Harper's May (1896) - poster
The pattern
This still is filed under Issue-as-product mood sell.
Define
The issue is sold as a feeling: a face, a color field, a stance. Not as a table of contents.
Mechanism
Mood as SKU. The reader buys the atmosphere and trusts the articles will match. Zoning and figure do the listing's job.
Verdict
We publish a periodical or drop and the buyer chooses identity before they choose an article.
Why it works
The two cats are a compositional device wearing the costume of a joke: their long hanging bodies fill the lower half of the sheet and frame the white dress, which would otherwise be a shapeless void. Three gazes point out of the picture at once, and animal eye contact holds a passer-by longer than a human's does. Only three colours are on the sheet, so the orange type and the orange in the calico cat and the neckline trim read as one deliberate accent system. The humour is entirely in the cats' expressions, never stated, which is what keeps it from being cute.
Steal this when
Use this when you have no news, no offer and only a brand plus a date to communicate, and the job is simply to be the most memorable object on the wall. The hanging-animal framing device is worth stealing whenever a light-coloured subject needs dark shapes on both sides to give it an edge.