Complex Blog » Complex Covers

Eliza Dushku Covers Our October/November Issue! (3 of 3)

bfred — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 18:47:40 +0000

X-Mas comes early! Yesterday, and this morning, we unveiled the first two cover stories from our October/November issue (Cover 1: The Clipse x KAWS | Cover 2: Young Jeezy x ESPO), and now we’re dropping our third and final cover—Eliza Dushku—just in time for the premiere of Dollhouse Season 2 this Friday.

The issue hits stands on October 6, but luckily for you, we’ve posted the full gallery (including some issue outtakes!), cover story and behind-the-scenes video. Don’t say we never did anything for ya.

• CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ELIZA DUSHKU COVER STORY
• CLICK HERE TO SEE ELIZA’S FULL PHOTO GALLERY

WATCH THE BEHIND THE SCENES VIDEO:

Young Jeezy x ESPO Cover Our October/November Issue! (2 of 3)

bfred — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:30:30 +0000

Yesterday, the internet was going nuts over our Clipse x KAWS collaboration, the first of three cover stories from Complex’s October/November issue (click here if you missed it). Well now it’s time to feast your eyes on our second cover: Young Jeezy, with illustration by Philly graf kingpin ESPO. Both artists are known for flipping American capitalism on it’s head, so the partnership was a natural fit.

The issue hits stands on October 6, but you can check out the full interview by Sacha Jenkins and a behind the scenes video now. Stay tuned tomorrow for the release of our third cover—the issue’s sexy female side.

• CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FULL JEEZY x ESPO COVER STORY!

WATCH THE BEHIND THE SCENES VIDEO:

Clipse x KAWS Cover Our October/November Issue! (1 of 3)

bfred — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:14:15 +0000

Welcome to the beginning of Complex’s October/November 2009 issue! If you’ve been keeping up with perennial hip-hop underdogs Clipse, you already know the duo frequently collaborates with art icon KAWS. And with their third studio album ’Till The Casket Drops coming soon, we thought we’d keep the partnership going with our latest collaborative cover. The sick action figure image will be on newsstands everywhere on October 6, but we’re dropping the full feature and behind the scenes video online now to whet your appetite.

Oh, and don’t forget, this is Complex cover week—tomorrow we’ve got a second cover collabo between a rapper and artist, and then on Wednesday we’ve got our third cover that shows off the sexy side of Complex. Stay tuned!

• CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FULL CLIPSE x KAWS COVER STORY!

WATCH THE BEHIND THE SCENES VIDEO:

Vote For Complex’s 2008 Aubrey O’Day Cover!

bfred — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 15:38:05 +0000

Click on the image to view a bigger version of the cover.

Here at Complex, we take pride in creating some of the sexiest images to ever hit the newsstand. So we’re thrilled to announce that one of our all-time most talked-about female covers—Aubrey O’Day from October 2008—has been nominated in Amazon.com’s “Best Covers of the Year” contest. In the category of “Sexiest Cover,” the Aubrey image is going up against covers from Vanity Fair, The Advocate, New York, and Elle. And after looking at the nominees, we think you’ll agree that Complex can’t be beat. Follow the link below to help us out!

• CLICK HERE TO CAST YOUR VOTE IN AMAZON’S COVER CONTEST!

Augor’s Sketches From The Kid Cudi Complex Cover

intern — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 20:34:41 +0000

By now, you’ve probably peeped the cover stories from our annual Style & Design issue (Kid Cudi x Augor Cover | Keri Hilson x So-Me Cover), but do you know the full story? Los Angeles graf artist Augor, who collaborated with Kid Cudi to create one side of the issue’s striking visuals, took to his blog yesterday to give the world a behind-the-scenes look at the creative process, including a gang of exclusive sketches that led him to the final product. Take a look at some of the images and artist’s insight below…

It all starts with sketches. On his blog, Augor writes,

“Going along with the ideas herd in KID CUDI’s music a couple drawings were done on the plane ride from LA to NY in prep for a meeting that was to be held at the COMPLEX office about what ideas Augor had for the photo shoot.”

We’re not sure why the third person is needed, but hey, he’s good with the pen, so his choice! Check the preliminary ideas that Augor brought when meeting with Complex’s Art team and Cudi:

“After a few crude sketches were produced the realization that maybe the all grey toned approach wouldn’t catch the impact Cudi was trying to get with the shoot…Once back in LA Augor took screen prints and got to work with a 2 week deadline laying the base plans down of how his imagery would fit with the photos.”

Augor was on hand to help art-direct the cover shoot with Cudi, and following some input from the musicain and Complex, Augor began going in with color and some heavier line drawings:

It’s a step by step process, with many rounds of sketches. On his blog, Augor continues:

“After getting a solid idea of how the interior illustrations were going to fit, development took place on the finals.”

“After doing the analog part of the illustrations it was time to move onto the digital bond. Along side with co worker Sram we tossed around a few ideas on what would suit Augor’s illustrations the best. Here are some in process pics of making it happen.”

