Emdashes. Modern Times Between the Lines.
Best of Emdashes: Hit Parade
A Web Comic: The Wavy Rule
Before it moved to The New Yorker:
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Features & Columns:
Headline Shooter
On the Spot
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Sempé Fi: Cover Art
Seen the New Yorker Website Today?
Filed under: Headline Shooter Tagged: design, GOAT, Michael Schulman, newyorker.com, theater, TOTT
It’s taken the waters, it’s had an extreme makeover (aided by the wizards of Winterhouse), it’s wired for sound, it’s ready for its closeup, it’s full of poetry, history, and animation, it’s taken some busy Bobolinks under its wing, and, in the words of the old television ad (which would make a great multimedia addition to—to Emdashes, actually!), it’s probably the best New Yorker website that ever was. Hats off to redesign captains Matt Dellinger and Blake Eskin! Not to mention the entire rest of the staff, who’ve been toiling for months and can finally take a fraction of a break.
As you can imagine—since this event blends some of my most beloved preoccupations, magazines, design, the web, and The New Yorker—I’ve been waiting for months for this afternoon. I was out of the office when the redesign sprang to life, and when I returned the always current Jason Kottke had already posted his first impressions, including useful technical notes for the web team. Michael Stillwell weighed in, too; his post links to other reactions. (The site’s archive page addresses some of the concerns listed: “Coming Soon: Most New Yorker articles since 2001 and selected pieces from before; thousands of brief reviews of books, movies, recordings, and restaurants; and a searchable index, with abstracts, of articles since 1925.”) And what do you think, reader?
While you’re touring the new site, by the way, be sure to read this week’s best Talk of the Town—GOAT-herding wunderkind Michael Schulman’s practically McPhee-like journey through all nine hours of the recent Tom Stoppard marathon. It sparkles like a glass of Breaky Bottom à la méthode champenoise. The boy has a bright future, mark my words!
About us
Hello! We're a small band of media enthusiasts, culture addicts, and journalists based in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Emdashes, formerly a New Yorker fan site, is our collection of conversations—mostly civilized—about magazines, movies, politics, design, punctuation, and other things that stir us.
You'd like to know more about the writers and artists and what our column titles mean? We live to serve!
We welcome tips, questions, comments, and corrections, and are always on the lookout for ardent, obsessive new contributors. Click here to email us.
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Tell me more
Dashes, some say, “are particularly useful in a sentence that is long and complex.” Emdashes—like an em dash itself—provides a thoughtful pause amid the hubbub.
Emdashes, founded in 2004, is written and drawn by Emily Gordon, Martin Schneider, Pollux, Jonathan Taylor, and Benjamin Chambers, as well as occasional guest contributors. All posts before October 2008 are by Emily Gordon.
The site was designed by House of Pretty with illustrations by Jesse R. Ewing.
Additional drawings are by Carolita Johnson and Pollux (author of our web comic, "The Wavy Rule"). The Emdashes pencil logo is by Jennifer Hadley, based on a 1943 Dorothy Gray ad.
Other writing by Emily Gordon
- Writing on theater: reviews (for Time Out Chicago; imperfect but workable search results)
- Profile: Valerie Casey, Designers Accord founder, is spearheading the design of sustainability (for SXSW World)
- Feature: Rea Irvin: visionary art director, bon vivant, New Yorker founding father (for Print)
- Slide show: the Coney Island Mermaid Parade (for NYCgo.com)
- Feature: Muslim immigration iconography in the Netherlands, and an interview with Ayaan Hirsi Ali (for Print)
- Review: King's Gambit: A Son, a Father, and the World's Most Dangerous Game by Paul Hoffman (for Newsday)
- Homage: Celebrating lindy-hop legend Frankie Manning (for NYCgo.com)
- Inquiry: Does a New Republic redesign mean a change of tune? (for Print)
- Interview: James Surowiecki on what's next for the wisdom of crowds (for Assignment Zero)
- Interviews: four up-and-coming designers under 30 (for Print)
- Profile: novelist and dance critic Laura Jacobs (for Newsday)
Blogroll highlights
- Box Office Boffo
- World of Pollux
- Jonathan Taylor
- Carolita Johnson
- Songs for blogroll lovers (more links)
- Follow us on Twitter
- Befriend us on Facebook
- Get a t-shirt at the Emdashes store
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Comments
And a splendid Talk of the Town it was.
I thought I saw another typo in this week’s issue, but my eyes deceived me. Maybe next time…
The thing I like most about the redesign is that, at first blush, it manages to approximate those big breathless layouts that a lot of fiction pieces got in the late 1990s. They don’t do those so much anymore. Big splashy picture, lot of white, the title announcing itself importantly.
I tend to be forgiving toward sites that are a bit compromised by a corporate identity, in this case that of Condé Nast. I think they did a nice job given the constraints.
I love the 404 page.
The theatre-marathon bit was the best Talk of the Town, true. I liked the ending.
I didn’t find any typos, either, but my eye labored mightily on this sentence, in Gopnik’s lead-off ToT: “What was moving about the so-called Jesus tomb…”
Oh, as in ‘touching.’ Well, the point was, something was moving about, no?
The site is a delight and a breath of fresh air! Although it’s loaded with stuff, it seems uncluttered, elegant and, unlike most magazine websites, inviting (like emdashes, in fact). I’m a convert. But will it cause people to drop their subs to the print mag?
I wish you hadn’t brought this to my attention. I was supposed to be getting work done this morning. Oh well….
What a wonderful website. Simple, elegant, but loaded with delicious items. And unlike most magazine websites, it’s inviting. I do worry that people will now peruse the website rather than subscribe to the venerable print edition.
It’s fantastic, and it’s about time.
I love that Eustace Tilley’s butterfly is animated.
Is it just me, or did they lose the forums? Not that I mind …
Hey, that’s true, thanks! I just deleted the forums link from the Rossosphere below, and am about to take off the contributors’ bios link, too, which is also dead. But both may come back—seems like they’re reintroducing some stuff gradually, phasing out others. I liked the contributors’ bios, so I hope they come back. As for lively discussion of New Yorker content, it’s fine with me if that happens exclusively right here on — —.
I was just reading Nancy Franklin’s review of The Riches when I switched from regular view to print view. In all honesty, print is what the regular site should look like. Regular site view is waaaay too cluttered, ultimately. The only thing print view lacks to be perfect is the embedded cartoon.
See for yourself.