A Letter From the Publisher

By Robert L. Miller

In conceiving this special issue on the Constitution, TIME's editors set out to portray the charter not as a dry historical relic but as a vital part of American life. Says Senior Editor Jose M. Ferrer III, who oversaw the project: "We thought, 'If it is a living document, as is often said, why is that so? What is the news of it?' We took off from there. We wanted to show that the Constitution is all around us in ways we almost take for granted."

The foldout cover painting, created by Illustrator Richard Hess, captures that spirit by gathering a panorama of disparate figures from every period of U.S. history -- Native American and police officer, physician and flower child, colonial mother and suffragist -- all united by the principles of the Constitution.

For Tom Bentkowski, TIME's art director for special projects, this issue's challenge was to convey the pervasiveness of the charter's influence visually. He and Ferrer decided to organize the magazine around themes from the Constitution rather than in TIME's usual sections. Says Bentkowski: "The whole process was engrossing. It became richer as we went along." A case in point is the photographic essay that accompanies the story by TIME Senior Writer Lance Morrow about the ubiquitous effects of the Constitution on U.S. citizens. Most of the pictures were planned in advance with Dorothy Affa, who directed photo research for the issue. Says Bentkowski: "Our aim here was not to document everyday life but to convey a symbolic idea through real objects and real people. It is rare to get a chance to think in advance about the elements of a photograph."

In an office lined with scores of art books and bedecked with posters of the Beatles and Mozart, Bentkowski works on his designs. Often he plays a wide range of music on his record-and-tape system, a reminder of the days when he wrote a column of rock criticism for New York magazine, from 1977 to 1984. There have been other aspirations. "I used to dream of becoming a hockey player," says Bentkowski, who hails from Buffalo, "but I was a rare combination of lack of size and lack of speed." The world of magazine design was the obvious beneficiary. After graduating from Pratt Institute, he worked on a host of publications, among them Saturday Review, L'Express, the New York Times and the Atlantic.

Since 1980 Bentkowski has designed four TIME special issues. These were in- depth reports on the Soviet Union (1980); Japan (1983); the latest wave of immigrants to the U.S. (1985); and American Best (1986), a journalistic celebration of everything that America and Americans do well. His eye-catching page design has also sharpened the look of TIME's annual Man of the Year and Images issues. Not surprisingly, many of Bentkowski's visual ideas have made their way from the special issues into our regular weekly pages. "Within the confines of TIME's weekly responsibilities," he says, "we've tried to treat every issue as a special issue." Bentkowski has attempted to make each edition of TIME an informative blend of visual and editorial elements. "We've gone far beyond treating pictures as footnotes to the text," he explains. "They now play an essential role in transmitting information."

In July, Bentkowski begins a new challenge as art director for LIFE magazine. "I thought I already had one of the best jobs at Time Inc.," he admits. "But how do you pass up designing LIFE?" Our sister publication is gaining a soothing influence, as well as a first-rate designer. Notes Reporter-Researcher Naushad Mehta, who was in charge of all research for the Constitution project: "Tom has always amazed us with his coolness and calm, even in the rush of our most frenetic schedules." We are going to miss him.