The 9 Best Surf Magazine Covers of 2014

Print is dead, as the saying goes. So, does that make a magazine cover more or less valuable?

Here’s why a surf cover still has currency: If you star on a cover and you strategically leave an old magazine around and, say, a member of the opposite sex spots it, there’s a good chance your stock improves.

But say, 72 weeks ago, you had a good surf shot that went bonkers socially with double taps and comments on Instagram, maybe even @kellyslater commented, it’s not like you can leave that shit lying around.

So, that makes it official. Print is not dead for that reason only.

As chosen by Design Intern, Shinya Dalby

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09. Surfer Magazine – October 

Namibia. A new-ish best wave to the masses, where on this trip, young Koa Smith got a 30-odd second tube. The noise around the content of this issue was out of hand! The cover’s just a simple sticker to seal the absurdity within! Photo by Alan Van Gysen (a Stab favourite!)

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08. What Youth – Issue 9

The indie-lifestyle-sometimes-surf magazine, What Youth, recently had a makeover and built a beautiful new website, along with a new look magazine. It’s printed on really neat stock and she’s real heavy. It’s a sexy looking book. And the cover represents a refreshing change in their game. Like, ‘we about to do acid, and shit’s about to get real funky.’ Very rad. Very badass. Maybe.

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07. Surfers Journal – Volume 23 No. 1

Noa Deane’s crouchy zombie tube stance landed him a cover of one of surfing’s most treasured print editions. Any photo that makes a man wanna split for the sand is an easy sell. Good one, Nate Smith.

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06. Monster Children – issue 41

Just gonna leave this here (Kendal Lee Schuler by Chris Searl).

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05. Surfing Magazine – January issue

When we started seeing Laurent Pujol’s body of work floating around on social media in 2013, we jumped on that shit, and milked it, like, real hard. That kind of thing can’t be contained, though. Surfing were also very onto it, and I believe this shot of Bruce by Pujol was a subject of a bidding war, which they won.

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04. Stab 73 (LOL)

Like Andy Irons once said, Second is the first fucking loser. With great urge to reclaim #1, we hired Laurent to outdo his own masterpiece, by getting him to tail Shane Dorian on a 12-footer. We probably put Laurent’s life in danger (he got absolutely cooked a couple secs after this shot), but we got the cover. Bigger and better, maybe.

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03. Tracks Magazine, March

This looks like a photo that could’ve been taken any time in the last decade. Gav Beschen, with his blonde cap flap going mad, Stone on the nose, is still getting it done. Tracks have been on-and-off running this Transworld-ish kind o’ crop that’s a little ‘meh,’ but in this instance, everything about this cover is pretty much perfect.

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02. Surfing World – issue 357

…But if 10x overhead Pipe isn’t really your vibe, check this thing out. Kinda like the Noa Deane cover of SJ, this makes any surfer wanna split their keyboard in half and sprint for the Summer sand, chasing that cool relief. This IS the perfect surfing magazine cover. People who don’t even remotely almost not even think about surfing would buy this shit. Ben Bourgeois by Chris Burkard.

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01. Surfer, Big Issue

“The brutal force of mother nature” vibe this cover is throwing out is very powerful and very ominous. And it should be so. This magazine highlights the environmental degradation and has articles educating us on how we need to be more considerate of the ocean’s health, much, much more. The photo, even without words, looks fucking angry. ‘Cuz it is. Although it’s not the warmest page one, it is however, engaging as all hell. Shot on the South Coast of NSW from a helicopter by Ray Collins.

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