Nov 9, 2010

Design Overhaul

We've all heard it, especially those of us in journalism school — print media is changing.

As newspaper companies fight to retain readers and advertisers and get out of the red, many of them are giving their approaches a makeover. After all, television has taught us in order to change our lives, we must first change our appearances. And newspapers are basically middle-aged women going through divorces to their previously loyal revenue models.

Bring on the newspaper redesign.

Redesign has many motivations, all are fairly obvious. Most big-name papers have been around for decades, and styles are always changing. Redesigns can help these older papers stay visually relevant to changing readers.

Also, big and bold is in. We've talked about newspaper trying to look more like magazines. Most aren't going that extreme yet, but a nice facelift will buy these papers time.

Most of all, newspapers are desperately trying to make money. Boring gray space no longer sells papers; beautiful graphics and eye-catching designs sell papers, especially to the younger, Web-oriented crowd.

Let's take a look at some of the industry's big redesigns:

This is The Bakersfield Californian in a side-by-side shot.



Notice how much more color the redesign has. The design is bolder, the centerpiece photo is larger and the area around the flag is more decorated. But does the design actually help convey the information better or is it all about the gimmick?

Here is another redesign — the Chicago Tribune's 2008 spiff up.

The new version features a left-aligned flag with a pretty teaser, wider columns and a bottom rail. The inside pages of the Trib received similar treatment with bigger, bolder page headers and more stand out headlines.



Notice one thing about both redesigns — you still recognize the paper. The flags are the same style, even if placement is different. A successful redesign can bring a new feel to a paper without losing the reputation the paper previously had. 

Readers of these two papers still know who and what they are reading. The presentation is just a little prettier.


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