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Here’s a look at the stories behind some of the covers from people who worked on them.
September/October 2008
“All of our covers had a creative problem to solve. ‘Public vs Private Schools’ was one of my favorites. Our model was a young man whose parents knew [Editor and Publisher] Steve Hull. He came to our office the day after he arrived back from being a summer camp counselor and had not had a haircut since he left. The hair was perfect. First, we had him pose as a public school kid dressed in a hoodie, jeans, backpack and lots of messy hair. Then, before we put him in a navy blazer, tie and khakis, our stylist actually cut his hair on set to look more collegiate as a private school student and we Photoshopped the images in postproduction. I think he agreed to do this without really knowing what all was involved, but he was a great sport.” —Maire McArdle, design director 2004-2018
November/December 2011
“Montgomery County, for all its affluence, also has a very large and growing population of low-income people. This cover story about income inequality opened a lot of eyes but we struggled with how to illustrate it. Laura Goode, then deputy art director at the magazine, came up with this simple, but powerful idea. The juxtaposition of the coffee cups in different modes can be representative of that great divide—of those of us who are fortunate enough to buy a $5 latte and those who are using the cup to get change so they can just scrape by.” —Steve Hull, editor and publisher 2004-2021
May/June 2023
“For this cover, we had to schedule a second photo shoot to fix some details. We wanted Citrine, our cover model, to wear the exact same outfit, but she showed up wearing something completely different. We all silently panicked. Fortunately she did bring the black-and-white dress she wore in the original shoot and changed. She was a total natural in front of the camera. After the food was put on the table, we had to take the photos quickly so it would keep looking fresh. We saved the messiest food for the end—like ribs—where she kind of smeared the sauce on her face. We didn’t use any of those photos, but it was fun to play around and have those outtakes.” —Ellen Minsavage, current art director (then senior designer)
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This story appears in the September/October 2024 issue of Bethesda Magazine.
