The Grid of the NYTimes

The New York Times, in my opinion, is a pretty recognizable newspaper, especially because it's on campus.

By analyzing the front pages of several recent newspapers, it's pretty clear that the Times has a precedented style for their front page and a pretty complicated, but well implemented grid system.

Checking out the font page at first glance I decided that the New York Times uses a simple 6 column grid, until i looked at the bottom. The section at the bottom of every front page, which gives a brief of each of the sections' main articles, uses a five column grid that doesn't align with the articles on the front page.

I'm not that great at math, but I eyeballed the alignment of the bottom, comparing the 6 column grid with the 5 column grid,
and decided that the New York Times uses a 30 column grid! Only if there were 30 equally spaced columns could the entire front page be laid out on the same grid.



Also, I knew that in the past 3 or so years, the New York Times has changed the size paper it prints on, so that the outside margins are different. I was wondering if they also used a 30 column grid system, or if they changes everything. So here's a picture of a 1998 NY Times before they made the changes.



Although I couldn't find the bottom of this paper, I think that the grid number has remained 30 columns, but the size of those columns has narrowed.

I think both the grid layout, and the recent size change have made the NY Times both a recognizable paper, and one easy to read in terms of layout. The small column size means that a read and skim through quickly. The smaller paper, also means the paper is less cumbersome to hold and sift through.