Design With Reason: Newspaper Redesigns
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RETHINKING DESIGN FOR 2010

It's a question I get regularly now: "Newspapers are still redesigning?" The answer is yes, but the last two years have created a markedly different landscape. Gone are the days of redesigning "just to freshen up around the house." Editors don't have the time or money for that, and readers don't have the patience, or need, to put up with it. Many papers (though not all) have redesigned to accommodate new presses, add color, or change format (page size). Now, rather, redesigns fall into several categories. STARTUPS: Yes, newspapers are being started in carefully targeted markets, and they need a design, such as the new paper in Lagos, Nigeria I have worked on over the past year. TWEAKS: Strong designs such as "Advertising Age" and "Crain's Chicago Business" (whose redesign I directed a few years ago) don't see a need for a total overhaul, but rather, "a facelift" is called for as content, organization, or mission evolves over time. Using mostly the same type and color systems, things can be tweaked for a fresh and more functional look. RELAUNCHES: Tired titles are being bought and reinvigorated. Downsized staffs, and news holes, are being rethought with imagination. Some papers are turning their content on its ear in pursuit of new audiences and advertisers. Branding and marketing are key in the design of these projects, and an unusual starting point to the rethinking process has emerged: advertising. Formerly a distant cousin in the back of the redesign room (if at all), advertising destinations and designs are now front and center. Read more in my updated file, "Six Questions on the Redesign Process." A related blog post addresses editors who are reluctant to get involved in the financial side of things. Questions? Feel free to email me at any time.

REDESIGN PROJECTS:

Following is a sampling of redesign projects I have worked on, most of which I have directed and/or served as lead designer. The links below provide instant access to high-res PDFs. Questions about any of the projects? Want to see more or obtain references? please inquire. Updated January 2010.

The Standard (Nairobi, Kenya). Daily tabloid circulating through East Africa, first total revamp in years. See online portfolio of post-launch pages. See blog entry.

Dubai Traveler (Dubai, UAE). Prototype for newspaper for Dubai Duty Free.

Vero Beach 32963. Startup newspaper, Vero Beach, Fla.
See this blog entry about a reassuring wave of startup newspapers.

Crain's Manchester (U.K.) Business. Startup weekly, part of the Crain Communications empire. Download 6-page PDF of sample pages from prototype issue.

Negocios Now. Startup publication, Spanish monthly business newspaper, Chicago.

Business Insurance Europe
London-based offshoot of longstanding Crain's title, Business Insurance.

Emirates Evening Post (Dubai, United Arab Emirates)
Conversion from broadsheet to tabloid and complete revamp of content, mission and brand. See online portfolio of post-launch pages. Download The Post's Page 2 (super index). Also visit a slide show case study here.

Crain's Chicago Business, complete redesign, 2005. Design update in progress, January 2010.
See online portfolio of post-launch pages. Additional cover 1 (PDF)
Additional cover 2 (PDF)

The Harvard Crimson , complete redesign and first conversion to full color
See online portfolio of post-launch pages.

San Francisco Examiner
Conversion from broadsheet to tabloid and complete revamp of content, brand and mission. See online portfolio of post-launch pages. (For an 8-page PDF of the Examiner redesign case study from DESIGN magazine, click here. For a photo gallery of live page designs after the redesign, click here.)

The Orlando Sentinel, directed first comprehensive redesign in years (2000).

Advertising Age , redesign in 2005, with consult on two design updates, 2007 and 2009
See online portfolio of post-launch pages. Additional cover (PDF).

Business Insurance

Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram
Additional cover.

The Dallas Morning News, directed first comprehensive redesign in years. Learn about the redesign from the paper's website.
Additional page: Election 2006, Democratic victory.

Nowy Dziennik (Polish Daily News, New York City)

Philadelphia Weekly *

East Bay Newspapers, Bristol, Rhode Island

Our Sunday Visitor - U.S. national Catholic weekly

The Wall Street Journal (assisted with prototyping Personal Journal section) *
Click here for PDF, "The Importance of Design Style at The Wall Street Journal." A behind-the-scenes look of the paper's comprehensive design guide, the production of which I supervised.

Gulf News (Dubai, United Arab Emirates) *

Hindustan Times (New Delhi) *

Grand Rapids Press *

Walla Walla Union-Bulletin

Lincoln Journal-Star

Boston Herald, directed the paper's first comprehensive redesign and conversion to color.

Syracuse (N.Y.) Post-Standard *

Sarasota/Siesta Key (Fla.) Pelican Press

Bainbridge Island Review, Port Orchard Independent, and other papers of Sound Publishing Group

Puget Sound Navy News

Morning Journal, Lisbon, Ohio.

St. Petersburg Times, various sections: TV book, features sections, Tampa edition Metro section, special projects.


[ * assisted as part of a larger consulting team]


Newspapers I have redesigned as small as the Bristol Phoenix, and its sister publications in and around East Bay, RI, have shown amazing progress in creating information graphics and cleaner designs.




The links at left will call up high-res PDFs of redesigned publications such as Business Insurance Europe.




Emirates Evening Post, a dramatically redesigned and reinvented tabloid in Dubai. Visit this link to see a slide show case study of the Post redesign. Follow the links at left column of this page to download high-res PDFs of this and other client publications.



Updated: January 2010.
Email me here.