This is the weekend edition of TheMarioBlog and will be updated as needed. The next blog post is Monday, March 21, and I will be reporting from Germany’s capital, Berlin, all of next week.

I am always on the lookout for effective color use.

For my color presentations, I usually deal with one color at a time. In the case of this cover, my question is whether this should appear under the Power of Red, the Power of Blue, or both. I think both.

Another question related to content: should this be filed under the Power of Robert Mueller, the special investigator looking into Russian interference with the 2016 US Election and the part President Trump and his team may or may have not played in it.

The contrast between red and blue is always interesting: red is a hot temperature color that ignites passion, while blue is cool and calming. Perhaps the editors and art directors wanted to accomplish a sense of the two: we know that the Mueller investigation, now entering its second year, is a hot topic of interest to Americans. We also hear that the much respected Mr. Mueller, a former FBI Director, is all about being cool and collected.

This WIRED cover is powerful and conveys a strong message to entice us to read the story.

For now, I have filed this cover under the category of “Covers We Like”, and I know it will provide us for a good discussion with my Columbia students.

Blue and red are trendy

Looks like cool blue and hot red are the colors of the week, judging by these news magazine covers. The mixing of the temperatures helping to seel these stories.

As if the editors and art directors tell us: the news is hot, but keep cool about it. Works.

Cool temperature cover, hot content

A powerful example of visual storytelling via this cover of National Geographic this month. Here the cool temperature of the page is effective in conveying the hot nature and urgency of the content.