I’ve uploaded a collection of memos about the American Press Institute’s J. Montgomery Curtis Memorial Seminar on the future of newspaper design. The collection starts with the invite / acceptance letter in April 1988. 

On July 21, API sent out the important information about the  seminar — a memo outlining a task for each seminar participant: design a front page of the future.

Each member is being asked to create a front page of the future, including content mix and design elements. These front pages (which will become a part of this year’s post-seminar publication) will be analyzed in advance by Roger Black, one of the most active and acclaimed publication designers in the United States, and discussed during the program.

There is also a schedule of events and information about discussion groups and the final round-table.

Here’s a look at the seminar schedule:

• Monday, September 12:
  • • 8:30 – 10:00 – “Newspapers in a Visual Society11
      Speaker: John Lees, Partner, Herman and Lees Associates, Inc., Cambridge, Mass.
    • 10:15 – 12:15 – “The Front Page”
      Speaker: Roger Black, President, Roger Black Inc., New York, N.Y.
    • 2:00 – 3:30 – Study I: “The Future for Newspaper Graphics”
      Speaker: Howard Finberg, Assistant Managing Editor, Arizona Republic, Phoenix, Ariz.
    • 3:45 – 5:15 – Study II: “Color”
      Speaker: Nanette Bisher, Assistant Art Director, U.S. News and World Report, Washington, DC.
• Tuesday, September 13:
  • • 8:30 – 10:00 – Study III: “The Impact of Technology”
      Speaker: David Gray, Managing Editor/Graphics, Providence Journal Company, Providence, RI.
    • 10:15 – 11:45 – Study IV: “The Role of Tomorrow’s Newspaper Designer”
      Speaker: Marty Petty, Vice President/Deputy Executive Editor, Hartford Courant, Hartford, Conn.
    • 12:00 – 1:30 – The membership will be broken into small groups to discuss in greater detail specific issues raised during the seminar.
    • 1:45 – 3:30 – The membership will return to the API Round-Table to hear reports from each group detailing observations and any conclusion.

One other important document: the discussion leaders biographies.

The end product of this seminar can be seen in this slideshow.