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With Redesign of Time Mag., Luce Turning Over in His Grave

Having just turned 84, Time magazine is coming out with a new look and editorial approach on Friday.

In: A cleaner, simpler design, heavy on labels at the top of each page and the names of its columnists in World War II size type — the better to brand with.

Out: The last remnants of Time’s signature syntax, parodied by the humorist Wolcott Gibbs with his phrase, “Backward ran sentences until reeled the mind.” Richard Stengel, Time’s new managing editor, said the inverted syntax would vanish from the Milestones section, where it still crops up in obituaries, as in: “Died. Of pneumonia.”

“Henry Luce may be rolling over in his grave over this,” he said of Time’s co-founder. “But it had outlasted its usefulness.” Still, he said, Luce might like some of the changes, including the reintroduction of distinct sections.
Read entire article at NYT