FREAK Shots: Who Wins for Best Recession Cover?
Since the recession was made official, and even before, magazine covers brought out a host of recession-related imagery: downward-slanting arrows, roller coasters, and even (groan) the passé bear or bull.
Back in October, Vanessa Voltolina, writing for Folio magazine’s blog, asked BusinessWeek‘s art director Andrew Horton what makes a good or bad recession cover.
“There are a slew of recession clichés to choose from,” said Horton, but the best covers, in his opinion, are “simple and direct.”
![INSERT DESCRIPTION](http://www.nytimes.com/images/blogs/freakonomics/posts/Econwhatnext.jpg)
![INSERT DESCRIPTION](http://www.nytimes.com/images/blogs/freakonomics/posts/TIME.jpg)
He gave The Economist‘s “What Next?” cover (above left) low marks for being “confusing and a bit too muddy.”
But he liked Time‘s “The New Hard Times” cover (above right), because “I actually got sad looking at it — that’s how you know it’s good.”
What are your favorite recession cover picks for 2009? (See a few examples below.) And what clichés are you especially sick of by now?
![INSERT DESCRIPTION](http://www.nytimes.com/images/blogs/freakonomics/posts/covers.jpg)
May I suggest one of my own recessionary images:
![INSERT DESCRIPTION](http://www.nytimes.com/images/blogs/freakonomics/posts/Dow.jpg)
Subtle, yet pointed. Though maybe the nearby Tilt-A-Whirl would have been more appropriate.
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