It’s crazy to think that a single guy can manage/design 52 issues of Orlando Weekly a year. It’s even crazier to look back on those covers with a full heart, and realize just how important a year it’s been for the city of Orlando. As for me, I’m Adam McCabe — I creatively direct this thing. So here they are, for various reasons (many of them, selfish): my top ten covers of 2015. Enjoy!

The 25th Anniversary Cover I can’t effectively express in words how much of a bitch it was assembling all these old issue covers for a mega-quilt. Still though, the entire process of building this issue was a humbling learning experience that proved just how rich our history actually is. The cover turned out, big, loud, and overwhelming…ya know…just like us.
The April Fool’s Cover I’ve been begging to do a joke cover for a few years, so I’m glad our editor finally came around. This one went through multiple iterations, but eventually, we settled on the idea of playfully ripping off the Orlando Sentinel and claiming they bought us. Too many people thought it was real. Womp womp.
Gay Marriage Has Been Legalized This one might be my absolute favorite cover of the year. I minimized our logo because it just wasn’t about us, it was about hope. I just fell in love with Carlos Amoedo’s photo that he captured of the celebration after the mass gay marriage at City Hall. The sincerity of the embrace in the middle of the crowd — nobody else in the world exists to them, not even the onlooker behind them on safari with his camera phone. It was a pure moment, and there was only one word any of us could use to describe this point in history: “Finally.”
The Halloween Issue I’m biased, folks. I’m a horror junkie and I’m not afraid to admit it. That said, I wanted to craft a cover that pays homage to the old poster for “The Thing” (the shine in the eye, etc), but I also wanted it to be oddly modern like a really good club flyer. I think the contrast paid off, and it freaked a lot of people out.
Orlando Fringe 2015 Fun fact: I used to actually work for Orlando Fringe for about two years. I designed their old logo, marketing collateral, and all that jazz. So it’s been a fun challenge every year to brand Orlando Weekly’s Orlando Fringe issue without directly ripping off my own designs from years past — who else gets to say that? Life is weird. At the end of the day, this one was just a fun piece of art that captures both the playful spirit of the fest, but injects something different into the mix.
The Pride 2015 Issue What can I say about trans community members Kaleb Alexander and Andie Tarkenton that isn’t directly expressed in their faces on this cover? I’ve never seen two people so nervously excited to be featured on the cover of a Pride Issue, and I just loved the end result. Easily one of the most memorable shoots of my time here at Orlando Weekly.
Snap! Orlando’s Month-long Festival I just really liked the featured photo by Gregg Segal — it was almost destined to be a cover somewhere. I almost felt like I was violating it by slapping text over the image, but that’s the nature of the job! I think it turned out great.
Summer Guide 2015 Selfishly, this one was just typography porn for me. And that background is gorgeous. That’s all, carry on.
Tinder Bingo In classic Orlando Weekly snark, we decided to create a game of Tinder Bingo. It was awesome. Not to mention, Christopher Kretzer’s illustrations were just what the doctor ordered, showcasing all the whacked out characters one could encounter in the Tinder-verse.
Best of Orlando 2015 Every single year, I always leave our annual Best of Orlando cover shoot mumbling “holy shit, BEST SHOOT EVER”: this year was no exception. Rob Bartlett’s shot of Danny Voss (a.k.a. “Unicorn Guy”), unsung fan-mascot of Orlando City Soccer, was pure gold. It took a little convincing to get our publisher behind the massive amounts of empty space on the sides, but that’s a huge part of my job: getting the world around me to see my vision, and help them decide if it’s the best course of action for the company as a whole. Very proud of this one.