Herald Tribune
Peter PalazzoGood newspaper design was rare in 1963. Most dailies
were composed by a makeup desk, not an art director or
designer. At the end of the day or night after the “lock-
up,” as it was called, a more or less logically ordered
newspaper was printed and delivered. The New York
Herald Tribunewas the exception to that rule.
Founded in 1924 , the Tribwas as drab as the
“Old Gray Lady,” the New York Times. Then, in 1963 it
was miraculously transformed into something modern.
It sported a livelier front page—not a typical
presentation of news stories set in monotonous straight
vertical columns, but a menu of appetizing world,
national, and local events. It ran a unique summary of
the paper’s contents on the front page: a column of
flush left/ ragged right type with Bodoni subheads that
introduced as many as eight separate items stretching
down the left side of the page. Slightly wider columns
and gutters throughout the paper made it more legible
when contrasted to the tightly packed, eight-column
New York Times. The headline typefaces were more
consistent than in other newspapers. The photographs
were noticeably larger, too. And most importantly, there
were many clearer entry points into stories.
The Trib’s makeover gave it a visual
cohesiveness that allowed smooth navigation through
the mass of information. It was a counterpoint to the
screaming headlines and seemingly arbitrary layouts of
the tabloids. The design was actually so “friendly,” that
readers initially complained that they couldn’t take it
seriously. But that didn’t last long.
The new Tribwas the work of Peter Palazzo (b. 1932 ), an
advertising and publications designer who shoved American newspapers
into the late twentieth century by enhancing news presentation through
journalistic design. Not a single design element was superfluous, each was a
signpost that guided the reader through the traffic of a daily newspaper.
Prefiguring today’s information glut, the Tribannounced that design would
have to play a meaningful role in the communication of ideas.88