“After the hard part (of figuring out what was going to be in the illustrations) was done another hard part surfaced….how do we make the background pop without overpowering the monster and Cudi? A couple background elements were drawn and scrapped but one made the cut that was used in sections throughout the spread”

“With all the elements into play the final interior illustrations were produced”

“After knocking out the interior the hardest part is saved for last!!
Developing a cover. A cover itself is extremely crucial. It is what catches the eye and draws a customer in. So in developing this a few ideas were passed on before the final came out. The first idea was to have Cudi as some sort of sorcerer in the woods. Very Halloweeen like.”

“Even though it was a cool concept the first cover attempt didn’t mesh well with the summer heat the issue was due to drop in so it was back to the drawing board. Here are the ink drawings used to compose the final cover”

“After trial and re trial this is what came out of the new set up.”

“The background cover kind of felt a little mack and cheese and the snake man was clouding Cudi’s flow so the final cover that will go to print has a very aqua splash feeling… “

“Hope everyone enjoys the issue”

For Augor’s full behind-the-scenes look, be sure to visit his blog.

Keri Hilson Covers Our August/September Style & Design Issue!

bfred — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 16:48:33 +0000

Yesterday, we unveiled our cover collaboration between Kid Cudi and Augor (catch up!), and today we’re giving you the other side of our annual Style & Design issue (August/September): Atlanta singer Keri Hilson. In a collaboration with French artist So-Me (you may know him from videos like Kanye’s “The Good Life,” Justice’s “D.A.N.C.E.” and Kid Cudi’s “Day & Nite”), we captured Miss Keri’s sexy, playful style like never before. The issue officially hits stands next week (August 11), but we’ve got more than enough to keep you busy til then…

• CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE FULL KERI HILSON COVER STORY!
• CLICK HERE TO BROWSE THE KERI HILSON x SO-ME GALLERY!

WATCH THE BEHIND-THE-SCENES VIDEO:

Jonah Hill Covers The June/July Issue of Complex!

bfred — Wed, 27 May 2009 15:55:01 +0000

Could Jonah Hill be the new king of pop? The scene stealing actor from flicks like Superbad and Forgetting Sarah Marshall is taking 2009 by storm—he stars in America’s current #1 movie (Night At The Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian), as well as Judd Apatow’s upcoming dramedy Funny People, and he’s even co-writing and producing Sacha Baron Cohen’s eagerly anticipated Brüno flick. To celebrate Jonah’s new superstar status, we photographed him in various Michael Jackson-themed scenarios for our off-the-wall June/July 2009 cover story. Shamon!

• CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL JONAH HILL COVER STORY!
• CLICK HERE TO BROWSE THE MICHAEL JACKSON-THEMED GALLERY!

Watch the behind-the-scenes video below…

Katy Perry Covers The June/July Issue of Complex!

bfred — Tue, 26 May 2009 14:46:05 +0000

We have to admit, it took us a while to come around to pop’s latest princess Katy Perry. But somewhere between “I Kissed A Girl” dominating radio airwaves and her two-riffic Grammy appearance, we realized that the female K.P. is in fact the complete wifey package—sexy, funny, talented, and easy-going. Don’t believe us? Get to know Katy a lot better in our June/July cover story…

• CLICK HERE TO READ THE KATY PERRY COVER STORY!
• CLICK HERE TO BROWSE THE KATY PERRY GALLERY!

Watch the behind-the-scenes video below…

The Class Of 2009 Covers Complex’s April (Fool’s) Issue!

bfred — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 16:05:30 +0000

By now, we’re sure you’ve seen our latest issue with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian on the cover. Well, the issue was so popular that it sold out completely in less than a week! To make up for the issue flying off stands so quickly, we decided to rush out a second issue for the month of April: Meet The Class of 2009!

That’s right, Complex has chosen our 6 favorite trendsetters to grace our latest split cover: Aaron “Yung L.A.” Reid, Officer Ricky and Sean Kingston on one side, and Stack$, Yung Berg and Nefu Da Don on the other. The issue hits stands today, so go cop it! Get full size covers below…

Kim Kardashian Covers The April/May Issue of Complex!

bfred — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 14:05:48 +0000

In case you couldn’t tell from the groundbreaking Kanye West cover story we unveiled yesterday, Complex’s April/May 2009 issue is gonna be a doozy. For the issue’s other cover, we knew we had to get a woman who could go toe-to-toe with 'Ye’s larger-than-life celebrity. Who else but our girl Kim?

See, Complex was the first magazine to feature Kim Kardashian on a cover back in 2007, just before she blew up. And now that she’s America’s Sweetheart, we had to reunite and do something different for our annual Green Issue. Instead of the same old cookie cutter sexy shoot, we decided to go conceptual'shooting Kim in front of a series of projected backgrounds that highlight our planet’s environmental plight. Think of it as curves with a cause.

• CLICK HERE TO READ THE KIM KARDASHIAN COVER STORY!
• CLICK HERE TO BROWSE THE KIM KARDASHIAN GALLERY!

Watch the behind-the-scenes video below…

Kanye West Covers The April/May Issue Of Complex!

bfred — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 14:06:16 +0000

No matter how many times we collaborate with him, we can always count on Kanye to come with a completely original idea when it’s time do a cover story. And as you probably guessed from the preview he posted on his blog back in January, we’ve got something really special planned for our April/May 2009 issue.

