Help us choose the next CR cover
Our next print issue is all about storytelling. For the cover, we are going to set a group of writers a challenge to create a story inspired by a single image. But which image? Over to you!
Latest from CR
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Adam Morse on his journey to directing
Since losing his sight at the age of 19, the filmmaker has gone on to write and direct his first feature film, shoot a Super Bowl ad for Google, and set up a non-profit to help the next generation of disabled creative talent
Creativity Sucks! podcast returns with an episode on humour
We ease you gently into the fourth series of Creative Review’s podcast with a discussion on humour in advertising, looking at what works and what doesn’t
How accessible wayfinding is going beyond the visual
Speaking to experts in architecture and design, CR looks into how accessible wayfinding has improved by subtly tapping into other senses, and what it needs to do to be truly inclusive
The Monthly Interview: Glenn Kitson
In the first of a new interview series, Anna Higgs talks to Glenn Kitson about combining a career as an ad director with being a ‘meme lord’, and his strategies to stay centred and fresh in a world which can often just want more of the same
Loewe’s brand film finally explains how to pronounce its name
Aubrey Plaza stars in a spelling bee contest through the ages as part of a new short from Loewe, which addresses the long-standing confusion over how to pronounce the fashion brand’s name
What happened to NFTs?
Non-fungible tokens experienced a gold rush a couple of years ago, before mainstream interest waned and the market went into decline. Artist Robert Alice, who has edited an extensive new book on NFTs, talks to us about one of the most elusive, and divisive, web3 developments
Dawn Baillie’s famous movie posters go on display
The Anatomy of a Movie Poster exhibition brings together the award-winning designer’s portfolio of posters for films including The Silence of the Lambs, Little Miss Sunshine, and The Grand Budapest Hotel
Why brand language matters
Opening Line founder Zosia Swidlicka discusses why the world of brand language remains so misunderstood, and how it inspired her to create her new publication Between the Lines
Tracing the influence of prolific art director Alexey Brodovitch
An exhibition and accompanying monograph sheds light on the work of the photographer, designer and art director, who transformed the pages of Harper’s Bazaar over nearly a quarter of a century
From advertising to Hollywood and back again
It’s easy to assume that making the leap into movies is the holy grail for those in advertising, but the path between the two industries is far from one way
How to bring online fandom into the real world
Shifting online success into the real world requires a delicate balance of staying authentic to the digital community while allowing space for others to join, says Paul Tynan, creative director at I-Am
https://www.stocksy.com/192885
Where did all these bears come from? Each of them was special to someone. https://www.stocksy.com/1304952/old-teddy-bears
https://www.stocksy.com/828401
https://www.stocksy.com/1148668
https://www.stocksy.com/69678
https://www.stocksy.com/1350805
“Oldest feeling”
https://www.stocksy.com/1502328
The “new world” has been forget how we came until here, how things used to so hard to got and found.
Of course we must follow the Technology but should we just ignore our past?
How about conciliate old mind with the new minds?
Think about it 🙂
1993’s person
Which board is Homer’s and which one is Bart’s?
https://www.stocksy.com/499882/collection-of-retro-skateboards
https://www.stocksy.com/search?text=735125&sort=curated&page=1
forest, guy, look, lost, man, mystic, nature, new-left, outdoor, outside, people, portrait, russian, smurfing, space, spy, teen, teenager, young
https://www.stocksy.com/10881
Cock a doodle- doodoo
I don’t want realism, I want magic!
https://www.stocksy.com/579796
All I wanna say is it’ll be alright
https://www.stocksy.com/210956
https://www.stocksy.com/43368
Life
—
https://www.stocksy.com/1509346
https://www.stocksy.com/1429886
Is this the moment she sheds her identity for another?
https://www.stocksy.com/613888
I used the search term “front cover image”, just for fun, but thought the image could spark endless interpretations/storytelling ideas …
https://www.stocksy.com/977756
left behind
https://www.stocksy.com/327642
where is this tree at?
https://www.stocksy.com/968340
https://www.stocksy.com/1393268
Trans-jection
the fight
https://www.stocksy.com/1396340
Survival _ https://www.stocksy.com/1289856
city, climate, damage, danger, disaster, documentary, drown, drowned, emergency, environment, flood, nature, news, phenomenon, problem, reflect, reflection, rescue, risk, road, storm, town, transport, urban, warming, warning, water, weather, wet
https://www.stocksy.com/898867
what made someone stop painting their fence?
