music, art, and youth culture.

This versatile model has big shoes to fill since she has been hailed as the next Kate Moss. After being dropped as the face of Burberry, Deyn is showing everyone she’s not done yet. She is the new face for MA DAME Fragrance by Jean Paul Gaultier. (Gaultier’s first women’s fragrance, since the launch of Fragile in 1999) A new catchy commercial may just be the ticket to help catapult her to stardom in the U.S. and show her critics that she is no flash in the pan and has real viable staying power.

Deyn lives in New York’s East Village since relocating from London in 2006. According to Maureen Callahan of the New York Post, Deyn dwells in a “modest railroad apartment on the second floor of a walk-up with no sink in the bathroom.” Also stating, “Deyn had a preference for dive bars, rock shows, and Trash and Vaudeville” (on St. Marks). She is a natural fit in the East Village scene where she can most likely be seen sporting her logo t-shirts, listening to music, or pedaling to her next gig.

Agyness Deyn and Jean Paul Gaultier photographed by Jean-Baptiste Mondino. Gaultier, a French fashion designer, became famous for his focus on pop-culture street wear.

VIDEO

MA DAME Fragrance by Jean Paul Gaultier (below)

VIDEO

Fashion File: Agyness Deyn (below)

PICTURE GALLERY

UK Vogue Cover, June 2008

Stuck In My Head

Tap! Tap! Slurp! Slurp! As I savor the rich spicy bold flavor of a freshly brewed organic cup of Joe at my usual cubby hole. Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Diligently pecking away at the keyboard on my notebook, I resume to the important task at hand. Tap! Tap! Tap! Slurp! Tap! Slurp! Tap! Tap! Done! Mission accomplished. Status updated. I sit back, now, and proudly examine the fruits of my labor as I indulge in a rewarding, drawn out, slurp of coffee.

Holy Crap! A misspelling! Crap! I am now in dire distress fearing the Facebook community will see what a smuck I am because of this error. How embarrassing! What now? Perhaps, I can quickly edit my status, deleting all tracks of my slip up, before anyone notices? Is it too late? Has anyone noticed? Do I risk being caught deliberately covering my edit tracks? That would actually be worse than the original violation and be, even, more embarrassing. Hmmm? Crap! Christ! Well, how bad is it? I guess it’s not too bad of a screw up to warrant an immediate covert correction. Big SLURP! A confirmation that the committee in my head has adjourned, declaring the matter settled, case closed, for the moment.

Obviously, sipping coffee and pecking away at a keypad to communicate on Facebook isn’t a huge challenge for me, however, when it comes to posting anything on my blog, suddenly, I am at a loss for words. Sure, there are major distinctions between the two mediums of writing but both, initially, require a level of freedom and courage to overcome the inhibition of “putting yourself out there.” This inhibition has been my primary obstacle to blogging. Quite often I’ll have an idea, a subject matter, material, and plenty of motivation but the moment I sit in front of the keyboard to blog, well, I just go blank. It is extremely frustrating because my development as a blogger suffers.

What’s the problem? (pause) It’s not like I have to write the perfect blog. (another pause) I have to admit, it is a bit intimidating when I see all the interesting, informative, articulate, artistic, creative, and well-written blogs that are out there. These are certainly attributes that I covet in a blog so the pressure to match up can be a bit stifling, leaving me stuck at the gate. Anxiety? There I said it. A deep breath now! In much the same way the Federal Reserve lowers interest rates to spur borrowing in hopes it will stimulate the economy, well, I have lowered my own self-imposed criteria for blogging in an attempt to facilitate a flow of writing. I hope this anxiety reducing attempt will squelch the editor and critic that reside in the space above my shoulders and between my ears. I want blogging to feel free, yet, thoughtful and, most importantly, have fun in the process.

I realize blogging is as much a process as anything else, therefore, I have also decided to assign myself a project to focus my blogging by making it subject-specific. This blog will be exclusively about developing my blogging process. By examining my blog shortcomings, I immediately aim to reduce blogging anxiety which seems to have a causal relationship to blogging impotence, and stimulate the flow of writing so I can get on to task of blogging. In time, I aspire to improve the quality of my blog. Ultimately, I am on a quest to find my blogging voice, my own unique blogging style, and one particular subject matter that I am passionate about. There is an entire weblog reading community that I would like to share my unique vision of life with.

Hello world!

Welcome to the BLOG QUIRKY WebZINE, an online magazine, under the pseudonym, The Quirky Phlyarologist. This WebZine will feature articles and photography about interesting people, music, fashion, art, literature, places, and events in today’s pop culture that share the qualities of style, edge, and quirk.

In the future, this WebZINE will consists of several sections. I also have other blogs that I may consolidate under a section in this WebZINE. I am the primary writer and co-editor at the moment. This is still a work in progress so please bear with me. In the future, any articles published by BLOG QUIRKY WebZINE will be final publications.

This WebZINE does accept articles for publication that meet the BQ criteria.