Today’s guest has become almost synonymous with graphic design and magazine publishing. His career began in the defiant New York “sex press” of the late 1960s, where, astonishingly, as a teenager, he was already art-directing magazines like Screw and The New York Review of Sex. That unlikely starting point gave him a rare education in the power of design to command attention and shape meaning.
We’re talking about designer, author, editor, educator, and true legend Steven Heller.
Heller went on to spend more than three decades at The New York Times most memorably as the art director of The New York Times Book Review. There, he transformed the visual life of the section, commissioning bold, original illustration, and making the case—over and over again—that design is not ornamental, it’s integral to editorial voice. Through his advocacy, he’s helped elevate the status of designers in newsrooms, giving visual thinkers a seat at the table alongside their editorial partners.
Beyond the newsroom, Heller has been prolific, almost to the point of obsession. He has written, edited, or co-authored more than 200 books on design, creating an extraordinary record of the field’s history, ideas and influences.
And most recently, he turned that critical eye inward with his memoir, Growing Up Underground, a candid account of his early years in New York’s counterculture publishing scene. Heller is a practitioner, a chronicler, and an advocate for design, and he’s also part of the Magazeum team.
Welcome to Season 7 of Print is Dead (Long Live Print!).
Read the full episode transcript here.
Print Is Dead (Long Live Print!) is a podcast about magazines and the people who made (and make) them. Magazines that combined thought-provoking attitudes and values with a distinctive look and feel, and cast a long and powerful shadow on American culture and public discourse. Hear stories and learn lessons from legendary designers, editors, writers, publishers, photographers, illustrators, photo editors, and more—stories and lessons that capture a magical history of innovation and inspiration, and that point the way forward. We’ll go deep into the lives and careers of this astonishingly talented group of creators, and tease out what these giants—past and present—have to teach the next generation of creators.
If you’re in the magazine business—if you’re in any business focused on content creation—this podcast is for you.
This episode is made possible by PIDLLP sponsors Commercial Type and Freeport Press.
The team behind Print is Dead (Long Live Print!) also produces The Full Bleed, a podcast about the future of magazines and the magazines of the future.
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