Arnold, Edmund
June 25, 1913 - February 2, 2007
Place of Birth: Bay City, MI
Biography:
Edmund Arnold was born to Anne and Ferdinand Arnold in Bay City, MI in 1913. He graduated from Arthur High School and Bay City Junior College in 1934. Arnold served as a combat correspondent during WWII, and afterwards bought the Frankenmuth News with a friend in 1946. Arnold was an early consultant and educator in graphic art design and pioneered cleaner displays of stories and pictures to hundreds of newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune, Christian Science Monitor, Newsday, New Orleans Times – Picayune, Boston Globe, Toronto Star, and National Observer. Arnold spent four decades as a design consultant and made changes in newspaper design that have now become standard practice. He installed bigger type, six columns of print instead of eight, and a modular layout that organized stories into squares instead of long, haphazard chunks of text overlapping one another. Besides working as an editor for Frankenmuth News, Arnold served as a picture editor for Saginaw News, a night editor for The State Journal, a Linotype News editor, a director of trade relations for Mergenthaler Linotype Company, and a Distinguished Professor of Journalism at Virginia Commonwealth University. Arnold published several books in his field, including Functional Newspaper Design in 1956 and Ink on Paper 2 in 1971. In 1957 he was given the George Polk Award for his contribution to typographic redesign, and the Society for News Design’s lifetime achievement award in 2000. Arnold died on February 2, 2007 and was survived by Viola (his wife of sixty-five years), his three children Kathleen, Bethany, and Bruce, and five grandchildren.
Selected Works:
- The Trailblazers: The Story of the 70th Infantry Division (1989)
- Improving Your Publication (1985)
- Editing the Organizational Publication (1982)
- Arnold’s Ancient Axioms (1978)
- Ink on Paper 2 (1972)
- Modern Newspaper Design (1969)
- Feature Photos That Sell (1960)
Awards:
- 2000 Lifetime Achievement Award, Society for Newspaper Design
- 1999 Lifetime Service Award, American Press Institute
- 1980 L.H.D., Wagner College
- 1983 Gold Key Award, Columbia University
- 1981 Arts and Sciences Lecturer Award (initial)
- 1971 The Friars’ Award, St. Bonaventure University
- 1990 Professional Honors: Army Distinguished Civilian Service Medal
- 1988 American Press Institute Award for Service to Journalism
- 1984 Photo-Journalism Award, United States Navy
- 1983 Distinguished Alumnus, School of Journalism, Michigan State University
- 1983 Honorary Life Membership, Virginia Press Association
- 1979 Army Outstanding Civilian Service Medal
- 1978 Journalism Pioneer Medal, the Newspaper Fund
- 1973 The John Fields Memorial Award, Central Michigan University
- 1968 The Carl Towley Memorial Award, Journalism Education Association
- 1960 U.S. Army Certificate of Appreciation
- 1958 Award of Appreciation, National Editorial Association
- 1957 George Polk Memorial Award, The Overseas Press Club
Critical Reception:
Considered the “Father of Modern Newspaper Design,” Arnold has received a plethora of awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society for Newspaper Design and an Award of Appreciation from the National Editorial Association.
Relevance of Place to Author’s Work:
Arnold launched his newspaper career with the Frankenmuth News (from Frankenmuth, Michigan) where he began his crucial changes to newspaper design. He graduated from Bay City Junior College and got a B.A. at Michigan State University.