This is a great inside view from the fab designers of New York Times Magazine about last weeks cover:

Design director Arem Duplessis:
"While we were working on the graphic approaches, I asked our designer Sara Cwynar to begin experimenting with hand-lettering. She must have executed more than 20 versions right at her desk using an eye dropper, india ink and a tiny watercolor brush. Her first version had little soldiers around the type that added a nice texture but the cover still needed some color."

Here the complete story by Arem Duplessis on their 6th Floor blog "
Here the final cover, artwork by Sara Cwynar