The New York Times has been in publication since 1851. That’s 161 years we’re talking about. The venerable publication is an exemplary work of journalism. It has won 108 Pulitzer Prizes, which is more than any other news organization, and it is the most popular American online newspaper, garnering more than 30 million unique views a month. It’s an indicator of excellence in journalism, and is beloved by millions of people.
One of the elements that make the Times particularly distinctive among other publications is its exceptional design. The newspaper has always pushed the envelope regarding design, especially after it began to focus on its online presence. Publications have the opportunity to do very creative, innovative things with their design given the malleability and range of the Internet, and the design, especially after it began to focus on its online presence.
Some of the newspaper’s best design online allows the readers to interact with the page. This high level of interaction is precisely what journalism needs in this unforgiving era it finds itself in. People like to interact with their media. They don’t want to passively take in the information, they want to move it around and play with it themselves.
Take this recent feature in The New York Times Magazine, “32 Innovations That Will Change Your Tomorrow” as an example. Once the reader is done with the introduction, he scrolls down bringing up the list to cover the intro, and only the header remains. Now there’s less clutter. And less clutter means better design. Now as the reader continues to scroll through the list it changes colors, eventually spanning all the colors of the rainbow. What a neat little idea. It’s visually appealing and also minimalistic. The visuals are all the same type of simple icons, which look much better against a colored backdrop than a plain white or black one. The article also features excellent visualization of data. Pertinent, detailed visuals represent abstract ideas, and a little speedometer-looking icon shows how many years away each item is from being a day-to-day innovation.
Furthermore, The New York Times makes exceptional infographics, most of which are also interactive. Again, that high level of interactivity lends the infographics their power. It’s one thing to look at a beautifully designed graph, it’s quite another to be able to input different data, and play with the numbers from year to year. Try this recent interactive infographic about the Facebook IPO and how it compares to other companies’ IPOs. Each circle represents a company and the circle’s size represents its value. It’s a beautiful way to visually represent a very vague and abstract idea for most of us.
Another of the newspaper’s strengths in design comes in its slideshows. It’s extremely easy to use (unlike some publications’ slideshows that interrupt you every few photos with an ad) and again, beautiful in its minimalistic design. The photos are set against a black background to make them really pop out to the reader, and they feature extremely large photos in some slideshows, emphasizing the focus on the visual. Check out this slideshow for reference.
This minimalism is key to The New York Times design. Everything is present for a purpose, and the simplicity involved lends to the high impact the design registers in its reader. The publication also discusses design expertly, going as far as to include its readers in a discussion of how they designed a new logo, and giving them insight into the decisions.
The New York Times is an excellent source to reference for inspiration related to effective design. Think of the principles it uses in its design when you are preparing a presentation. Minimalism, large visuals, bold colors, and beautiful typography: all elements that strengthen a presentation. Head to the website for a quick dose of design inspiration on this sleepy Monday morning.
