What's the best way to design a "best of" issue cover? A contest! New York magazine challenged Alan Dye, Carin Goldberg, Gretel, Wieden+Kennedy, and Wolff Olins to design the cover of its annual "Best of New York" issue, which is now on newsstands and subscribers' coffee tables. But choosing a single best cover design proved more difficult than determining say, Best Chinatown Facial (Joean Beauty Center), Best Mirror Repair (Sundial Schwartz), or Best Black and White Cookie (William Greenberg Jr. Desserts).

"Everyone did such amazing work that in the end we wimped out and picked two," explains New York design director Chris Dixon in the magazine. Newsstand copies feature Goldberg's Pop art cover (above, left) while subscribers received those featuring the design of motion graphics firm Gretel (above, right), which stuck colorful flags into block letters made out of subway maps (two of Wieden+Kennedy's designs also riff on the pushpin/map idea). Check out all nine contenders here, including the entry from branding firm Wolff Olins. Their cover features a lone piece of tape on which is scrawled a phone number (212-471-1555). Dial it, and after a few rings, you'll hear the following chipper message:

Hi, I'm either on the other line or riding a roller coaster, eating ribs, getting custom window treatments, planning a blind date, waxing my armpits, learning Chinese, or replacing my furniture. While you're waiting for a call back, you might want to try some stuff on the Best of New York list too.

Hmm. We'd rather spend the time looking at the Wieden+Kennedy entry that spells out "Best of New York" in a salty script made from hot pretzels.