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This article is from April 5, 2012, and is no longer current.

Inside the NYT Graphics Department

“The New York Times” has long been considered the preeminent newspaper in the United States, some might even say the world. While the Times is well known for its reporting, its graphics — infographics, maps, and illustrations — are distinguished as well.
We have a sense of who are NYT reporters because they are often featured on TV news shows. But what do we know about the newspaper’s graphic artists?
This film by Gestalten TV goes inside “The New York Times” graphics department to get a sense fo how it works. For instance, there is no actual style guide for graphics in the paper. Instead there is an understanding among the artists and ultimately between the artists and the paper’s management and between the paper and its readers.
The topics covered in this video are fascinating. For example, Graphics Director Steven Duenes acknowledges the Web is both good and bad for graphic artists. Because the Times’ website does not have the space constraints of paper, artists are able to create more expansive and layered work and tell the story they want to. At the same time, those same limitations in the newspaper help artists focus on the message and edit their work accordingly.
Another interesting bit in the video is the revelation that the NYT sends its artists into the field to do “visual reporting.” Graphics Editor Archie Tse, for instance, traveled to Iraq to research the sites that figured prominently in the war and that would form the foundation of subsequent graphics.
This is just some of the information gleaned from this enlightening video. Go behind the scenes at “The New York Times” by clicking the video below.
(Thanks to Selectism.com for the referral.)

 

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