Survival _ https://www.stocksy.com/1124760
adventure, astronaut, brave, bravery, cliff, costume, courage, disaster, discover, discovery, escape, exploration, explore, explorer, fog, galaxy, helmet, landscape, mars, mountain, mountainous, nasa, outer space, planet, planetary, scientific, space, spaceman, spacesuit, terrain, unique, universe, walk, walking, world
Thanks for the opportunity to contribute. I can see these below as magazine covers. Visually interesting and thought provoking, I can imagine stories for these images:
Love this and think of London streets
https://www.stocksy.com/342675
(This could be cropped for the doorway area to be the focus with the shadows)
https://www.stocksy.com/1386425
This makes me think of Vermeer:
https://www.stocksy.com/1425186
https://www.stocksy.com/761224
Why hiding? Where?
Image #768427
https://www.stocksy.com/1217968
Mystery, drama, intrigue, trepidation…you get my drift.
Where is she going…and why?
https://www.stocksy.com/464210
https://www.stocksy.com/1291931
I love the contrast between beauty and violence in this image.
The juxtaposition of an insect being on such a clean and sterile environment and the fact the insect has been killed but then mounted and displayed.
In terms of a story… it could be a strange and eccentric collector, a dystopian future where insects are extinct, or even someone playing god.
https://www.stocksy.com/1214649
https://www.stocksy.com/1214534
https://www.stocksy.com/1465556
Because there’s probably 10000000001 reasons why this little girl could be upset.
https://www.stocksy.com/1509287
“That’s a deal.”
curbside birthday
https://www.stocksy.com/600753
https://www.stocksy.com/173867
Are they dead or alive? who were they chasing? why had they stopped? Corrupt or not? Is this the start or the end? And what a beautiful shot.
https://www.stocksy.com/1473705
https://www.stocksy.com/534813
Never used Stocksy before. Had a good look through with different keywords. Liked the realness you have up there.
This image stood out for me. Anything could have happened here. If this image had sound what would you hear?
https://www.stocksy.com/392818
“Why has someone put flowers there?”
Which then makes you look around the image to find other clues.
“I bet that car could tell a few stories of it’s own!”
“Wait is it a road trip? They seem to be in a forest.”
https://www.stocksy.com/1410210
Enjoy
https://www.stocksy.com/609293
Abandoned. Where to go when you have no home…
https://www.stocksy.com/991944
https://www.stocksy.com/1516496
https://www.stocksy.com/717101
Love this image for the number of ways it could be interpreted/used – could be dissection, creation, a study of artefacts (personal or otherwise), digging into memories, motion, stasis, snapshots, return to the past, contemplation of the future, uncapturable moments…endless
Desperate to know the story behind each of these!!
“Whatever you do, don’t stop your car!”
https://www.stocksy.com/569991
“If you go down to the woods…”
https://www.stocksy.com/327642
“WTF?”
https://www.stocksy.com/10952
https://www.stocksy.com/1033229
Robot in a forest – ’nuff said!
(or technology vs. nature if you want to be pretentious)
https://www.stocksy.com/1196480
The image reminds me of a mushroom cloud
https://www.stocksy.com/527523
https://www.stocksy.com/502978
https://www.stocksy.com/1053971
https://www.stocksy.com/1501081
https://www.stocksy.com/284786/lake-slide-in-fog
Slide? Fun? Nature? Relax? Take a break? Open your eyes to surroundings? But is it all being fogged up by technology?…
https://www.stocksy.com/709639
Intersting image with a relevance to recent events.
https://www.stocksy.com/706989
Interesting dabbled light. Not obvious whether it’s a relaxing image or something more sinister.
