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The cover process at The New Yorker is a beautifully inexact science. Each week, longtime art editor Françoise Mouly presents editor David Remnick a range of optionssome still in sketch formand Remnick chooses the one that feels most apt for the cultural moment. It could be a cover about a breaking news story; it could be a seasonal cover, an evergreen cover (Mouly banks the latter two types throughout the year). But inevitably, somehow, whatever he chooses feels organic to the publication, if not inevitable. What makes The New Yorker unique is that, as a general-interest magazine, our covers aren’t tied to feature stories but spring from the artists’ own observations and interests, Mouly detailed in an email exchange as she worked to finish production on the magazines landmark 100th anniversary issue. The New Yorker cover stands as one of the last bastions of wordless storytelling in our culture, a place where an artist’s singular vision can still speak directly to readers. In an age when were all flooded with a torrent of anonymous, manufactured images, these carefully crafted covers serve as an antidoteeach one signed by an artist, each one attempting to crystallize a moment or catalyze an idea. [Photo: Leila Abazine] Its a visual lineage that will be celebrated in the magazines centennial issue out this weekand in LAlliance New Yorks exhibition Covering The New Yorker, which runs through March 30. Co-curated by Mouly and Abrams Vice President and Publisher Rodolphe Lachat, the show features something readers have not seen before: original cover artwork from such luminaries as Maira Kalman, Barry Blitt, Chris Ware, Art Spiegelman, Roz Chast, Anita Kunz, Saul Steinberg, and many others. Artist & Curators group shot at January 21st opening. Top, from left: Jenny Kroik, Barry Blitt, Richard Siri, Ed Steed, Mark Ulriksen, Art Spiegelman, Kadir Nelson, Ed Sorel, Peter de Sve, Gracie Lynn Haynes, Victoria Tentler-Krylov, John Cuneo, Front: Françoise Mouly, Tatyana Franck, Rodolphe Lachat, Gayle Kabaker. [Photo: Rebecca Greenfield] Speaking of those artists, Mouly considers the greatest accomplishment of her 30-plus year run to be the careful balance she has maintained between established contributors and new creatives who illustrate the covers. I’ve never had to sacrifice new voices for old ones, or vice versa, she says. As for the inexact science that underpins the cover process, she adores the job because it lacks formula, and says shes amazed the work remains as challenging as when she first began. The fact that I still can’t phone it in after all these years is perhaps the greatest gift of this role. [Photo: Leila Abazine] With the magazine turning 100 this week, we asked Mouly to select the top five New Yorker covers from her tenure. She admits that her selections would likely change on any given daybut either way, today these covers still land with the same power as they did when they first met the cultural moment in our mailbox. Or didnt, regrettably, in the case of the last one Missed Connection by Adrian Tomine, November 8, 2004. [Image: Adrian Tomine and The New Yorker. Used by permission. All rights reserved.] Adrian Tomines Missed Connection (Nov. 8, 2004) Adrian Tomine is a perfect example of the kind of artist I love working withhes a marvelous short story teller. Cartoonists are intellectual athletes in that way: They have a lifetime habit of compressing complex ideas into a few pen marks. When Tomine first approached The New Yorker as a young, relatively unknown cartoonist, he already had a stylistically sharp ligne claire style. Unlike other artists whom I would take to our library to study covers from the 1930s and 40s, Tomine just needed the right story to tell. Having just arrived in New York, he noticed things that natives often forget, like how subway cars running on parallel tracks offer glimpses into other lives. When I asked him to consider ideas for our fiction issue, he began sketching this subway encounter. I suggested having the two characters read the same book. Tomines masterful composition makes this image perfect: We see only tese two faces, and follow their gazes to each other. The use of color draws our eyes to the lightly sketched book. We know the trains will move in different directions and these strangers will lose each other. This is what I lovea picture that tells a complete story. The Man in the Mirror by Saul Steinberg, January 12, 1998. [Image: Saul Steinberg and The New Yorker. Used by permission. All rights reserved.] Saul Steinbergs The Man in the Mirror (Jan. 12, 1998) One of my greatest privileges when I started in 1993 was to be Saul Steinbergs editor. I would go visit him regularly in his home, and spend wonderful hours in conversation (he talked, I listened). He told me about baseball, architecture, the O.J. Simpson story, Las Vegasthere was so much he loved about America. Then wed look through his flat files, fishing for ideas. He was in his eighties then, and he would search through his thousands of sketches and doodles for ideas he hadn’t yet transformed into New Yorker covers. He was always careful not to repeat himself. When I discovered this particular drawing, it resonated deeply with meit captured what artist Maira Kalman would later call The Optimism of Breakfast. It brought back memories of my own father singing in the bathroom while shaving. Though Steinberg was dubious about whether the image was substantial enough for a cover, I encouraged him to develop it. Later, he gave me the original drawingthis one is yours, he saidwhich is why the original is included in this exhibition. I learned so much from