American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) came out with its Top 40 Magazine Covers list. It highlights a number of very interesting and timeless covers that have captures history and American culture. Some of my favorites include:
#4 The New Yorker (March 29, 1976)Commenting on the wealthy’s perspective of the world, this not only comments on how “big” and “important” New York is to the rest of the world but how small the rest of the world is to New York. Having been on 5th Avenue, I can relate slightly to this depiction of 9th Avenue.
#10 National Geographic (June 1985) I’m actually surprised this was so far down on the list. This classic shot of the unknown girl with the captivating eyes depicted the life of an Afghan refugee. Seventeen years later, Sharbat Gula was tracked down. Read her story: http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/afghangirl/.
#22 George (Oct/Nov 1995) Cindy Crawford in a George Washington getup? As the premiere issue of the John F. Kennedy Jr.-founded magazine, it certainly struck a chord. The famed founder later died in a plane crash, maybe further solidifying this cover’s standing on this list. The magazine had only a six year lifespan.
#27 Entertainment Weekly (May 2, 2003) Who couldn’t love the Chicks and their soulful, foot-tapping songs? Even better? Painting powerful insults and criticisms they received after their famed comments about President George W. Bush. What started as a downward career spiral, the Chicks turned into a triumph commentary of American culture: it’s quick reaction to unpopular viewpoints, the wishy-washy approach to the first amendment, the ideals of patriotism and leadership loyalty. This cover is my favorite from the list.
#36 People (September 15, 1997) Just like my parents’ generation remembers JFK’s assassination, I remember exactly where I was when Princess Diana died. Not only that, I was like thousands around the world watching all of the coverage and who got up early to watch her sons mournfully follow her casket blocks to the church. To this day, I can’t listen to either version of Elton John’s “Candle in the Wind” without feeling compelled to cry.
#37 National Geographic (October 1978) This cover of Koko the gorilla taking a picture of her reflection captures development psychologist Francine Patterson’s work. After spending six years with Koko, Patterson finally taught the gorilla sign language leading other professionals to believe the animal had linguistic capabilities. This cover also reminds me of Gorillas in the Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey, another researcher who studied the habits of gorillas and lobbied for their protection.
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Kate has been a fantastic resource for all things digital, whether redesigning my website on Wordpress, fine tuning my social media profiles, or understanding Google Analytics. She's an excellent communicator, and I will absolutely hire her again in the future.
I met Kate through the Association of Women Journalists (AWJ) and immediately was impressed (and inspired) by her creativity, drive, work ethic and use of social media. Her passion for journalism, digital media and communications overall is evident in the projects she takes on, including LoganSquarist, an online news outlet that she founded that uses social media to socialize the neighborhood. What I admire about Kate is her vitality as well as her desire to keep learning and growing personally and professionally. Kate is a modern-day renaissance woman who is multitalented (ask about her travel, knitting and marathon exploits!) and who brings instant value to any team or organization.
Kate has an incredible amount of drive when it comes to LoganSquarist. In the six months that I’ve been involved, I’ve watched the site grow from a pet project to a respected community publication. This success can be attributed to Kate’s technical and leadership skills. From building out the site to off-hours community management and a consistent flow of content, the site improves by leaps and bounds on a weekly basis. When it comes to team management, Kate delegates tasks in an organized and efficient manner, making her an all around great and inspiring person to work with.
I worked with Kate during my time as a community manager at Lightspan Digital while Kate was my direct manager. Kate’s communication practices really taught me how to navigate the sometimes complicated agency world. As an account manger, Kate smoothly orchestrated 10+ accounts at one time as well as help me manage and prioritize tasks in my role. Kate was a role model during my first few years in the professional world and continues to be so to this day.
Kate did and excellent job with our website. We have received several compliments on how nice it looks and how easy it is to navigate. She also went above and beyond to make sure that we were able to update and the website ourselves through Wordpress. I cannot gush about how awesome she is and how happy we are with the site and her dedication to the project.
Kate is a wealth of knowledge who served as a tremendous mentor for all of our team members while constantly improving processes and workflows. She’s a tremendous project manager, pays great attention to detail, and is able to demand results from her team with respect. At LoganSquarist she has built and led a team of dozens of volunteer contributors committed to her vision of a community resource. I would happily work with Kate again anytime!
One of the best things I've ever done in my career is work with Kate Hamilton. Her enthusiasm for all things editorial, not to mention her energy and passion for any project she's involved with, is contagious. In addition to being a natural born leader, she's also a creative type, a thinker, a stickler for details, and someone with incredible vision and the drive to get things done. I always marvel at how she is constantly teaching herself new things. She always seems to be ahead of the curve on anything related to social media, and she also has an eye for design. This lady rocks! And she continues to be a mentor to me and others in journalism and communications.