In 1923, a young man named Henry R. Luce started a weekly news magazine with the goal of presenting narratives on national and world events to what Luce perceived to be a poorly informed American public. For nearly a century, the magazine’s covers have included thought-provoking, moving and even controversial images. But one thing Time magazine has never done is altered its name on the cover.
Until now.
Instead of the word “TIME” in uppercase, red letters in Times New Roman font, the next U.S. edition of the magazine will feature word “VOTE” in large white letters at the top of the cover. It also features a red, white and blue illustration of a woman wearing a bandana-like face covering that repeats the word “VOTE!” along with a ballot box.
The publication decided to mark what it considers a historic moment, which it called “arguably as consequential a decision as any of us has ever made at the ballot box,” by replacing the familiar logo.
Time shared an animated version of the cover on Twitter.
TIME's new cover: Vote. https://t.co/r3vkkaYd4e pic.twitter.com/xqHWzi9kqu
— TIME (@TIME) October 23, 2020
While the cover of Time’s international edition focuses on “The Great Reset,” the magazine states that Americans are deciding if it is time to reach for the nation’s own reset button. The issue includes a special report on the closing days of the 2020 presidential campaign, as well as a guide on voting safely.
“Few events will shape the world to come more than the result of the upcoming U.S. presidential election,” Time’s editor-in-chief and CEO, Edward Felsenthal, wrote in a post about this edition.
The cover’s style might look familiar to you. Artist Shepard Fairey, who designed the iconic Barack Obama “Hope” poster and the 2008 Time cover featuring Obama as Person of the Year, created the artwork for the memorable cover.
“Even though the subject in the portrait knows there are additional challenges to democracy during a pandemic, she is determined to use her voice and power by voting,” Fairley wrote in an Instagram post displaying the graphic.
In the post about the magazine’s decision, Felsenthal closed by thanking readers for turning to the publication.
“We stand at a rare moment, one that will separate history into before and after for generations,” he wrote.
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Checkout Simplemost for additional stories.
