'My Bizarre Harper's Cover' - George Lois/Art Director, Ad Man, Graphic Designer

ESQUIRE Magazine October 1963
Art Direction: George Lois
                
          

First there’s the entire photograph, then there’s the beauty shot – the shot of the model, framed for a fashion magazine, like a classical painting. The black hat and the white furs are designer and create contrast. The lipstick and the nail varnish are pink, vivid and glossy. This framed section of the photo is the magazine front cover shot, the Harper’s Bazaar George Lois refers to in the title, ‘My Bizarre Harper’s Cover’, published in Esquire Magazine in October 1963. Outside of the frame, the rest of the photograph is how the model looks in casual attire, tanned and active, away from the glamour, where 'real life' is located. The aqua background makes the entire image pop. American Art Director, graphic designer and ad man George Lois, photographer Art Kane and Esquire intended to expose the artifice of it all, a comment on the power of the American fashion magazine at that time. DC