On Wednesday, December 11, 2013, Wyatt Mitchell, Creative Director of The New Yorker, presented the magazine’s most recent redesign at the AIGA/NY The New Yorker: Now and Then at Parsons Tishman Auditorium. Ken Carbone introduced the event and hosted the Q&A session during the second half of the event.

Juliette Cezzar, faculty at Parsons, kicked off the evening with the Warm-Up—an ongoing series that gives local design students a chance to share their work on a professional platform before AIGA events. DaSeul An, BFA candidate at the School of Visual Art, presented her research and design for a web platform and mobile app that more seamlessly connects New Yorkers to their local farmers markets and vendors.

Ken Carbone stepped on stage, with the magazine in hand. “This is my New Yorker,” he began, and then described the ceremonial process by which he reads the publication. First, he carefully peels the mailing label sticker from the cover “to fully liberate the artwork,” then starts “dessert first” with the cartoons, before browsing the table of contents and diving deeper into the long form journalism. He easily lists off favorite columnists and authors as if they were close, personal friends.

This particular sense of attachment—that seems to be especially pronounced in New Yorker readers—was both the greatest challenge and greatest attraction for Wyatt Mitchell in taking on the redesign. “Its readership is as loyal as any readership of a magazine can possibly be,” he explained. In its 88 years, it had remained virtually untouched, aside from some changes made in the 90s by Massimo Vignelli—which made the task slightly daunting.

Coming from Wired magazine, where disruption was baked into the culture, Mitchell had to shift gears in approaching the project. He remembers a moment when Editor in Chief David Remnick said, “I want this redesign to feel like someone you work with just went on vacation to some beautiful beach…and came back looking fresh and tan and lean. I don’t want this redesign to look like someone who had plastic surgery.”

With a rich history behind the New Yorker, Mitchell’s instinct was to comb through the past for clues to make sure this refresh was also informed by tradition. Some of the new type treatment references work by Irvin, who was present at the magazine’s inception and after which the classic New Yorker typeface was named. By looking at the same source material Irvin had used for the original designs, the design team noticed quirky ligatures and spot illustrations that could be brought into the modern magazine to great effect.

When asked to discuss his most difficult and unexpected challenge, Mitchell readily answered that it was the handling of type. Type foundry House Industries was tasked with redesigning Irvin, and after a first pass that straightened out a few too many quirks, they arrived at a solution that kept its handsome stature and “idiosyncrasies,” Mitchell explained.

Much has changed in the publishing landscape in the past few years, and when Mitchell and his team approached the restructuring of content, they had the magazine’s unique strengths in mind. For example, showtimes and addresses listed in the old Goings On About Town needed less emphasis when a users often now find directions on their smartphone or online. Reviews, and critical writing in general, however, are what the writers at the New Yorker do best. The focus went into improving the display of this information—to make it sing on any platform. This involved giving the writing slightly more breathing room; increasing some of the artwork to fill pages, giving readers a moment to pause and reset. Hierarchies are made clearer, giving pages a more dynamic overall feel.

When asked what lessons he learned from this experience so far, Mitchell paused for a moment before answering that it was importance of communication. The New Yorker, is a magazine that inspires strong, articulate, opinions, the question “is a design as good as I think it is?” can only be answered when it is clearly articulated to his team, his editors, and ultimately the magazine’s readers.

Throughout the talk, Mitchell drew upon his vast and growing knowledge from this project to commend both the content-generators from the New Yorker’s storied past and all the individuals that are shaping its present and future. As he named writers, editors, and members of his team, it was clear that the magazine is, at its heart, a community that shares a love of its characteristic writing and artwork.

Additional Information:
The New Yorker
Video: The New Yorker Gets Refreshed
House Industries

Event Details:
AIGA/NY & The New Yorker: Now and Then

Event Photos:
Click here to view all photos from AIGA/NY The New Yorker: Now and Then  on Flickr. To view additional photos, or to contribute your photos, visit our AIGA New York Flickr group.

Special thanks to guest contributing writer Mira Rojanasakul for the AIGA/NY The New Yorker: Now and Then event recap and photos. Mira’s work can be found at rojanasakul.com, or follow her at @rjnskl.