The New Yorker is an American Magazine first founded by couple Harold Ross and Jane Grant, both journalists, and the goal was to report on current-day events and politics by creating a publication of sophisticated, almost satirical humor. With unique sections such as Humor and Books, The New Yorker sets itself apart from your standard newspaper. So while standard News, Opinions, and Features articles are being published by dominant reporting institutions such as CNN or The New York Times, The New Yorker prides itself upon the importance of daily cartoons, a lot of which are politics related. Additionally, a lot of the articles are non traditionals in a sense that they include a lot of poetry and satire.
One of the most well-known aspects of The New Yorker is its front cover. Since the very first issue which was published on February 21, 1925, the front cover has always consisted of a single drawing. Now, the covers are created by renowned artists. It is a big deal and a great honor for an illustrator to be given the opportunity to design such a cover because the idea is unique, there is no headline or even a cover story that goes on the front cover, the drawn essentially speaks for itself.
For the first issue, the first art editor of the magazine, Rea Irvin, drew a portrait of the fictional character Eustace Tilley. Tilley is a New York dandy with a top hat and has become an icon, basically the mascot of The New Yorker. Every now and then, the front cover will be a recreation of the icon.
Artist(s): Françoise Mouly and Art Spiegelman
Occasion: Mouly and Spiegelman designed this cover to remember the September 11 terrorists attacks.
Artist(s): Art Spiegelman
Occasion: Spiegelman designed this cover for Valentine’s Day in 1993. The cover includes a black woman kissing a Hasidic Jewish man (inspired by the Crown Heights riots of 1991). The cover brought to light the controversy regarding interracial (and even religion) dating.
Artist(s): Jack Hunter
Occasion: Titled ‘Moment of Joy,’ Hunter draws Bert and Ernie, characters from Sesame Street, in reference to California Proposition 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act and to celebrate same-sex relations.
This is really interesting! Never realized how publication like this have it image to stand with and relate to, in order to attract customers. Do you ever wonder how much one is influenced by the media? Or credible a magazine is said to be?
ReplyDeleteThis is a cool subject about something I hadn't known before! I think it's interesting how the New Yorker wanted to move in a newer direction, and considering that I enjoy reading the Borowitz reports and looking at their cartoons, I can definitely see how the trend's continued. How do you think the role of editors at the New Yorker changed because of their nonconformity -- did they have to be more humorous?
ReplyDeleteGreat post! It was really interesting to learn about the history of the New Yorker and how it evolved over the course of history. I never knew that the cover images were of so much important to the publication of the magazine.
ReplyDeleteThis is an excellent post. As someone who often reads the New Yorker, it is interesting to learn through your post about what its aims are in sharing news and ideas, and your insightful analysis allowed me to understand what it represents in popular culture today. However, I would also like to know if this article possesses any amount of bias within its writing or if it is affiliated with any one party more than another. That way, others can better identify its general ideology. For more information, here is a suggested article: https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-New-Yorker
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