https://www.stocksy.com/909871 – it´s the simplicity of random letters which for me is the point zero for every storytelling. Which will be the first letter/sentence to start the story?
https://www.stocksy.com/1267602
Travel? Maybe? Where’s he going? Or is he escaping? And what does the tattoo mean?
https://www.stocksy.com/1294530
Because nudity sells, no? Also touches on the current political landscape
https://www.stocksy.com/486324
Inspiration mainly came from cinema: Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Rope” and “Vertigo” poster made by Saul Bass. A cord could be a very versatile tool: it can be used for bad and good purposes. Plus the concentric circles are always hypnotics and lead people to buy the magazine (as seen on Mad – Special Hypnotic Issue cover :D)
https://www.stocksy.com/1199527
https://www.stocksy.com/962347
https://www.stocksy.com/1473585
https://www.stocksy.com/912169
https://www.stocksy.com/1148138
https://www.stocksy.com/1239325
Perception. Something being attractive, interesting, cool even true is based on how we see the world, but it shapes everything and is essential in creating. Also, the picture is just really cool.
AI, nature/technology intersection
https://www.stocksy.com/832352
Sense of self, feminism
https://www.stocksy.com/1359546
Loss of romance
https://www.stocksy.com/1459636
https://www.stocksy.com/589121
Nice symmetry for a cover. Gentrification? Could see this building fancied up and sold for $$$. Anyway, you to decide.
https://www.stocksy.com/1337957
https://www.stocksy.com/148222
https://www.stocksy.com/1194701
Burdens
https://www.stocksy.com/301067 mix of real life and social media’s supply of ‘blah blah blah’
Howsabout this one for a story?
https://www.stocksy.com/805539
https://www.stocksy.com/201917
https://www.stocksy.com/1508084
https://www.stocksy.com/543095
A pile of random legs – what is going on here?
This is a better option for the image: https://www.stocksy.com/543094
https://www.stocksy.com/1504425
https://www.stocksy.com/1349521
https://www.stocksy.com/1453687
The photo explanation says it all, “Young adult head first into a dirty trash can with a minimal pop-art vibe of blue skies and white sand in the middle of a vacant desert”
Why is someday diving into a dumpster? Why is there a dumpster in the desert?
These questions need to be answered!
https://www.stocksy.com/19506
“It’s a pillar,” said the first man who touched the leg. “No, you fool! It is like a rope,” said the second man who touched the tail. “You’re both wrong! It is like a thick branch of a tree,” said the third man who touched the trunk. “You know nothing! It is like a big hand fan,” said the fourth man who touched the ear. “It is like an old stone wall,” said the fifth man who touched the belly. “It is like a smooth solid pipe,” said the sixth man who touched the tusk. And it just stood, chewed patiently, or maybe indifferently, and when it had enough of groping, it gave a deep, reverberating rumble that stunned the men, and walked away nonchalantly.
https://www.stocksy.com/1514954
Rama was the most powerful of mortals; there were no giants or demons or anybody else strong enough to conquer him. So, the giant king had to resort to subterfuge. He got hold of another giant who was a magician and changed him into a beautiful golden deer; and the deer went prancing round about the place where Rama lived, until Sita was fascinated by its beauty and asked Rama to go and capture the deer for her. Rama went into the forest to catch the deer, leaving his brother in charge of Sita. Then Lakshmana laid a circle of fire round the cottage, and he said to Sita, “Today I see something may befall you; and, therefore, I tell you not to go outside of this magic circle. Some danger may befall you if you do.” In the meanwhile, Rama had pierced the magic deer with his arrow, and immediately the deer, changed into the form of a man, died.
