Christianity Today has modified a bit for the reason that first issue was published in October 1956. The look is different. The feel is different. We’ve chosen a special font.
One of the primary editors of Christianity Today noted (with a touch of despair) that nobody cares about fonts. He wasn’t incorrect. Design elements—the font, or the width of the margin, the standard of the printer’s ink, and one million other near-invisible things—are meant to not be noticed directly but to offer the magazine a “feel.”
If you do notice, and dig in to the history of Christianity Today’s design, one constant becomes clear: The magazine has been rigorously updated, adjusted, and redesigned, repeatedly, to satisfy the promise of Today. CT strives to talk to this present moment, and meaning sometimes changing how things look. It means, sometimes, caring greater than normal about fonts.
1956 – Editor Carl F. H. Henry, planning the primary issue of Christianity Today, complains that folks think fonts are boring. The first issue uses Deepdene and Fairfield, which Henry considers modern typefaces.
1963 – CT’s first redesign is finished by ad man Harvey Gabor, who will go on to direct the long-lasting industrial “I’d prefer to buy the world a Coke.” Gabor says CT requires something “intangible” and “a method and momentum all its own.”
1966 – CT prints its first image on the duvet—a globe surrounded by flames, all in grayscale. Inside, the one editorial image is a cartoon. Later the identical 12 months, the magazine experiments with covers in color.
1976 – Color photos begin to seem semiregularly on CT covers. The twentieth anniversary issue features Billy Graham in a yellow polo shirt. Inside, an editor examines the way in which evangelicals are “seizing the general public imagination” within the “Year of the Evangelical.”
1978 – CT combines summer issues for economic reasons. Instead of 4 issues in July and August, there are actually two. Circulation director Keith Stonehocker is credited with “maximizing growth while minimizing waste and inefficiencies.”
1983 – The nameplate—reading “Christianity Today” on the duvet—is tweaked with none note within the magazine. Also, the periodical, which previously was published “fortnightly,” is now mailed out “semimonthly.”
1994 – CT’s layout and design are done on a desktop computer for the primary time. Print articles are uploaded to the web, making CT one among the primary religious publications online.
2000 – The magazine is redesigned to enhance the “flow” of content. The news section is moved to the start, and columnists Philip Yancey and Charles Colson are placed at the top. “I hope you recognized this magazine,” writes managing editor Michael G. Maudlin. “The changes are slightly startling, I admit.”
2009 – Graphics are introduced to Christianity Today, and the sections are color-coded. An editor’s note from David Neff explains the concept: “Find that color—red, green, or yellow—running across the highest of any page, and also you’ll know what form of material you’re about to read.”
2013 – CT starts printing “CT” on the duvet. “We’ve began calling ourselves what everyone already calls us,” executive editor Andy Crouch says. He too tries to persuade those who fonts are interesting: “We’ve adopted the fantastic typefaces Periódico and Calibre.”
2024 – The issue you’re now has a complete latest look. Much of its inspiration was drawn from our Nineteen Sixties era, particularly within the design of our latest logo.
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