AIGA Design Archives

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Design Category
Information design, 1998
Design firm
Rare Medium, Inc. (New York, New York)
Collection
(1999) Communication Graphics: 20

Description

The clear design challenges for this online city guide, nytoday.com, was to reflect the brand heritage and integrity of its originator, the New York Times, and at the same time showcase the depth and breadth of the Times’ content in a user-friendly and entertaining way.

The resultant simple, clean design allows both natives and tourists to find everything from restaurant and theater reviews to traffic reports and nightclubs, all within two mouse clicks. The cool color palette and type choices were selected to convey the nighttime essence of the many events and to stay true to the brand identity of the New York Times.

Communicating this volume of information on a daily basis (all the happenings in New York City) required sophisticated information design that was more than just about color and typeface, however. It also meant visually prioritizing the content in a way that was intuitive and reassuring for even the most novice user.

Credits
Creative directors: Nam Szeto, Gong Szeto
Designers: Sara Golding, Casey Reas
Production designer: Manny Tan
Typefaces: Cheltenham, Champion
Client: The New York Times Electronic Media Company