Steinberg: less is more, use color only when necessary, let ideas shine through simplicity. As Steinberg said of his work, Once youve seen it, you cant remember not having seen it. A good image can become a building block of thought, like implanting a new word into the language. Thats an awesome power for artists to have. 9/11/2001, by Art Spiegelman & Françoise Mouly, September 24, 2001. [Image: Art Spiegelman, Françoise Mouly, and The New Yorker. Used by permission. All rights reserved.] Art Spiegelman and Moulys Black on Black (Sept. 24, 2001) On Sept. 11, 2001, my husband, Art Spiegelman, our daughter, and I stood four blocks away from the second tower as we watched it collapse in excruciatingly slow motion. Later, back in my office, I felt that the only appropriate solution would be to publish no cover image at allan all-black cover. Then Art suggested adding the outlines of the two towers, black on black, which I drew. It conveyed something about the sudden absence in our skyline, the abrupt tear in the fabric of reality. From no image came the perfect image. Iya Ni Wura (Mother Is Gold) by Diana Ejaita, May 13, 2019. [Image: Diana Ejaita and The New Yorker. Used by permission. All rights reserved.] Diana Ejaitas Iya Ni Wura (Mother Is Gold) (May 13, 2019) Diana Ejaita, who divides her time between Lagos and Berlin, created this Mother’s Day cover as her first of many contributions to the magazine. I love that the image evokes patterns and colors that are common in Nigeria, and was delighted to see she included the keke in the background. It gives you a sense of place, yet its also universal, capturing an emotion every parent knows. The composition tells the story perfectly: A mother kneels to meet her child at eye level, making herself fully present. The child’s posture, the way she holds herself, suggests that shes asserting her independence. It’s a tender portrait of maternal love preparing to let go. Venus on the Beach by Roz Chast, August 4, 2014. [Image: Roz Chast and The New Yorker. Used by permission. All rights reserved.] Roz Chasts Venus on The Beach (Aug. 4, 2014) Though cell phones have dominated our reality for decades, The New Yorker rarely features them on its covers. If the magazine published every phone-related submission, thered be room for nothing else. This exception to the rule, by Roz Chast, is particularly successful, however. Usually images of people on their phone focus on the screen. Here the phones all function as arrows, pointing us toward the alive and surprising. And this twist on Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus is a clever way for the cartoonist to use one old cliché to shed light on another. Kamala by Kadir Nelson. [Image: Kadir Nelson and The New Yorker. Used by permission. All rights reserved.] Coda: Kamala by Kadir Nelson (Nov. 18, 2024) On Nov. 5, 2024, I was preparing a cover that would celebrate the first woman presidentjust as I had done for Hillary Clinton in 2016. Kadir Nelson had created this painting as a celebration of the first woman, first Black and first Indian-American president. Despite editor David Remnicks repeated requests for a Plan B, I had no other approved sketch in the works. Around 9:30 p.m. on election night, it became clear that the Harris cover would never be published. I turned to a rough sketch that Barry Blitt had sent in. I called him and asked for a finish. When do you need it? he asked. Now, I told him. I asked him to draw it very small, very quickly; to keep it gestural, to just spew it out. The resulting image was published in the morning. Powerful covers often emerge not from advance planning but from living through and feeling the moment. This is as true for me as the art editor as it is for the artists. And in the show, I just love the juxtaposition of these two images: the huge, masterful oil painting of Harris, which took weeks to complete and carried so much hope, and the tiny, dark ink stain next to it. It speaks volumes.
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E-Commerce
It’s a simple idea. Aside from its electrical components, the Hoop Table Lamp by Finnish furniture company Vaarnii is made completely from pine timber and pine veneer. The result is a warm, natural statement lamp without any fuss. Released last week, the lamp is available in two sizes. It retails for about $360 for the medium and about $260 for the small. The appropriately-named London designer John Tree designed the lamp, which has a solid wood base created from a knot-free block of solid pine timber. The Hoop table lamp is topped by a pine veneer shade that’s cut thin enough to allow a glow of light through. All in all, the lamp is made up of only two pieces, and a gorgeous example of reductive minimalism that still conveys a sense of warmth. [Photo: Vaarnii] “Hoop is about reduction of form and an unambiguous use of quality pine wood,” Vaarnii says. “Simple yet painstakingly engineered, monolithic yet delicate, this is an effortless and essential lamp for illuminating any space with warm pine-filtered light.” Vaarnii sets itself apart from other furniture companies by creating its products from raw materials, including chairs and tables to ceiling lights all made from materials sourced from Finland. The wood for its Hoop Table Lamp comes from Finnish Scots Pine trees that the company says are sustainably managed and slowly grown. That means each piece is unique with its own grain pattern, and because pine changes as it ages, the color of the lamp deepens the longer you have it until it settles into a honey tone. The natural simplicity of the Hoop table lamp proves it doesn’t necessarily take much for timeless, sustainable design.
