Chances are, when an art world big shot dabbles in cover design, something curious happens. Last year, Superflat art superstar Takashi Murakami covered POP Magazine, flinging a 28-year-old Britney Spears back into a school daze à la fuzzy lightning and manga-inspired styling. It was very awkward, yet gloriously so. Even though Damien Hirst can’t ever resist slapping his “signature” butterflies on everything, this year he had said “signature” butterfly tattooed on a most intimate region of a model volunteer for Garage Magazine. From vintage Dalí Vogue work to Chris Ware’s critical, brilliant and ultimately rejected Fortune cover, here are just some of the arty covers out there for you to flip through. Happy browsing!
Takashi Murakami x Britney Spears for POP Magazine
Salvador Dalí for Vogue Magazine
Banksy for Time Out London
Andy Warhol for TIME magazine
Roy Lichtenstein for TIME magazine
Damien Hirst for POP Magazine
Damien Hirst for Garage Magazine. (The sticker peels away to reveal a very intimate butterfly tattoo.)
KAWS for Complex
Julian Schnabel for TAR
Miss Van for Clark Magazine
Aline and R. Crumb for Heeb
Jeff Koons for The New York Times Style Magazine
Chris Ware’s rejected Fortune cover. (View a larger version here.)