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Online Design & Rethinking | Custom Staff Training/Client Portfolio | Tips, Articles, Resources "Design With Reason" Blog | Marketing Services | Bio/Contact   Rethinking Redesigns: WHEN IS IT WORTH IT? 6 QUESTIONS FOR 2009 | |||
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MORE: Articles index. HOME PAGE: www.ronreason.com, with links to redesign case studies in visuals and text. ON THE BLOG: An updated blog entry confronts the controversial question: whether redesigns should be expected to reverse circulation, advertising or readership declines (and what the industry track record has shown in recent years). One of my predictions is already coming true: newspapers moving to a heavily templated design - that is, pre-formatted pages, including covers, plug-and-play with strictly placed briefs, pre-measured stories, pre-sized photos, whether local or wire, and possibly very strict pre-formatted advertising holes to accommodate it all. Gone will be the day of reinventing the design wheel with each edition. Smart formats, easy-to-learn (and navigate), will be at a premium. |
By Ron Reason This material may be recirculated with attribution, but is not to be republished or excerpted for publication without permission. Updated March 2009 The decision to redesign your newspaper is an important one. The process is complex and may be confusing to the uninitiated, and in a business climate of uncertainty, it‘s not a small decision for any news publication. Following are key questions I am often asked via e-mail or phone inquiries or in person at conferences or seminars; the answers reflect my views based on experience, and have been updated several times in the last decade.1. Why redesign? When Is it worth it? In my 20-plus years in news design, the answer to these questions have changed fundamentally. Formerly, a newspaper redesigned every 10 years or so, on average, to freshen up its look, but often prodded by new technology, a change in the dimensions of the newspaper, the adoption or upgrading of color, or (less often) a rethinking of the paper's content or audience. Almost always underlying the redesign mission was a desire, stated or not, to boost circulation, stem the tide of declining circulation, or lure younger readers back to the paper. When I hear newspapers or consultants citing a redesign as having boosted circulation or revenue, I am skeptical about what other factors may have been at play. In early 2009, a client reported a significant jump in circulation. However, I was aware that in addition to redesign, we also undertook a dramatic rethinking of content, restructuring of the paper including robust daily pullout magazines (each its own audience driver), massive training in the area of writing/reporting, new circulation strategies, and marketing campaigns.
My current philosophy is that it makes sense to redesign printed news products, and to consider hiring the expertise of a consultant, when your motivations fall under one of the following four basic groups:
One additional category that I predict will arise in the next few years: the newspaper that moves to a heavily templated design - that is, pre-formatted pages, including covers, which plug-and-play with strictly placed briefs, pre-measured stories, pre-sized photos, whether local or wire, and possibly very strict pre-formatted advertising holes to accommodate it all. News design devotees will not like to hear this, as it suggests a diminished importance of art direction and possibly infographics, but the realities of budget and staffing cutbacks suggest these days are coming.
Regardless of what category your publication might fall under, the day is long gone for hoping that old-school redesign - relying on new fonts and colors and logos - will have much if any significant appeal to readers or advertisers.2. Why hire a consultant? Why not just create change in-house? Some newspapers are able to carry out a redesign in-house. The argument is that they know the history, market, staff and mission of the paper more intimately than an outsider might. On the down side, an in-house team can also bring politics, preconceived notions, a lack of innovation, or historical baggage to the table. Further, they may not have all the skills needed for such a complex project. With staffing tight all over, even qualified in-house candidates may not have the time or energy.Ask yourself: Do we have someone on staff who is an expert in type, color, and page architecture? Does this person know our journalistic mission and understand news as well as the complexities of professional graphic design? ("Branding" your corporate identity across various media is one particular challenge.) And, perhaps most important, does this person have the time and leadership skills necessary to corral the energies of the staff in a complicated project like a redesign? The availability of time is important here: If your art director or news editor hasn't had time to maintain and enforce a consistent design up to this point, he or she may be so strapped for time that a redesign would be a burden. Also keep in mind that the creative skills required to manage the complicated redesign process are different from those required for running the paper's art department or design desk day-to-day. Keep in mind that going in-house is not an entirely cost-free way of doing things. The weeks of salary of the person taken off-line are real costs; if their prototypes ending up stalling on the tracks, or being junked along the way (I've seen both), these are losses. A good consultant can provide a quick, cost-effective solution to get your new design up and running, efficiently, and present a new or freshened product to readers and advertisers quickly. 3. What should we look for in a consultant? Forget the artiste. Today you must have someone who understands design aesthetics, but also, deals with the business side in an aggressive way. I demand an audience with the advertising, marketing and circulation managers on my first visit to a client - and many meetings throughout. No prototypes begin without input from these teams. The days of newsroom-driven redesigns are in the past.
Make sure to look for a good "fit" when talking to design consultants. This person will be a collaborator, working to develop a look that is just right for your paper, so it is important that this person will really click with your staff (not just the graphics staff but the copy desk, pressroom, marketing department and board room). A good consultant will seek to understand your market and the mission of your paper, and his or her skills should be appropriate for the goals of your project. For example, I spend quite a lot of time looking at staff structures, training issues, work flow, creativity, allocation of resources, and planning and coordination that goes into the production process. These factors will greatly influence the type of design that should be created for your paper. A good consultant will really push and challenge the ideas of management and staff in a way that an in-house team likely may not, questioning even the age-old myths that may dictate how you design the paper. He or she will supplement and complement, and not necessarily replace, the design talent that does exist. If you are seeking a fresh eye on your newsroom, this may be the way to go. One important consideration: Ask whether your newsroom needs a consultant who is trained and experienced as a journalist, as a designer/art director, or both. (I have a journalism degree and have taught at one of the nation's top graphic design schools as well.) Not everyone has all these skills, as well as the "people skills" and diplomacy that may be needed to maneuver within your organization. Last but not least, when hiring help from outside, ask for references. Feel free to use the preceding paragraphs to shape the questions you ask them. 4. What will the right consultant do for us? The right person will thoroughly analyze your project, looking at it from different angles, and engage you in a rich conversation. Then he or she will propose a variety of services, which may include but not be limited to the following. These are among services I have performed in recent redesign projects:Not every newspaper needs all these services. But review the above list and ask how many of these might be appropriate for your situation. And in considering whether to bring in an outsider, ask yourself, "do we have the time, energy, and expertise to do all this in-house?" 5. How long should a redesign take? Depends on the size of the publication, the abilities of your staff, whether training in the crafts of design or journalism or web integration are part of the project, and other factors - technology, page size, adoption of new content, etc. Regardless, what used to take 9 months to two years, is now being done in three months or less. Taking any more time than this can create a drag on creativity and innovation.6. How much does a redesign cost, anyway? Cost is a big question, to which answers will vary widely (and wildly). Many publishers find the costs reasonable considering the above factors, weighed against the depth of change they wish to create. I am happy to provide cost estimates for qualified inquiries if you provide suitable background information on your project (please inquire), as well as send papers for review. Some newspapers also need to license new typefaces, which entails additional costs.[If you have questions other than those on this list, feel free to email ron@ronreason.com and I'll try to answer as best as I can. Your question may even be added to the list, or help me clarify one of the answers given above.] Updated and © 2009, Ron Reason, ron@ronreason.com. Not to be republished without permission or recirculated without attribution. Back to top of page |
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