Louis Silverstein died yesterday at 92. He was the Corporate Art Director and Design Director (later the first Assistant Managing Editor for Design) of The New York Times. He revolutionized newspaper design.
He introduced white space to the Times. He conceived of using allegorical and metaphorical art, rather than editorial cartoons, on the OpEd page. He ushered in the multi-section newspaper and designed them like magazines. He perfected conceptual data-graphics (or what he called "sides of beef") prefiguring information graphics.
He brought the "Old Grey Lady" out of the 19th Century. He took the period off The New York Times nameplate.
He also redesigned newspapers in Kenya, Brazil and Spain.