Immediately, at the cottage was heard the voice of Rama, crying, “Oh, Lakshmana, come to my help!” and Sita said, “Lakshmana, go at once into the forest to help Rama!” “That is not Rama’s voice,” protested Lakshmana. But at the entreaties of Sita, Lakshmana had to go in search of Rama. As soon as he went away, the giant king, who had taken the form of a mendicant monk, stood at the gate and asked for alms. “Wait awhile,” said Sita, “until my husband comes back and I will give you plentiful alms.” “I cannot wait, good lady,” said he, “I am very hungry, give me anything you have.” At this, Sita, who had a few fruits in the cottage, brought them out. But the mendicant monk after many persuasions prevailed upon her to bring the alms to him, assuring her that she need have no fear as he was a holy person. So Sita came out of the magic circle, and immediately the seeming monk assumed his giant body, and grasping Sita in his arms he called his magic chariot, and putting her therein, he fled with the weeping Sita. Poor Sita!
(From The story of Ramayana, as told by Swami Vivekananda)
https://www.stocksy.com/1070381 Cutting edge magazine cover
https://www.stocksy.com/1138959
A story is something we are always thirsty of. If this tap works we will be satisfied for a while but we will be back soon to have more, if the tap won’t work we are lost, in a perpetual search.
https://www.stocksy.com/1286796 – Who doesn’t love a kitten on the front page
https://www.stocksy.com/1542718
https://www.stocksy.com/1250069
Everything we do, changes the course of the people and things around us. What came first? Seagulls stealing chips or people leaving chips for seagulls to find.
https://www.stocksy.com/287334
What lies beyond the horizon??
https://www.stocksy.com/1520922
Sad commuter OR intentional uncredited guerilla art
https://www.stocksy.com/463750
An apple a day…
https://www.stocksy.com/1509795
https://www.stocksy.com/1396824
It looks like an exotic island but its actually a quarry in Bedfordshire
https://www.stocksy.com/632685
We need super heroes
https://www.stocksy.com/586060
https://www.stocksy.com/1488124
https://www.stocksy.com/1492268
https://www.stocksy.com/1264836
https://www.stocksy.com/1375716
How did they die? What’s being sold? Is it Antiques Roadshow worthy?
https://www.stocksy.com/1382056
Inspired by a family member who has lost their way through PTSD, like so many others. A real sense of despair and a cry for help.
https://www.stocksy.com/1117844
Watching paint dry!
https://www.stocksy.com/43368
https://www.stocksy.com/1021426
https://www.stocksy.com/30688
https://www.stocksy.com/1148625
—
Contact
https://www.stocksy.com/1473590
—
What are you waiting for
https://www.stocksy.com/1210200
—
Stranger than fiction
https://www.stocksy.com/1463682
Here you have some reasons:
The summer has gone. But not the spirit of it.
I’ve been listening “love is in the air”.
It’s always great to swim naked.
https://www.stocksy.com/926867
https://www.stocksy.com/978626
https://www.stocksy.com/1033229
https://www.stocksy.com/942636
Courage
Buenos Aires
https://www.stocksy.com/525155
https://www.stocksy.com/1102013
https://www.stocksy.com/1183378
https://www.stocksy.com/885580
This image is beautiful yet full of uncomfortable questions.
https://www.stocksy.com/1453687
https://www.stocksy.com/1491049
https://www.stocksy.com/449396
https://www.stocksy.com/1295555
https://www.stocksy.com/895312
https://www.stocksy.com/595684
https://www.stocksy.com/698212
https://www.stocksy.com/866689
There is a Zeitgeist moment here…
https://www.stocksy.com/1241883
https://www.stocksy.com/735776
I look at this and it could be so many things…
https://www.stocksy.com/452940
Like Hitchcock’s Rear Window, looking into people’s apartments can reveal all sorts of stories, with a range of conclusions. Who is that, why do they live here, what is their life like? Blocks of flats and apartments somehow seem really dystopian; no one in 1984 lives in a house of their own, they’re watched by security cameras, are often homes to displaced or disadvantaged people. Winding stair cases and elevators within them often mean that you’re not quite sure who you’ll come across – who is around the corner or behind a door? There’s a huge sense of guilt as somebody looking in.
https://www.stocksy.com/1205936
Cropped
https://www.stocksy.com/1205936
Cropped
https://www.stocksy.com/1421161
Cropped
https://www.stocksy.com/439928
Who wouldn’t want to know what happens next and why?
