Big Cover and Spine Format Changes in the May 2018 Issue of the Nat Geo Magazine

[Philip Riviere]

The May 2018 issue has major changes to the format of the cover and the spine.

On the cover the date of the issue was moved from the bottom of the picture up to the top of the yellow border. That space previously announced war bonds, supplements and TV shows. The date format was changed from  May 2018 to 05.2018

On the spine the words National Geographic were removed (after over 100 years there) and replaced with a border rectangle. Here again the date format was changed from May 2018 to 05.2018  This will allow more space on the spine.

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[George Thomas Wilson]

Phil,

While the Society has had numerous changes to the magazine's covers over the years, to the best of my knowledge this is only the fourth spine version they have had.

#1:  From October 1888 to November 1913 the spines were blank.

#2:  From Dec. 1913 to Dec. 1959 the spines read: Mo./Yr.  The National Geographic Magazine  Vol./No.

#3:  From January 1960 to April 2018 the spines included content information (as you've shown).

#4:  From May 2018 to (?) the spine is the "New Format" (again as shown by you).

Thanks for the post.

Tom

[Philip Riviere]

[George Thomas Wilson]

Of course there is an exception to spine format #2, the January 1918 "Aviation Number":

[Melvin L. De Vilbiss]

Don't forget the October 1917 Special (Army/Navy waterproof) Edition

[Scott T. Shier]

look how thin the current NGM's are !

[Scott T. Shier]

. . . there is also a big difference in the paper they are using for the cover, and interior pages, as per the Editor's page. I find it noteworthy that this is the first time in a while that a physical change in the paper was an improvement, and not a downgrade (i.e., thinner paper) !

[Philip Riviere]

[George Thomas Wilson]

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/05/editor-letter-m...

[Juan Carlos Herrera del Castillo]

These changes haven't arrived yet to the Spanish edition, and it's not the first time: for example, it wasn't until March 2017 that the title in the cover was reduced, four months after the American edition.

By the way, am I the first to mention the change in the "RA" of "GEOGRAPHIC"?

[Philip Riviere]

March 2018 on left and May 2018 on right

[George Thomas Wilson]

Phil,

The old oak leaf Nat Geo's had the curved R's like the new version, but they don't touch the A's like on the new version:

Tom

[Philip Riviere]

Right Tom,

Just noticed it on the March 1942 cover...

Phil