The first issue of People magazine was published on March 4, 1974, and since then it has been delighting its readers every week. Thus, in 2006, the circulation of the publication amounted to more than 3.7 million. Today, tens of millions of readers from all over the world read the People Magazine online.
People is primarily a magazine about celebrities. And most of all, it is known for awarding various prizes to celebrities every year and compiling lists of the most beautiful famous men and women.
Australian actor Mel Gibson was the first person to be declared the Sexiest Man of the Year by the American magazine People in 1985. Since 1990, the influential People magazine has been creating a list of the most beautiful people of the year. In the absolute majority of cases, women have made the cover of the magazine, but there have also been a few male celebrities in the magazine’s history.
In October 2005, Advertising Age magazine named it “Magazine of the Year” for its outstanding achievements in editorial, circulation, and advertising. And in 2009, People magazine had the largest readership of any U.S. magazine, with more than 45 million readers. However, things didn’t always go so well. In the late 2010s, for example, the magazine’s readership plummeted significantly.
In 2024, the American edition of People celebrated 50 years of existence. On this occasion, the editorial staff decided to publish a special issue dedicated to the anniversary, bringing together world celebrities who had previously been media heroes on one cover. The images for the anniversary edition of the media were taken by photographer Art Streiber.
What is People Magazine?
People Magazine is the name of a popular American weekly magazine that has been published since 1974. The magazine is known for its lists such as People of the Year and Most Beautiful Celebrities. The magazine is owned by the media holding company Time Inc.
In terms of visual identity, People is very stable. The logo of the magazine; designed in 1974, was changed just once, in 2002, and it was just the change of color, with the original style fully preserved.
The first People Magazine logo saw the light in March 1974. The legendary badge was designed by Gerard Huerta and featured bold outlined lettering in black and white, with merged title case characters. The classy contours of the letters represented the confidence and reliability of the magazine.
The redesign of 2002 kept the recognizable serif logotype with all the shapes and spaces but switched the black color of the outline to bright pink. It made the logo look fresher and more modern, showing that the magazine has started a new era in its history.
The bold outlined lettering from the People magazine logo is set in a stylized serif typeface, which is based on the Egyptienne font. The main thing here is the traditional contours of the characters and merged lines.
As for the color palette of People Magazine’s visual identity, it is based on a combination of white and bright fuchsia pink, which makes the name of the brand visible on any possible background.