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E-Commerce
The Trump administration’s fight against electric vehicles includes everything from trying to get rid of the EV tax credit to freezing funding for charging stations. But EV company Rivian says its strategy hasn’t changed. We talked to CEO RJ Scaringe about why his long-term vision isn’t dependent on current policy, and the company’s future plans for its products. The company makes luxury SUVs and trucks, including 2024’s bestselling premium SUV in California (electric or gas); next year, it will launch a more affordable vehicle that starts at $45,000. Construction on a new factory outside Atlanta is set to begin in 2026, with a $6.57 billion loan guarantee that the Department of Energy finalized just before Biden left officethat legally, Trump shouldn’t be able to take away. The Trump administration is pushing to cut EV incentives, including the $7,500 federal tax credit. What impact do you think that will have on the EV market in the U.S.? There’s a lot of emphasis right now on the very short termwhat happens in the next months or even weeks with policy. But the way we make decisions as a company, were looking at this on a much more long-term basis. The product roadmap we built, the technology we’ve developed, the way we’re designing and building and growing the businesses, is really being architected around a long-term view that the market will move over time to 100% electric. RJ Scaringe [Photo: Rivian] In that transition, it’s critical that there’s a collection of great companies being built in the United States, employing the U.S. workforce, developing the technology, building the products, and making sure that we as a country maintain leadership and what undoubtedly and unavoidably is going to be the core of personal transportation. Combustion will become an increasingly small percentage over time. Even though youre focused on the long-term view, how much do you think current policy matters in terms of pushing EVs forward faster? Policy, of course, matters, but its not the only driver, especially in a situation like this where the end state is so clear. Were paying very close attention to [policy]. But we will adjust around whatever the policy is. When I started the company [in 2009], I didnt start with any idea that there would be policies that are either tailwinds or headwinds. We just said that this is something that needs to happen. And its going to happen with the collective efforts of companies that are innovating with technology and creating compelling products. I think the other thing to recognize, in all the noise and the discussion of electrification and how it’s become politicized, there’s one thing that’s very consistent that’s on all sides of the political spectrum: Creating jobs in new technology, creating manufacturing in the United States, building a really robust ecosystem of companies that are facing that future state is something everyone’s aligned on. We have a plant today in Normal, Illinois and a plant that were building just outside Atlanta, Georgia, with support from both states. They’re different very different states politically, but the amount of excitement and reception we have in both states is outstanding. If some legacy automakers pull back from EVs because there are fewer incentives, does that give you a competitive advantage? We talk about making decisions in the context of our [kids’ futures] . . . I think its really important that every manufacturer is investing heavily in electrification and creating products that are so compelling and so exciting that regardless of whether they’re electric or gasoline theyre going to draw customers in. If we really want to accelerate the speed at which we electrify, the speed at which that transition happens, it’s going to require a lot of choices [for consumers]. Certainly, a lot more than we have today. I say all that because I do think it’s important that other manufacturers invest. If I looked at it purely through the lens of what’s best for Rivian, I think that manufacturers pulling back, myopically, is actually better for Rivian. It [hurts the] competition. But I don’t think that’s good for the world. If some other U.S. automakers do retreat temporarily from EVs, how much is China’s EV industry likely to get farther ahead? If you’re optimizing for the next quarter, I think you can make bad decisions as a business and bad decisions for us as a country. But every business is going to make decisions [based on] what they believe is going to maximize value for their shareholders. Its not an easy challenge, especially in a world where youve got a legacy business that is maybe highly profitable, and youve got a lot of experience. Its a hard decision to say were going to go build products that, by definition, pull demand from our legacy products. Those new products, by virtue of being lower volume and the technology being different, may not have the same profitability to start. Over time, I think electric vehiclesgiven the dramatically enhanced simplicity and fewer partswill become not only cost-competitive, but theyll have a cost advantage relative to combustion-powered vehicles. But theres a lot of work to do in battery technology to get there. [Photo: Rivian] How long will that take? Isnt it right that some EVs are at cost parity with their counterparts now, if you look at total cost of ownership? How far away are competitive sticker prices? I think it depends on the segment. In the premium segment, it’s there. As evidenced by us. We only sell our flagship products today (our R1T, R1S) and the average transaction price is over $90,000. It’s the bestselling premium SUV in Californianot premium electric SUV, preium SUV. It’s doing really well. If you look at other premium SUVs, you could even say it’s priced at a discount. It’s much higher performance. In a premium product like that, there’s a lot of other contributors to cost, so that the relative cost of the battery to the rest of the vehicle is not as significant. To get to cost parity on something that is a $20,000 car, $25,000 car, the