https://www.stocksy.com/891110
Intrigue, mystery and contemplation – looks like a snap shot of time. A moment of calm in the midst of a melee of madness.
breaking the rules: https://www.stocksy.com/623979
https://www.stocksy.com/939301
https://www.stocksy.com/1269976
This looks like the beginning of a great story!
https://www.stocksy.com/1466333
https://www.stocksy.com/1469768
https://www.stocksy.com/604627
https://www.stocksy.com/1413274
https://www.stocksy.com/1314891
Cropped
https://www.stocksy.com/1370798
https://www.stocksy.com/7448
https://www.stocksy.com/226382
https://www.stocksy.com/692232
I’d like to know what made her turn around.
https://www.stocksy.com/96074
https://www.stocksy.com/1429156
https://www.stocksy.com/327126
I “chewed” this one over for a while before submiting it.
https://www.stocksy.com/842322
https://www.stocksy.com/1004946
https://www.stocksy.com/1323083
https://www.stocksy.com/1514600
Because Autumn is on its way: new season, harvesting creativity
The colours work well with the CR cover palette
It’s a strong graphic
It looks like paint
https://www.stocksy.com/665682
So many little details that give ambiguous clues for the story before and after this moment.
https://www.stocksy.com/1515886
https://www.stocksy.com/326926
The picture itself is so empty. It demands for a great story or perhaps more than one. I would love to read the different approaches. There is nothing happening, but what could happen? Please open the door for me.
https://www.stocksy.com/1431615
Feels of energy, mystery, being daring, new adventures
https://www.stocksy.com/696901
https://www.stocksy.com/170872
https://www.stocksy.com/967960
https://www.stocksy.com/865842
https://www.stocksy.com/609293
I want to quit my job to start my own buzz, but I am afraid of letting down my boss. I searched ‘lost’ and this image spoke to me.
https://www.stocksy.com/1370716
https://www.stocksy.com/1495506
https://www.stocksy.com/1148133 or https://www.stocksy.com/1146791
Schroedinger’s Wife
a. https://www.stocksy.com/616694
b. https://www.stocksy.com/1363303
https://www.stocksy.com/1473590
Contrast is always interesting.
https://www.stocksy.com/357160
https://www.stocksy.com/1501083
…
I know Nature abhors a vacuum – but how does it feel about two…?
https://www.stocksy.com/153890
Stacked Chairs. Who used them and why? If those chairs could talk, what have they heard? https://www.stocksy.com/1105029
“Now if there’s a smile on my face
It’s only there trying to fool the public
But when it comes down to fooling you
Now honey that’s quite a different subject
But don’t let my glad expression
Give you the wrong impression
Really I’m sad, oh I’m sadder than sad
You’re gone and I’m hurting so bad
Like a clown I appear to be glad (sad, sad, sad, sad)
Now they’re some sad things known to man
But ain’t too much sadder than
The tears of a clown when there’s no one around”
Sad Clown
https://www.stocksy.com/1199135
https://www.stocksy.com/user/consumergallery?id=131703
i could go on for hours but i’ll stop at 45. you choose.
Metal spikes https://www.stocksy.com/864275
The theme of pressure
https://www.stocksy.com/1403742
https://www.stocksy.com/970447
The most pressing question: did something just go down or is something about to go down? It’s late, it’s raining outside, and they are all alone.
https://www.stocksy.com/188341
Random. Alligator soup.
As a writer myself, I felt prompted to write something by a lot of the photos I found, but this one just stuck on my mind — apart from being aesthetically pleasing enough to be a CR cover.
https://www.stocksy.com/1169489
Situationally bizarre, opens itself up to many possible explanations.
– https://www.stocksy.com/1453687
https://www.stocksy.com/444710
Four stitches – what or who caused this wound?
https://www.stocksy.com/449620
– why is he running? to what? from what?
(is he gonna brain himself on those stairs?)
Or…
https://www.stocksy.com/227895
– what’s in the envelope, and what will it mean?
https://www.stocksy.com/203936
Speaks for itself.
https://www.stocksy.com/1505724
It’s got it all: mystery, intrigue, possibility, and of course dogs!