When it comes to graphic design, guitar magazines have historically been about as tasteful and restrained as a ten-minute Yngwie Malmsteen solo. Tackiness tends to drip off the page like sweat from Carlos Santana’s brow. I’m talking about this sort of thing (and this isn’t even an extreme example):

Granted, it was the ’80s, and granted, it’s mainly the photo that makes it so awful and comical. (Doesn’t Vito Bratta look like a hirsute cousin of Radar editor Maer Roshan?) But really, folks, this sort of thing is grounds for a war-crimes tribunal. The issue above was published in September 1989, soon after I finished an editorial internship at Guitar World. The magazine’s editor at the time was a guy named Joe Bosso, who eventually left to become an A&R guy at some major record label. In the late ’90s he achieved a small measure of immortality by co-writing episode 10 of the godlike first season of The Sopranos.

For some reason I’ve always felt compelled to save every guitar magazine I’ve ever acquired. In my apartment are five or six boxes filled with hundreds of guitar magazines dating back to about 1984. There is some very unfortunate and hilarious content in those issues, especially the ones from the hair metal era.

All this is why Guitar Player’s recent covers have been such a nice surprise. This is a very elegant and balanced design:

This new cover format is totally unique, at least in the context of guitar magazines. The subject of the cover story is photographed in a tight close-up, and one of his or her guitars is presented against the white background above the photo. I love the black-and-white shot of Nels Cline; I love the fetishization of his instrument; I love the understated logo; I love the way the type is arrayed; I love the white space at the top. More than anything, I love that this cover does not scream at me. The art director’s name is Alexandra Zeigler; I may send her flowers.

Guitar Player has always been the most intelligent and tasteful of the guitar magazines, but even it has perpetrated plenty of design atrocities over the last few decades. I stopped subscribing to it several years ago, so I’m not sure when the redesign happened. I think it was about a year ago. I don’t how these covers are selling on the newsstand, but I hope they keep it up.