Cover Story

Purpose

Cover Story (also known as Cover Story Mock-up) is a visioning exercise where participants imagine their product, service, or organization featured on the cover of a prestigious magazine in the future. By designing the headline, pull-quotes, and imagery, teams articulate an ambitious yet concrete picture of success that aligns everyone around a shared aspiration.

At a glance

• Group size: 4–20 (small groups of 4–6 work best)
• Duration: 45 minutes
• Difficulty: Beginner
• Facilitation style: Creative, visual, high energy
• Setting: In-person preferred; virtual possible with digital whiteboard

How to run

1. Set the scene (5 min). Explain that participants will design a magazine cover set 1–5 years in the future. Choose a well-known publication relevant to the industry.
2. Distribute templates (2 min). Provide blank magazine cover templates with spaces for: cover image, headline, sub-headlines, pull-quotes, sidebar stories, and date.
3. Small-group creation (20 min). Groups design their covers. Encourage drawing, collage, and bold headlines. The cover should answer: What happened? Why does it matter? What do people say about it?
4. Gallery walk & presentations (12 min). Each group presents their cover in 2–3 minutes. The audience notes common themes and surprising ideas.
5. Synthesize (6 min). Facilitate a whole-group discussion to extract the shared vision elements. Document the emerging vision statement.

Materials needed

• Blank magazine cover templates (A3 or flip-chart size)
• Markers, coloured pencils, magazines for collage
• Tape or pins for gallery display

Pitfalls & common mistakes

• Being too realistic. The exercise thrives on aspiration — encourage bold thinking.
• Skipping the pull-quotes. Quotes from fictional customers or analysts add depth and specificity.
• Letting one person dominate. Rotate the marker to ensure everyone contributes.

Inclusion & accessibility

• Offer verbal description roles for participants who are not comfortable drawing.
• Provide large-print templates and high-contrast markers.
• Allow groups to present verbally if visual display is inaccessible.

Variations

• Newspaper front page: For organizations more aligned with news media.
• Social media post: Adapt the format to a viral tweet thread or LinkedIn post for a modern feel.
• Dystopian cover: Create a ‘worst-case scenario’ cover first, then the aspirational one, to sharpen the contrast.

When NOT to use this

• When the team needs to solve an immediate tactical problem — this is a strategic visioning tool.
• When there is no appetite for creative exercises and participants would find it frivolous.

Source & further reading

• Gray, D., Brown, S., & Macanufo, J. (2010). *Gamestorming.* O’Reilly Media.
• The Grove Consultants International. Cover Story Vision exercise.