The archive · Content & Film · Product decision · 2022–2023
The New Yorker hands an entire issue to cartoons and puzzles — and makes it playable
The New Yorker's Cartoons & Puzzles Issue filled the magazine with games — a cover crossword, a caption-revealing bagel puzzle — all playable online.
The New Yorker (Condé Nast)
What it had to solve
The New Yorker's Cartoon and Puzzles & Games departments teamed up to take over an issue of the magazine — an edition packed with games, gags, goofs and general eye candy.
How it works
The New Yorker's Cartoon and Puzzles & Games departments teamed up to take over an issue of the magazine. The result was an edition in which games, gags, goofs and general eye candy were not side features but the structure of the issue itself.
A mini-crossword sat on the cover, a bagel-themed puzzle revealed the caption to a cartoon, and a Shakespeare-themed copy editing game joined the line-up inside. All of these features came to life and were playable online, on a colourful landing page whose design was inspired by classic board games like Parcheesi and echoed the cover in print.
By letting two of its most beloved departments take over, The New Yorker turned a magazine issue into a collection of playable encounters across print and web. The work entered the D&AD awards archive under magazine and newspaper design.
Why it lands
- The departments taking over were the point: readers who love New Yorker cartoons and puzzles got an entire issue built in their own languages.
- Putting a puzzle on the cover made the issue's playfulness visible before the first page was turned.
- Making every feature playable online extended the magazine beyond print into a shared interactive space.
- The board-game-inspired landing page tied print, web and classic game design into one coherent world.
What it did
The issue turned the magazine itself into a playable object: print and web were designed as one game space, and the work entered the D&AD awards archive under magazine and newspaper design.
What you can take
When a publication owns beloved specialisms, handing them a whole edition makes the medium the message: readers do not just read the issue, they play with it — in print and online.
Since then
The special issue entered the D&AD awards archive under magazine and newspaper design as an example of editorial collaboration: two in-house departments sharing one issue turned a magazine into something readers could play with across print and online.
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