You should never judge a book or a magazine by its cover but when it comes to creating that ‘first impression’, its importance is beyond any debate. @TheEconomist has always been known for its stunning cover images. A cover image, is indeed, worth a trillion thousand words.

In their latest edition, the editors wanted to focus on the grim trade offs between economy, life, and lockdown. Clearly, there are no clear winners. How to capture something that's sensitive? You can't put a dollar to life? Show a coffin with a dollar sign on it? Do what?

Here's the 1st approved sketch (possibly). The abacus is a bit easy to spot for some. For centuries, it has represented the idea of calculations. And those colorful viruses adorning it need no introduction. There is George Washington with a mask. That man on the US dollar, eh.

A really good head start, indeed. But the Editors believed, it still lacked some elements of what they want to say. There is abacus (calculation)+ disease. There is money (George Washington's portrayal) + disease (mask). But death is "missing", it is not explicit, yet.

The new concept included American Churches+ crosses+dollars+graveyard. The editing team liked the idea of highlighting the US, as it is potentially becoming the new epicenter of this epidemic. But $$$ sacks strewn around? And what about other religions? Everyone's affected.

Just one religion. Money right next to graveyards. Not there yet. The difficulties were resolved by replacing "crosses" with "tallies". The good ol' tallies. The tallies spill out into the distance, crossing hills, landscapes representing the global scale of #covid19.

The church possible pushed back further to emphasize less on one religion. Here's the final cover in all its 'grim glory'. The word "calculus" has been chosen to highlight the tough economic trade offs that possibly is in progress. So everything ties into one unified piece?

Seems so. And with one last brush of compassion in the entire piece, it gets to a whole new level. Look closely in the below image and you'll see a church bell. That's tolling for the departed. A subtle but powerful way to contribute to a world already under duress.

It is amazing how much effort goes into pulling off such communication pieces. Truly, it is worth making making every pixel, every word count.

*End of Thread*

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