Mag Men: Fifty Years of Making Magazines

For more than fifty years, Walter Bernard and Milton Glaser have revolutionized the look of magazine journalism. In Mag Men, Bernard and Glaser recount their storied careers, offering insiders’ perspective on some of the most iconic design work of the twentieth century. The authors look back on and analyze some of their most important and compelling projects, from the creation of New York magazine to redesigns of such publications as Time, Fortune, Paris Match, and The Nation, explaining how their designs complemented a story and shaped the visual identity of a magazine.

Richly illustrated with the covers and interiors that defined their careers, Mag Men is bursting with vivid examples of Bernard and Glaser’s work, designed to encapsulate their distinctive approach to visual storytelling and capture the major events and trends of the past half century. Highlighting the importance of collaboration in magazine journalism, Bernard and Glaser detail their relationships with a variety of writers, editors, and artists, including Nora Ephron, Tom Wolfe, Gail Sheehy, David Levine, Seymour Chwast, Katherine Graham, Clay Felker, and Katrina vanden Heuvel. The book features a foreword by Gloria Steinem, who reflects on her work in magazines and her collaborations with Bernard and Glaser. At a time when uncertainty continues to cloud the future of print journalism, Mag Men offers not only a personal history from two of its most innovative figures but also a reminder and celebration of the visual impact and sense of style that only magazines can offer.

Walter Bernard has designed and art directed many of the country’s best-known magazines and newspapers as well as redesigning publications in South America, Europe, and Asia. He currently runs Walter Bernard Consultancy.

Milton Glaser is one of the most important graphic designers of the twentieth century. He is responsible for many iconic designs and is the co-founder of New York magazine. His work has been the focus of solo exhibitions at MoMA, the Pompidou Center and elsewhere. In 2009, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts from Barack Obama, the first graphic designer to receive the award. He has written several books, including most recently Art is Work (Overlook, 2008), Drawing is Thinking (Overlook, 2008), and In Search of Miraculous: Or, One Thing Leads to Another (Overlook, 2012).