The University of Chicago Magazine’s covers operate without cover lines. This means the image carries a greater responsibility not only to articulate the story it must tell, it must also move the reader to engage more deeply. Illustrator Chris Buzelli brings to life a magical idea borne from one of the articles in the issue. The illustration goes beyond the familiar feeling that there is a book for everything just waiting to be discovered. The bringing forward of a voice either known or new as evoked by the mysterious face among the tomes references a feature about alumna Bette Howland, whose fiction was rediscovered and reprinted last year. The story begins when a literary magazine editor serendipitously fishes one of Howland’s out-of-print novels from a dollar bin in a New York City used book store. On our cover, a fantastically high, densely packed set of bookshelves contains one special volume calling out to the browser while the author’s face looks on, just discernible in the array of books. The cover was designed to illustrate Howland’s story as well as appeal to a readership educated on great books and original texts who have clocked many hours in library stacks and bookstores. This image is powerful enough to speak for itself for a moment, but also compels readers to then turn the page and find out the rest of the story.
From the Judges
A clever construction with a second level that required a second glance. It's also very on-brand. If you removed the mark, we'd still know exactly what institution this was representing. An elegant illustration that embraces the school's identity.
