Magazine cover designs for colonial literature

1. G O L D E N
T H E N E W W O R L D
F L O W I N G
W I T H R I C H E S
L E T T E R O F D I S C O V E R Y
Discover lofty
mountains,
great rivers,
lush forests,
gold mines and
more.
Columbus's
exclusive guide
to the spices,
gold and
precious metals
of Juana.
G O L D E N M A G A Z I N E
FIRST-HAND LOOK:
NATIVES
"Naked and
Timourous"

2. LIVING
LIVING
KNIT TOGETHER BY
A BOND OF LOVE
JOHN WINTHROP
35
DON'T SET A
POOR EXAMPLE
HOW TO
PRACTICE
OBEDIENCE:
GOD'S
ORDAINED
POOR
EXCLUSIVE!
KEEP YOUR HOME
TRUE TO GOD'S
COMMANDMENTS
PAGE 20
PAGE 40
How to seek the end of
brotherly affection
Abridge yourself of
your own superfluities
Rejoice and mourn, labor
and suffer together
Tips on how to navigate
the law of nature and
the law of grace from
WINTHROP
A MODEL OF CHRISTIAN CHARITY
C O M M U N A L
Make your brother's
burdens your own
THIS ISSUE IS EXCLUSIVE TO EXISTING READERS OF COMMUNAL LIVING

3. ADRIFT
THE INTERESTING NARRATIVE
Exclusive interview with
Olaudah Equiano: How one
man pulled himself out of
the excruciating clutches of
slavery and learned to tell
the tale .
"I therefore embraced every
occasion of improvement,
and every new thing that I
observed I treasured up in
memory." /pg. 25
in this issue
O N E S L A V E ' S J O U R N E Y T H R O U G H T H E A T L A N T I C

4. DEIST DAILY
THE AGE OF REASON
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
FEATURE STORY: WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM CONTEMPLATING THE STARRY HEAVENS?
PG. 24/
BUILDING A FAITH NOT BASED IN HEARSAY PG. 14/
REINVENTING THE SCIENCES: APPLICATION OF HUMAN INVENTIONS PG. 34/
COMPARING REVOLUTION IN FRANCE TO OUR CURRENT SITUATION IN AMERICA PG. 40/
EXPLORING THE TRUE THEOLOGY

5. Learned
Lady
O N T H E E Q U A L I T Y O F T H E S E X E S • M U R R A Y
5 SCIENTIFIC
JOURNAL MUST
READS
Beyond those of just the
novel kind | pg 19
RELIEVE THE WANT
OF A CULTIVATED
MIND
Murray gives tips on how to
keep the mind busy beyond
domestic employments | 39
ADMIRING GOD AND
THE NATURAL
WORLD
Enhancing your faith is a key
benefit to educational
equality, experts say | 54
W
O
M
E
N
I
N
S
C
I
E
N
C
E
T H E

6. Jones 1
Rachael Jones
Dr. Payton
ENGL 4700
8 December 2020
Narrative Introduction and Rationale for Final Project
For my final project, I sought out themes from each of the five units from this class and
translated them into modern magazine covers. I selected a single text from each unit and treated
each as a point of inspiration to create modern designs while still conveying the theme of these
colonial texts. In my dual public relations degree, several of my class projects and assignments
have incorporated graphic design and unique creative applications like this. I wanted to create
something for this class that builds on both visual and written communication skills. Often, I find
it easy in my English classes to elaborate my thoughts in a longform essay, while public relations
writing challenges me to condense complex thoughts into concise sentences and phrases. Not
only do I love practicing graphic design as a hobby, but I will use it in my career as well. I
decided to expand on this skill in this final project, creating a unique visual and written tone for
each cover. Each of the covers were designed in Canva, and the images were taken from
Unsplash, an online source for copyright-free images.
1. Columbus’s “Letter of Discovery”
The design for the magazine titled “Golden” reflects on Columbus’s “Letter of
Discovery.” The title is meant to allude to one of the ultimate goals of Columbus’s
expedition: to bring unending riches back to Spain. This magazine resembles a modern travel
magazine with a tantalizing image of crystal-clear Caribbean waters and language inciting
wonder and excitement about the new world, as Columbus’s letter describes. Much like

7. Jones 2
Columbus’s initial letter, this magazine cover glosses over any brutality or violence towards
the Natives and instead focuses on the guilelessness of the Natives and riches contained in
these islands. Photo by Romello Williams on Unsplash.
2. Winthrop’s “Model of Christian Charity”
“Communal Living” resembles a lifestyle magazine. Just how Winthrop’s sermon
instructed the Massachusetts Puritans on how to live together as a God-fearing community,
so this magazine instructs readers on ways to live their lives. The title refers to the social
unity of Winthrop’s vision for the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and each of the subsequent
titles reference different endeavors readers can partake in to achieve this model. The
indication at the top of the magazine references the exclusion of Natives and their traditional
cultural and religious practices from this idealized model of civilized community. I intended
for the design of this cover to appear cluttered and overloaded with text, just how Winthrop’s
sermon is overloaded with religious theory and rules for the Bay colony to follow. Photo
by Hillary Ungson on Unsplash
3. Equiano’s The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano
For Equiano’s narrative, I chose to create a spotlight magazine cover. Since the text
significantly follows one man’s journey from enslavement in Africa through the Atlantic on
slave ships, I figured it would be appropriate to design a magazine cover that features one
person, almost like a celebrity testimonial or interview. I intentionally kept the design on this
cover simple and even foreboding, to foreshadow the tales of brutality and maltreatment
towards slaves throughout the representative narrative. The title of the magazine, “Adrift,”
represents the theme throughout the narrative in which Equiano often feels lost or hopeless

8. Jones 3
and signifies the similar experience many slaves in the eighteenth century shared. Photo
by Ian Keefe on Unsplash.
4. Paine’s The Age of Reason
This magazine cover serves to imitate a modern science magazine, as Paine’s text largely
discusses science and reason as alternatives to organized religion. The title “Deist’s Digest”
highlights the strong focus of deism in Paine’s text, where he denounces orthodox
Christianity and the corruption of false theology. The design of this magazine focuses on the
scientific principles in which Paine argues cannot be created by man, but only discovered and
applied. The galaxy photo represents Paine’s argument that God created the skies and
galaxies for man to learn and discover, rather than to reflect on God’s supernatural dealings
with the universe. Photo by Alexander Andrews on Unsplash
5. Murray’s “On the Equality of the Sexes”
I chose to create a cover for a magazine called “Learned Lady,” termed after the phrase
Murray uses in her essay to critique systematic education inequalities between men and women.
Just like the magazine cover for “Age of Reason,” this magazine is meant to resemble a modern
“women in science” magazine, drawing on the theme of educational equality in Murray’s essay.
One of the headings lists articles of science to read in the upcoming months, disputing a gender
standard Murray discusses in “On the Equality of the Sexes” in which women are confined to
only reading fiction. Similarly, the cover highlights other issues Murray discusses in her essay,
such as the ability for women to achieve religious enlightenment through proper education and
the desire many women have to not conform to domestic duties but rather cultivate her mind
through education. Photo by Drew Hays on Unsplash.