little miss chatelaine

Chatelaine is Canada's premier women's magazine. It's been around since 1928. As part of its 80th anniversary celebrations, the magazine has published an online cover gallery. Let's take a trip down graphic design memory lane, shall we?

It's 1933 and beautiful typography and illustration is the order of the day. And look! Apart from a small line on the very bottom of the page, the cover is clean. When's the last time you were able to pick up a women's magazine without seeing Nipples! and Orgasms! and Please your man!

It's 1942 and Canadian women are doing their part for the war effort. Chatelaine's moved to photographic covers now. That banner block seems to stop rather abruptly (couldn't they have stretched it across the page?), but at least we're still free of the screaming nipples.

Apparently 1955 was a big year for moving to the suburbs. Unfortunately, Chatelaine has succumbed to the screaming cover... coffee party... menace... or must? What strikes me most about this cover (apart from that awful green) is how old the adults look compared to adults of today. I mean, they look like grandparents!

It's the swinging sixties and little miss Chatelaine loves a monochromatic colour scheme. And check out the kicky banner now running up the side of the page. How liberated! I think the cover typography works great on this cover... it fits nicely in the space between her headscarf and the banner, the weight is heavy enough to be readable but light enough to let the photography shine.

I guess in the 70s we were focused on peace and love and harmony and getting in touch with our inner selves. But all the words! I think if I saw this on a store shelf I'd be all "holy, too much to read, too much work!" and pick up People instead.

You're getting two covers from the 80s because look! All the pretty primary colours! And Monika Schnarre, the Canadian super model of the world.

As we move into 2000, what strikes me the most are the similarities between this cover and the cover from 1933. Both have a strong focus on the female face. Both are relatively "clean" in appearance. Both feature a lot of one colour (1933: green, 2000: black). And the 2000 cover is remarkably free of screaming nipples.