June 7, 2007
Harper’s E-Archive Interview
For designers and all those who love to study the visual histories of periodicals, reading text without seeing the page is like reading a screenplay without seeing the movie. Harper’s Magazine, on the other hand, has gone all the way. It has created what associate editor Paul Ford calls “a massive, interlinked, searchable document that provides quick access” to 157 continuous years of Harper’s—with illustrations and all. Working alone, without any consulting team and without fuss, Ford has been a man with a plan, a scanner and a lot of patience.