Michael Jordan 1988 Sports Illustrated Cover

This Sports Illustrated magazine cover from 1988 has a strong and compelling use of photography supported by type. The cover has an image of Michael Jordan in the air in front of the Sports Illustrated type. This makes Jordan feel like he is jumping off the page. The cover feels almost interactive and filled with energy. The type on the page mostly all bold sans serif type that helps to emphasize the larger than life athlete. The magazine cover is important to graphic design history because it shows the growth of Sports Illustrated magazines but also how athletes were portrayed at the time. Michael Jordan was already being idolized and he had not even won any championship titles on the Bulls yet. The cover is almost a sign that Jordan was going to be an icon.