In 1942, Tudor Seymour Long became editor, with Andrew Nelson Lytle serving as managing editor and Allen Tate as an advisory editor and "de facto" editor until 1944. In 1944, when Tate took over as editor, he and Lytle revolutionized the magazine's place in American letters. It focused on New Criticism, alongside Cleanth Brooks's "Southern Review" and John Crowe Ransom's "The Kenyon Review". Tate also had the magazine redesigned by P. J. Conkwright, who crafted the distinctive blue cover and design.