The magazine officially hits stands on April 7, but you can check out the full story now, along with the futuristic photo shoot, co-created with photographer/director Chris Milk. How did we make the hi-tech computer generated imagery? Watch the video below to see the whole process…

• CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FULL KANYE WEST COVER STORY!
• CLICK HERE FOR THE “MAKING OF THE AIR YEEZY” STORY!

Tomorrow we’ll be revealing the other side of our April/May issue: Kim Kardashian!

Kobe Bryant Covers Our Feb/March Issue!

bfred — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 18:03:34 +0000

He’s been in the public eye since he escorted Brandy to the senior prom, but the truth is, not many people really know who Kobe Bryant is. For our Feb/March 2009 cover story, we really wanted to get inside the NBA superstar’s head, so we sent the one member of our staff who can relate to million-dollar checks and the ups and downs of life in the spotlight: our founder Marc Ecko.

Whether you love him or hate him, you won’t knock Kobe’s hustle after reading our candid Q&A. The issue officially hits stands on February 10, but we’re giving you the chance to check out the full Kobe cover story now, along with a few videos we shot on location at the shoot.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE KOBE COVER STORY!

VIDEO: Marc Ecko Interviews Kobe
VIDEO: Kobe Breaks Down His New Nikes

Tracy Morgan & Chris Mintz-Plasse Cover Our Nov Issue!

bfred — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 16:44:47 +0000

With the heated election only weeks away, the country is becoming increasingly divided. But fear not'our November 2008 cover co-stars are bringing back some good old fashioned U-N-I-T-Y, proving that black or white, young or old, we can all work as one.

If you’ve been too wrapped up in poll numbers to pay attention, Tracy Morgan is still killing it in his Emmy-winning show 30 Rock (the new season starts next week!), while Christopher Mintz-Plasse is moving past “McLovin’” with his new movie Role Models (opens November 7). Despite their differences, the two actors got along like old friends. Check out the full cover story HERE, or skip straight to the election-themed photo shoot HERE. Below, we’ve also posted an exclusive behind the scenes video for your viewing pleasure…

Related: Marisa Miller Covers Our November Issue!

Marisa Miller Covers Our November Issue!

bfred — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 14:30:03 +0000

Just when you thought it was safe…Complex is back with the baddest supermodel in the game. You’ve probably gotten a glimpse of Marisa Miller on the cover of Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Edition or strutting her stuff with the Victoria’s Secret Angels, but you’ve never seen her like this. We took the all-American girl down to NYC’s Lower East Side to shoot our November 2008 cover, and we discovered that she’s one seriously down-ass chick.

Check out the full story now to hear her talk about body paint and boxing skills, or skip straight to the gallery to see all the jaw-dropping photos. As an extra bonus below, we’ve posted the first of our behind the scenes videos from the set of the photo shoot. You’re all welcome!…

Seth Rogen & Kevin Smith Cover Our October Issue

bfred — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 19:16:11 +0000

Last week, Complex had the internets going (and busting) nuts over our October cover story with Danity Kane’s hottest sex symbol Aubrey O’Day. But that was just the beginning of what we’re calling “The Classy Issue.” Let us introduce you to the other side: Seth Rogen and Kevin Smith.

The star and director of Zack and Miri Make A Porno gave us a hilarious and explicit interview, where they discuss the ins and outs of consuming pornography (read it here). For the visuals, they posed for a Sex Education-themed photo shoot, complete with blow-up dolls and white lab coats (see the gallery here). The issue officially hits stands on October 7th, so cop one for the full experience. And don’t forget to watch this hilarious “Porn Quiz” video (below) to see Seth and Kevin put their adult entertainment knowledge to the test…

N.E.R.D. & Lupe Fiasco Cover Our Aug/Sept Issue!

bfred — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 15:08:48 +0000

CLICK HERE for a large version of the N.E.R.D. cover. CLICK HERE for a large version of the Lupe cover.

This year for Complex’s annual “Style & Design” collector’s edition issue, we set out to fuse the worlds of music and art in a way that had never been done. On one cover, we paired N.E.R.D. with KAWS, the graffiti icon-turned-art world darling who also happens to be one of Pharrell’s favorite designers. And on the other cover, Lupe Fiasco teamed up with another graf God'Todd “REAS” James'to create an outrageous image of the Chi-Town superstar sitting on the sun.

In addition to the covers, KAWS and REAS painted over even more photos of the musicians for the features inside the book. CLICK HERE to see the full story with N.E.R.D. and HERE for the full Lupe story. Check back on Monday for the other side of our August/September issue'two sexy-ass covers with Cassie (that’s 4 total, if you’re counting), along with a titillating series of videos from her shoot that are sure to have the 'net going nuts. After the jump, check out four videos from the N.E.R.D./Lupe shoots, including an interview with KAWS.

N.E.R.D. Cover: Behind The Scenes Video:

KAWS Talks N.E.R.D. Collabo:

Lupe Cover: Behind The Scenes Video:

Lupe Talks Style & Design (w/ REAS):