TIME magazine has been around for nearly a century—and in that time, they have never departed from their stalwart masthead.
Until now.
A month after featuring a black border on a cover to mark 200,000 deaths from COVID-19—the second time the magazine has ever done so, with the first coming in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks—the magazine has replaced the nameplate of its election week issue.
As TIME editor and CEO Edward Felsenthal writes in an editorial noting the move:
To mark this historic moment, arguably as consequential a decision as any of us has ever made at the ballot box, we have for the first time in our nearly 100-year history replaced our logo on the cover of our U.S. edition with the imperative for all of us to exercise the right to vote. To help, we’ve provided readers with a guide on how to vote safely during this extraordinary year. The artwork on the cover is by Shepard Fairey, whose work includes two prior TIME covers. “Even though the subject in the portrait knows there are additional challenges to democracy during a pandemic,” Fairey says of the image, the person is determined to use their “voice and power by voting.”
We stand at a rare moment, one that will separate history into before and after for generations. It is the kind of moment in which readers across the country and around the world have always turned to TIME. We thank you for doing so now.
It goes without saying, but it's great to be said, nonetheless: Vote.