No offense to Team 4, but I think this is a pretty weak choice. Not because this cover is terrible, but it’s not as good as some of the others. I would have put this one third on my list, behind “piggy” and “bike lock”.

It’s obvious that STEP magazine ignored the posted comments.

I don’t think I’ll be buying this issue. Disappointing.

Perhaps STEP will write a more detailed answer for their reasoning - but I wouldn’t hold my breath.

I guess this reinforces what most people feel about graphic design - the suits usually don’t pick the best one.

I’ll second Clint’s comments from above - There’s been an immense amount of learning in the process of initially concepting, pitching, refining, and refining further these cover designs, and I’ll also say that it’s reinforced one realization for me as an educator above almost any other: nothing tends to make for better and better design work than TOUGH / GLOVES OFF critiques, good and bad.

Having waffled at points myself on delivering the sometimes tough to take - “Sorry - mediocre” or “Sorry - really weak” in critiques in my own class, I felt I gained absolutely the most in this process by taking the shots to the jaw and then figuring out how to get back up again and deliver another full-swing attempt at a knockout. So that’s a thanks to the reader base and to our “clients” on this gig: Michael, Emily, and the rest of the STEP advisors.

What this has proven again and again is that immediate communication and engaging communication are still EXTREMELY difficult points to balance with one another - I’ve been using Eric Heiman’s “3 second, 3 minute, 3 hour” rule of thumb a lot in my courses of late and it’s opened my eyes along with those of the students to the potential we can really reach for.

And in closing: what a ride! Thanks for taking the spin with all of us and thanks for lending your eyes / brains / art directorial scrutiny to our collective efforts - this combined contribution has effectively taken a free-roving body of essentially disconnected designers and associates and converted us into a virtual design studio / collective in just a few short weeks. Totally fascinating process with results that will take several more weeks to fully pick apart…

In the meantime, enjoy the remains of the competition that will continue to exist here on BE A long after the cover has left the newstands…

I think ChrisM70 was being a little harsh in terms of saying they wouldn’t even bother to buy this issue of STEP. Aesthetic value or not, just because the design is deceptive to them doesn’t mean it has nothing valuable to offer inside. Read the cover. This is the issue that interviews all 100 of the featured winning designers. If that’s not interesting than i don’t know what is and i think if they really had a keen interest in design, they would forgive the cover design in favor of it’s inner content. I think this issue has a great theme and a great deal of potential. Lighten up a little.

OK, Team 4 is receiving some harsh words, so I guess I better get in on this discussion and defend our cover choice. First of all, the “suits” had no say in this cover decision. The decision was made by three people who are intimately involved with the editorial and design of the magazine. This had the strongest concept/selling point of the four covers in our opinion. Nancy Bernard has turned in an excellent story on design trends based on the Design 100 winners—it all ties together. The Design 100 theme will still be prominent on the cover so there is no confusion as to what’s inside this issue, and the cover lines will be tweaked/rewritten to reflect the content in the issue. The design will also be altered slightly to get the most impact on the newsstand. We were very aware going into this that many people would disagree with our final decision, but in an open forum like this, we’d be criticized no matter what decision we made. I have gained a lot of insight from reading all the posts—none were ignored. I welcome all feedback. Again, I have to congratulate all the designers for putting themselves out there. I’m sure many egos were bruised in the process.

Emily has a great point that should not be ignored; that STEP would be bashed one way or another for any choice they made to end this experiment. And for that again I say ‘thank you’ to her and to STEP Inside Design because it is a tough and brave position to put yourself in. I can thank her for the opportunity to be a part of it, as well.

To be honest, we should all (regardless of our choices for the final) be giving STEP a big thumbs-up/high-five/hug for approving this process and giving we the designers and you the audience such a monumental opportunity to be a part of history. It is true that this type of design experiment has never been attempted before, and though it didn’t go off without a hitch, for the most part it was a brilliant event. Bennett and Adrian and the entire crew of STEP all deserve applause for making this possible for all of us.

As for the winner? Well, I can’t say I wouldn’t rather see a nice red and white lock on it, but I know I’ll be buying the crap out of that magazine and so should you (everyone who took part in the discussion or just sat back and watched). Because the readers of Be A Design Group were as much a part of this process as anyone. Believe me when I say that we certainly listened to all of your comments (and I’m quite certain they did, too). So take pride in that cover when you see it and pick up a copy. Or two.

I have to step (HA!) in here and defend Team 4 and STEP. This design has been my favorite from the beginning. I feel it has strong impact at first glance, and closer inspection gives a great bonus in the humorous copy (granted both could use a little massaging before press). I was sorry to see them dump this concept in rounds 4 & 5, but I’m so glad that STEP went back to it in the end. Congratulations Team 4! Now this is not to say that I didn’t see merit in ALL the designs. You should all be congratulated and commended for great process and the willingness to put yourself out there for some tough (sometime even mean) critiques.

yeah, team 4! i was behind you all the way. i can’t wait to see it.

Let me start by saying… I am extremely biased…. my husband is Bennett of Team 4. That said, I am also biased because I am friends with every one of the BA crew. They are an amazing group of people. The 8 of them that took on the STEP Off challenge really put their hearts into it. It was a LOT of work (a lot more than I realized it would be), and a lot of planning, but they all welcomed it. And they all did a fantastic job.

I just really want to congratulate all of the guys for a job very well done. I also want to thank STEP for being so great throughout this entire process.

This whole thing has been so much fun to watch. I (of course) love the team 4 cover (I really loved ALL of the covers) and I can’t wait to see it on the newsstands! I hope all of you (including everyone who made comments on BA) are very proud of what you have accomplished.

An occupational hazard of design is that you will never produce anything that is all things to all people — so going this route (producing the covers step by step [fitting] for all the design world to see and comment on) is brave indeed.

I have to say that my personal tastes had me leaning toward team #1 with their pig as far as grabbing my attention immediately, but in terms of getting drawn a bit further in (the 3 minute mark) the winning cover was by far the most satisfying. I think it is an appropriate and far-reaching inside joke, and the fact that someone above tried to point out that the comments are dated strikes me as hilarious - the cover concept is already at “trend denounced” stage before it hits the newsstand!

Great job all around, a very interesting process to watch.

Ok Team 4, congrats for winning the cover. But judges have you read the brief?