I’ve been reluctant to write about Janet Froelich for fear of coming off like a freshman painting student conceding some small admiration for the work of Picasso. Her art direction of the New York Times Magazine is legendary, as well as a continuous source of inspiration to the pub. design community.
So, I won’t blubber on much. Nevertheless, I thought Sunday’s cover package was spectacular. Using a relatively restrictive vocabulary of well-worn iconography (maps, globes) She and photo illustrator Kevin Van Aelst push the language in all kinds of unexpected and innovative ways to talk about waning U.S. influence. There are a a couple of other stunning spreads in the issue as well.
The opener and a subsequent spread….
Style section, with blurry photograph by Julian Schnabel….
…and a gentle typographical homage to art deco.
Update: There’s been some interest in this post, particularly among international readers who don’t see The New York Times Magazine on a regular basis. So I thought I’d a share a few more pages from this same issue for those outside the states:
New York Times On Language column
New York Times News Consumed column with Funny Pages lead
New York Times Second Feature Opener
[...] Rothstein’s excellent Designing Magazines blog has a few spreads from last weekends edition, but we’re about to begin getting a more regular and closer view [...]
[...] Magazine design greatness – the NY Times magazine | Designing Magazines Author (and blogger) Jandos Rothstein hearts Jane Froelich’s art direction of the NY Times magazine. Me too. It’s why I pay extra for that hunk of paper containing stuff I can read free online. (tags: magazines nytimes design) [...]
[...] been a bit of interest around the recent NYT Magazine post—particularly overseas where the Magazine isn’t a standard-issue component (along with [...]
As a designer of the New York Times Magazine, I also salute Arem Duplessis, the art director of the New York Times Magazine. His keen thinking and modern design approach, has driven all of us to push the boundaries over the past four years.
[...] An earlier post about the NYT Magazine, which shows several pages from before the redesign, can be seen here. [...]