battery then makes up such a a large percentage of its price that today it is still difficult. I think over time we’re going to solve that, but it’s a few years out. Whether it’s three years out or five years out, when you squint, you can see it. We’re getting close to it. It’s not, like, 20 years away. Youre launching a more affordable EV next year, right? Yes, and Im so excited. Its probably the most excited Ive ever been for a product were developing, which is funny because I didnt think I could be more excited than when we launched the R1, something Id been working on since I started the company. R2 takes all of the learnings from R1. The cost for us to make it is less than half of R1, and the price is quite a bit lowerit starts at $45,000. [Photo: Eric Anderson/Rivian] You mentioned the idea of designing a car thats compelling not just because its electric but for other reasons. What does that involve? It’s important to have a really clear vision for what both the product and the company stand for and represent. I mean that not just in philosophical ways, but in terms of product/attribute tradeoff. The best products, whether they’re cars or electronics or furniture, are the products that feel really holistically thought through. Where despite the fact that maybe hundreds or maybe even thousands of people have worked on that product, it feels like a singular vision. Apple has done an amazing job of this. Of course, I think we did a really nice job on it with our R1 products. What we’re trying to do with R2 is to capture that. For us, it’s really blending the aspiration of something that feels premiumthe materials are nicely executed, we’re thoughtful in the selection of materialsbut at the same time, the fact that it’s aspirational doesn’t take away from its usability. You can get it dirty. You can fit a lot of gear into it. We often think of it as a platform to go generate the kinds of memories that you’re going to want to hold on to for many years to comethe kinds of things you want to take photographs of. [The cars also] accelerate incredibly well. They’re very capable on road. They’re very capable off road. But we really want all the attributes, all the characteristics of that mosaic, to come together into this feeling. Like this vehicle is your adventure partner. When you look into the future, how do you see EV technology continuing to change? With battery technology, for example, how is that evolving? The most important element is getting cost down, both through the chemistry in the batteries and the rest of the battery packconcepts like cell to pack where were minimizing the amount of structural overhead that exists in the pack to take the overall cost down. And we see with our own products that the cell costs have come down, the pack costs have come down, modules have been massively simplified. I expect that innovation to continue. Of course, [there’s] competition between all the different manufacturerseveryones trying to drive cost down on this system. We have thousands and thousands of people across many different companies that are working on this problem. Its great to see the healthy and, Id say, highly productive competition between different companies in trying to address costs. What about something like solid state batteries? Are they likely to be in cars in the market soon? I think it’ll make its way into cars. It depends on how you define soon. I’d say within the next 10 years, for sure, but within the next two years, not likely, and not at scale. You may see some premium applications sooner, but they’re going to be really expensive because there’s lots of different ways you can accomplish solid state, but the industrialization of solid state still has a ways to go. Last year, you made a $5.8 billion deal with Volkswagen that lets VW access your vehicle software. How do you think about technology differently than some of the legacy automakers? We don’t have large teams of people that used to do something in the old waywe’ve only architected the business around a future state. So, obviously, that means we don’t have an engine design department. And our propulsion team has only ever worked on electric propulsion. There’s not an electric division and a gas division. The existing manufacturers can develop motors, develop battery systems. I think a more challenging aspect for them has been building out software teams and the computer design teams, the electronics design teams. And the reason is it’s so different from what they’ve done historically. [Image: Rivian] How does your “zonal” electrical architecture work? Over time, [other car companies] had this massive proliferation of what are called ECUseffectively little comuters across the car. A modern car might have 75 to somewhere north of 100 ECUs. It was never architected in a proper way. [We have controllers in a few larger zones] versus all these little computers, and we built an entire software operating system and software stack around it that is a very different topology than what incumbents have. It represents various essential cost savings, but importantly, makes managing software many orders of magnitude easier. [Photo: Elliot Ross/Rivian] What’s coming next for Rivian? We have some products that we’re already planning that essentially extend our brand into different segments, different form factors. Obviously, it should be different price points. [Editor’s note: One of the next products is the R3, an even more affordable car.] With the form factor and the overall aesthetics of the [R3], you sort of find yourself saying, is it a hatchback, is it a crossover, is it an SUV? We really wanted something that gave us a chance to demonstrate what we felt really strongly about, which is that the brand we’re building and the company we’re creating has a lot of elasticity. It represents an idea that’s bigger than just a single segment of cars. It’s this idea of, as I said before, enabling the kinds of adventures you want to take photographs of.
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E-Commerce
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