Two Design Greats Check Out

A couple of interesting obits today:

Edmund C. Arnold (pictured above), a journalist who in the 1950s revolutionized the layout of the American newspaper, died on Feb. 2. Sez the NYT:

When Mr. Arnold took his first fresh look at newspapers, many had long rejected the vigorous graphic displays common in the turn-of-the-century papers. He believed that the prevalent designs, which often featured monotonous narrow vertical columns of type and large horizontal headlines, had been foisted on papers largely because trained typographers and designers were not usually involved in the layout decisions, which were made by editors working directly with printers and compositors. He pushed publishers to give designers and typographers more influence, to move design out of the typesetting room and onto the drawing board. He also developed ideas like horizontal (and modular) layouts and encouraged the use of varied graphic elements to draw the reader’s eyes.

Thanks, mon frer. I have a career thanks to you.

Also, the great Hans Wegner (pictured below), the great Mid-Century furniture designer, went to the big workshop in the sky on Jan. 26.