The Four Types of Magazine Covers

Image based magazine are effective because they often give clues to what's inside and feature a public figure or subject  that attracts people to it. Illustration based covers are usually comedic or not serious at least or meant to be inviting not typically on news stands. Type based covers feature mostly works and I personally think are the least effective because most people are attracted to familiar images and aren't going to stop to read a long cover. 

Concept based covers create a theme to make the viewer think. They're sort of confusing but suppose to be eye catching.