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Charles Apple: The Visual Side of Journalism

‘New York Times’ archive

Number of comments in parentheses

Feb. 6: A look at today’s notable Super Bowl pages (4)

There was way too much similarity in choices of front-page Super Bowl art around the country. The best photo choices were made today by some of the nation’s largest papers. Here’s a look at some of the more notable pages of the day… ________________________________ REPRESENTING THE NEW YORK GIANTS — NEWSDAY Melville, N.Y. Circulation: 404,542 Newsday today wrapped its usual [...]

Jan. 25: A look at today’s State of the Union pages (1)

Here’s a look at some of today’s most notable State of the Union front pages. And a few not-so-notable ones as well… — WASHINGTON POST Washington, D.C. Circulation: 507,465 Not surprisingly, the Washington Post did a fabulous job with how it presented today’s State of the Union coverage. You get the feeling they’ve done this before. The lead picture — [...]

Jan. 23: A look at Monday’s NFL conference championship pages

Both conference championship games Sunday were very close. Let’s hope the Super Bowl is at least as interesting. In the meantime, here’s a look at a few of the day’s most notable NFL front pages, as seen at the Newseum… __________________________________________ NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS 23, BALTIMORE RAVENS 20 New England quarterback Tom Brady wasn’t clicking quite as well as usual [...]

Jan. 16: A look at Monday’s NFL playoff pages (4)

As a Packers fan, I’m awfully bummed over Sunday’s games. Congrats to the only Giants fan I know who’ll go out of his way to rub it in — my former Virginian-Pilot colleague Bob Voros. Congratulations, Bob. Get bent. ____________________________________ BALTIMORE RAVENS 20, HOUSTON TEXANS 13 I was pulling for the underdogs in yesterday’s early game. What we’ve learned: If [...]

Dec. 27, 2011: NYT promotes Tom Bodkin to deputy managing editor

Longtime New York Times design director Tom Bodkin has been promoted to deputy managing editor, the Times‘ Media Decoder blog reports today. Amy Chozick reports: Mr. Bodkin, who has been the paper’s design director since 1987, previously held the position of assistant managing editor. He will continue to oversee a team of 130 art directors, Web designers, graphic artists and [...]

Dec. 19, 2011: New York Times’ news design editor Donald Parsons retires (4)

Among the noted veterans taking a buyout package from the New York Times this month: Longtime news design editor Donald Parsons. A 1972 graduate of Florida Southern College, Donald worked at the Times, off and on, for 30 years. He writes in the official memo announcing his departure: I first came to The New York Times in 1981 and did [...]

Dec. 8, 2011: A closer look at the NYT’s three-day hockey brawler series (1)

When I spotted a photo — posted Tuesday by Patrick LaForge of the New York Times – of the Times‘ sports front, I thought it was an unusual — but quite nice — treatment of a sports features story. What I didn’t realize was that the page kicked off the final segment of a three-day series on the life and [...]

Dec. 7, 2011: Death and carnage — including children — on page one

While most U.S. newspapers put file art of Pearl Harbor, Christmas scenes or local photos on page one today, four of the nation’s eight largest newspapers made a very tough call to show the aftermath of a terrorists attack in Kabul, Afghanistan. Three of the four papers used pictures taken by the same photographer, in fact: Massoud Hossaini of Agence [...]

Dec. 6, 2011: Interesting use of white space by the New York Times (1)

The only story on the front of today’s New York Times sports section: A detailed look at the “repeated head trauma, chronic pain and a deadly drug addiction” suffered by former National Hockey League “enforcer” Derek Boogaard. The way the Times chose to display the story: With a small image of a brain surrounded by a huge amount of white [...]

Dec. 2, 2011: News design legend Louis Silverstein passes away (2)

Former New York Times art director and assistant managing editor Louis Silverstein passed away yesterday. He was 92. You’d be amazed at the list of things we accept today as standard features of print newspapers that Silverstein invented over his decades at the Times. From today’s NYT obit: The Times, Mr. Silverstein understood, had to modernize. “The Gray Lady,” as [...]

Nov. 28, 2011: What trendy newspapers are doing for Christmas (5)

Here’s the Christmas tree set up this weekend by the New York Times copy desk. You just have to love it. Thanks to Diego Sorbara for posting this via Facebook.

Nov. 26, 2011: ‘Lazy day on the copy desk’?

That’s what Phillip Blanchard of Testy Copy Editors says about the headline on this profile of Rick Perry on the front page of today’s New York Times. I don’t know. I like it but I don’t. I guess you could take it or leave it. Read the profile here. Find the Testy Copy Editors on Facebook or on their bulletin [...]

Nov. 19, 2011: Gotham or Verlag? Type geeks want to know.

So, is it Gotham or Verlag? The official 9/11 Memorial trademark in New York City, I mean. Folks have apparently been debating which of the two typefaces was used in the creation of this. David W. Dunlap of the New York Times looked into it. The short answer is: Both. Kind of. The letterforms shown in red here are mostly [...]

Nov. 18, 2011: Why the New York Times needs a copy editor

The New York Times — or, at least, its online desk — needs a copy editor to check over headlines on the centerpiece package on its home page. Let’s zoom in a little closer so you can see that better. It’s just a simple typo. My informant says: There aren’t any funny double meanings here, but it is surprising the [...]

Nov. 15, 2011: One of the most obtrusive ads yet… and it’s from the New York Times (3)

While I was out running errands today, I received a note from a former colleague: Shoot me now. This is just …. well, I can’t wait to hear your take on it. Go to nytimes.com and wait for the ad to overtake the page. Let me know what you think. Naturally, I zipped over to the Times‘ web site immediately. [...]

Nov. 13, 2011: A look at Sunday’s Penn State football front pages (3)

Saturday marked the first Penn State University football game since 1949 that Joe Paterno wasn’t on the sidelines and the first since 1966 in which he wasn’t head coach for the Nittany Lions. This was traumatic to players and Penn State fans. Others, of course, were quick to point out that this wasn’t nearly as traumatic as what happened to [...]

Nov. 9, 2011: Would YOU draw 1,028 little figures for a magazine cover?

I wouldn’t. I’d probably draw 20 or 30, tops, and then use the clone tool. But illustrator Tim Enthoven would. He drew 1,028 separate figures for the cover of the next issue of the New York Times Magazine. That cover is today’s “Cover of the Day” by the Society of Publication Designers. Find their post here and find the SPD [...]

Oct. 24, 2011: A graphic. The print version successful; the interactive version, not so much…

Infographics guru Gert K. Nielsen of Copenhagen, Denmark, posted a fascinating comparative analysis of a New York Times graphic about the European debt crisis. Gert writes: The printed version has a lot of text, which leads you through the story and educates you along the way on a highly complex system. Click, of course,for a larger version. The graphic is [...]

Oct. 14, 2011: Wither the word cloud. Please.

Jacob Harris — a senior software architect for the New York Times — wrote a fabulous story posted Thursday by the Nieman Journalism Lab. I tweeted it last night. But if you’ve not read it yet, run over there now and check it out. Please. His topic: World clouds. He hates ‘em. Especially when they’re aimed at being “data visualization [...]

Oct. 7, 2011: Friday’s baseball playoff pages

There was only one game last night. The Detroit Tigers beat the Yankees 3-2 to move on to face the Texas Rangers in the American League Championship series. A look at the day’s pages… — DETROIT NEWS Detroit, Mich. Circulation: 141,668 The News wrapped a poster front around its normal front page today, as you can see from the red-colored [...]