Artist: Erika Calesini
+ erikacalesini.it

Artists: various
+ designlibrary.it

Artist: Anouk Omlo
+ anoukomlo.com

Artist: Peter Jansen
+ humanmotions.com
+ materialise.com

Artist: Dejana Kabiljo
+ kabiljo.com

"Keiichi Tanaami’s cover offered a unique interpretation of Autumn/Winter 07’s print trend and featured his trademark goldfish. ‘I envisioned a huge tank of many goldfish, such as the pop-eyed goldfish I encountered as a child. The incoherent conversations I used to have with them still inspire me and I tried to recreate one of these scenes.’

When creating his cover, artist Nigel Robinson experienced the overwhelming demands of being an editor/creative director first-hand. ‘The challenges were to try to get a low-tech feel on the cover of a high-quality product. I think without the input of Wallpaper’s creative director, it wouldn’t have worked properly.’

When Hedi Slimane left Dior Homme last year, the fashion world lost a son, but the photography world gained one. The posters Slimane created for his guest editorship of Wallpaper* are part of an ongoing photography project. ‘Photography is really an organic process for me, systematic and repetitive. I document anything around me.’"

Artists: Keiichi Tanaami, Nigel Robinson and Hedi Slimane
+ wallpaper.com

This cover by Larry Sultan was one of our favorites. Also after the jump are covers by Tom Friedman and Johanna Grawunder.

"Wallpaper* has a long-standing creative relationship with legendary US photographer Larry Sultan. This cover, shot as part of a mischievous men’s fashion shoot in the issue, is a reworking of his iconic Practicing Golf Swing – an affectionate, candid portrait of Larry’s father, Irving, from his celebrated Pictures from Home series from 1992.

Sculptor Tom Friedman had his larger-than-lifesized fly, made from clay, hair, dust and wire, stalk a tiny wooden figure along a wall. ‘I didn’t have a lot of time to think about this cover and decided on a manipulated photo of a piece I had just finished. I liked that it offered no information other than what it was, and posed questions as to why it was on the cover.’

If money were no object, we could well have produced our most extravagant cover yet. Says Grawunder, ‘I work with a lot of light, so I could have made a luminous cover. Trying to get a similar effect of luminosity, but with colour, was a challenge. I wanted to do something graphically strong using my work, but also make it mysterious and ambiguous.’ "

Artists: Larry Sultan, Tom Friedman and Johanna Grawunder
+ wallpaper.com

"In homage to Led Zeppelin, one of his all-time favourite bands, Koons reworked a piece from his Hulk series. The elk stems from his interpretation of the Led Zeppelin song Babe I’m Gonna Leave You. ‘It’s like a migration, like a big elk. You have a certain consciousness about developing out of an animal, but at the same time it’s very primal, instinctive. Sexual.’

There’s little doubt as to what inspired Thomas Demand when he created this graphic paper sculpture. The giant 10 he built and then photographed possesses the bold simplicity and seductive dimensions that are both characteristic of his work – a fantastic tenth birthday present for Wallpaper*.

‘As he was one of my heroes, it was with some trepidation that I approached Alan Fletcher to create a cover for us,’ admits our then-creative director, Tony Chambers. Fletcher convinced us to drop the entire masthead from the cover, saying, ‘If you’re gonna do it, you may as well bloody do it.’ The cover was one of his final works before his death in September 2006."

Artist: Jeff Koons, Thomas Demand and Alan Fletcher
+ wallpaper.com

"We previewed Marcel Wanders’ ‘Pillar’ lamp before it launched at the Salone del Mobile in 2007. Visitors to the fair could acquire a miniature version of the lamp, as long as they rocked up with one of our Global Eco Edit flyers. Each flyer was designed by origami expert Robert J Lang and cleverly folded into a paper ‘Pillar’ lamp that made great keeping.

For our first entertaining issue, photography duo Metz + Racine initially wanted to put ‘Entertaining’ on the cover, but decided on ‘Enter’ as a play on entering the party and the magazine. They asked set designer Hervé Sauvage to make the surprisingly large letters, which he carried over from Paris, on Eurostar.

We turned to Dieter Rams to create the first cover of 2007. Rams, one of the greatest product designers of the 20th century, is also an avid doodler and this illustration comes from his personal collection. When approached to contribute a cover, Rams added the line, ‘Less But Better’, accompanied by the succinct explanation, ‘You see, all is very simple.’ "

Artists: Marcel Wanders, Metz + Racine with Hervé Sauvage, and Dieter Rams
+ wallpaper.com

More from the Wallpaper* exhibition. Today's covers are from Design Barcode (above), Marcus Palmqvist with Hussein Chalayan, and Ian Davenport.

"To mark our retail issue, we called upon Design Barcode, a Japanese design collective who have revolutionised the humble barcode. The group offered us a selection of 40 designs to choose from. ‘We came up with the idea to design Wallpaper’s barcode with a global feel, using shapes of buildings from all over the world,’ says creative director Minoru Yoshida.

One of the most technically challenging covers in Wallpaper* history was the lenticular image of Hussein Chalayan’s mechanical dress shot by Marcus Palmqvist. Never one to use technology gratuitously, this technique reconciled the issues of how to aptly communicate the extraordinary qualities of Chalayan’s wondrous yet wearable creation.

Known for his technique of using paint-filled syringes and gravity, Ian Davenport used the graphic number 10 we supplied as a relief, adding his ‘chance paint incidents’ of drips and unpredictable lines of colour. ‘My work is about the organic nature of materials. I’m interested in the mechanical aspect and the contrast between control and random effects.’"

Artists: Design Barcode (above), Marcus Palmqvist with Hussein Chalayan, and Ian Davenport
+ wallpaper.com

"In addition to the pop culture references and Texan overtones, Dallas-based British painter Richard Patterson created a cover piece that also reflected his passion for architecture. ‘The interior was an idealised space I devised which reflected the sensual pleasure and shortcomings I felt were within modernism.’

American artist (and Whitney Biennial alumnus) Yuri Masnyj strikes the perfect balance between detail and abstraction. ‘By combining architectural, geometric and graphic forms and gestural mark making, I hoped to conjure up a feeling of anxiety. Something akin to standing below a big rock, teetering on a fragile edge.’

The design Zaha Hadid created was sketched freehand, then redrawn in Adobe Illustrator. ‘Sketching formed a critical part of my early career, and it continues to allow us our radical approach to architecture. The fluidity of the cover design embodies this exploration of complex curvelinearity, seamlessness and the smooth transition between elements.’"

Artists: Richard Patterson, Yuri Masnyj and Zaha Hadid
+ wallpaper.com