The Best of Forbes India Covers - Year 2

Watt an idea
For our first anniversary issue, we had a stellar line-up of brilliant essayists. Our cover paid homage to all that wattage with an easter egg: Printed using a special phosphorescent ink, it glowed in the dark, to reveal a hidden message. Of course, it had to work in plain daylight too, and since it flew off the stands, we can assume it did, sirji.

We are the world
A classic The New Yorker cover by Saul Steinberg, from March 1976, showed a New Yorker’s view of the world. In the years since then, it has seen many homages, even by The New Yorker itself, and it is a thriving Internet meme. Surprisingly, no one seemed to have done an India version. When we did a package on India’s relationships with the world, we decided to correct that regrettable omission. It’s still working for us, as a free download on our Web site.

Car Wars
Fifty-two years ago, Volkswagen challenged the domination of the auto majors with an audacious campaign by Julian Koenig and Helmut Krone of Doyle Dane Bernbach. Now, VW is on top of the pile, and Toyota was attempting to overtake it with a radical plan of its own. The irony was irresistible. Our homage worked, perhaps, too well: One reader accused us of selling the cover to advertisers!

We Told You So
This was in November 2010. ’Nuff said?

Brand Identity
Simple, clean, and it told the story of a grand project.

Gordon is Good
The anti-hero from Wall Street, the figure who inspired — really! — the generation of bankers who created the meltdown, was back. What better time to put a Hollywood star on an Indian business magazine’s cover? Our female readers, especially, approved.

Creation Story
Some have called this one of our most artistic covers. Well, yes, how could it be otherwise when Michelangelo is your artist? In his masterpiece on the Sistine Chapel ceiling, the panel that shows God giving life to Adam is one of the best-known images from the world of art, ever. When we sought to breathe life into our story on tablet computers, we stood on the shoulders of the
old master.

Chairman of the Board
To paraphrase good old Kipling, what should they know of business who only business know? We wanted to highlight the qualities that made Vishy Anand world chess champ, things any corporate warrior could learn much from. Check?