Nuts was the clear winner of the Cover of the Month for December, with the excellent Homes & Gardens and TV & Satellite week both divisional winners.
Christmas double issues are a big deal in publishing, and as in recent years, Nuts has pulled out all the stops. The logo is sparkly ‘Nutsian’ foil, the girls are pictured in a genuine winter wonderland, and the penguins were flown in specially.Nuts is a provocative magazine, and that’s no bad thing. The great designer Tibor Kalman once said: ‘When you make something no one hates, no one loves it’.
But people do love Nuts for many good reasons. Sure, there are pictures of girls wearing very little, but that does not make it the same as Zoo, Loaded, FHM or even GQ. The Nuts tone is knowing, self deprecating and genuinely funny. That’s why it outsells every other men’s magazine two to one.
Art director Simon Freeborough’s typography is perfectly judged. Suitably ironic (check out The Beano), and yet still possessing enough punch to stand out on the newsstand. Likewise, editor Dom Smith has enough confidence in his brand to let Nuts alone deliver the splash line, instead of the more usual ‘Sophie presents…’.
This is a terrific cover, and a worthy winner.
Here are the other two winners…
