LIFE Magazine (1936–2000)

LIFE was an American magazine was founded in 1936 and was produced by Henry Lucile. It came out in weekly issues until 1978. It was the first magazine to focus primarily on photography. The images in the magazine were given just as much attention and space as the text which was unusual to see back in 1936. This was one of the reasons it was so successful as it drew peoples attention and was the first of it’s kind, focusing mainly on photos.

The LIFE logo is iconic and very memorable, for its simplicity and its boldness. The white letters and the red background are very effective in standing out against the black and white images the magazine contained. The logo became very easily recognised and is one of the reasons the covers of the magazines are so iconic.

After many successful years the magazine published it’s last article in December 1972 (weekly). And then from 1978 they started coming out monthly. The reason the weekly issues started to become less popular, was because the magazines costs were rising more than the profits.

A lot of LIFE magazines success was centred around their iconic covers, and how the images they used for each cover compelled and drew in readers. Each image was not just simply a picture, but there was a story and history behind every one of them. A lot of the covers were very controversial, such as the 1965 issue which shows a prisoner from the Vietnam war with his eyes and mouth taped shut — not usually an image that would be seen on the front of a magazine. This was one of the reasons why the magazine was so successful in the fact that it was not afraid to push the boundaries and shock viewers, even if it meant having to use a graphic or outrageous image to attract attention. The magazine was not tied to one certain topic or issue which was another reason why it was so interesting — it covered a range of topics from history, actors, presidents and world wars. I would imagine that each week/month there would be am element of excitement to see what each issue would contain and what.

The magazine brought awareness to many social issues and was successful in informing readers of very controversial issues.