CLIFTON, NEW JERSEY -- Sandy Alexander Inc., has produced the first ever mix and match magazine cover for Hearst Magazine's Esquire which went on sale April 10.   The magazine's May cover, "How to Be a Man", features a new "make your own face" perforated cover.   The multiple covers feature the facial features of Barack Obama, George Clooney and Justin Timberlake, on three covers that when separated provide 27 combinations of the various facial features.   The unique nature of the cover provides a fun interactive piece which is expected to dramatically increase trial, readership and pass along of this issue.

To produce the special issue for Esquire, Sandy Alexander used a unique die that perforated all three covers at once which saved a significant amount of production time while dramatically reducing cost and time-to-market versus running the three covers separately.   A significant amount of pre-production planning as well as testing on press and in the bindery was required to ensure the cover could be printed, perfed and bound while still providing consumers with a user friendly piece. "Aligning the images perfectly between the three covers was critical so that the reader would be able to easily tear the strips apart without tearing the covers," said Karen Wagner, Production Director of Print Solutions for Hearst.  The new cover is already generating a tremendous amount of buzz in the marketplace.

Sandy Alexander offers an extensive portfolio of in-line advertising insert capabilities including: windows, flaps, odd shape cuts, and scent strips, along with other unique state-of-the-art specialty print techniques through its extensive web, sheetfed and digital facility located in Clifton, New Jersey.  Sandy Alexander services clients in the corporate communication, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, automotive, advertising, and promotion industries.  For more information about this unique cover, special effects and specialty printing, contact Doug Hazlett, Vice President of Marketing, at (973) 897-4045 or [email protected]