The New York Times Magazine’s coverage throughout the COVID-19 crisis has been particularly poignant. They’ve brought us closer than ever to those on the front lines of the pandemic. They’ve given us unexpected looks at the long tail of the pandemic. They’ve allowed us to momentarily escape the pandemic—and design director Gail Bichler and her team have packaged it all with powerful covers.
As today’s Brand of the Day, we’re taking a chronological look at the immediate pre–COVID-19 covers followed by the ones created in the midst of the pandemic—revealing a publication in step with the times, navigating and pivoting with them while offering future generations a visual time line of the world during the novel coronavirus. (Click through each cover to watch the magazine’s video about what went into its creation—and keep an eye out for next week’s impactful cover, which we’ll add here when it publishes.)
Illustration by Tom Gauld
Photo illustration by Nix + Gerber Studio
Photograph by Arielle Bobb-Willis
Photograph by Dan Winters
Photograph by Ambroise Tézenas/Institute
Photographs from Brian J. Bourquin; Dawn Adams; Karen Raaf; Erika Sawyer; Donell Johnson Jr.; Jennifer Peverill; Kate Doolittle; Chris Reade; Cathryn Crawford; Chelsey; Scott C. Campbell; Tanveer Hussain; Steven Barton; Nikki Grigalunas; Sgt. First Class Jon Stresing; Debra Holloway; Edvin Quic
Photograph by Andrea Frazzetta
Photograph by Philip Montgomery
Photograph by Kiana Hayeri