WHAT'S NEXT: INNOVATIONS IN NEWSPAPERS

Nick Mrozowski is the founding Art Director of i.

A very young visual journalist that last January INNOVATION recommended to the editors of the new paper in Portugal.

He got the first call from Andre Macedo and and he said “yes” on the spot.

I meet Nick in Norfolk when he was hired by The Virginian-Pilot and started to work for the deputy managing editor for presentation, Deborah Withey.

He was the Society of News Design’s College Designer of the Year two consecutive years while working at The State News of Michigan University.

Before he came to Lisbon Nick was one of the main designers of LINK, a tabloid aimed at young readers.

After the SND-E announced today that i was the best designed newspaper of Spain and Portugal in 2009 (20.000-60.000 category), I asked him a few questions:

WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE WITH THIS “DAILY-NEWS-MAGAZINE” CONCEPT?

Visually, this newspaper leaves nowhere to hide.

From the short bits at the front (which we illustrate with small photos, icons and simple infographics) to the in-depth spreads in the middle of the paper (that have sophisticated portraits, large illustrations and news photos) and the graphic double spreads that launch the section, we have virtually no stories that don’t take a visual touch.

And the expectation is magazine quality at every step.

And every day!

It’s a new way of working for most of us.

We thought we would be able to use lots of templates to simplify the work, but as it turns out, we make the vast majority of pages from scratch everyday.

It’s a lot of labor, but we are finding the rhythm.

HOW MANY DESIGNERS, PHOTOGRAPHERS AND GRAPHIC PEOPLE WORK WITH YOU?

Design: 7. Myself, Design Coordinator Pedro Fernandes, and five designers: Ana Soares, João Paulo Rego, Rita Perreira, Luciane Coelho and Luís Marques.

Infographics: 2. Editor Carlos Monteiro and Ricardo Santos.

Photography: 5. Editor Céu Guarda, Assistant Ágata Xavier, and Second Assistant Tiago Lopes, Senior Photographer Pedro Azvedo and Junior Photographer Filipe Casaca. The rest of the photography is accomplished through a special fixed group of freelancers.

Image treatment: 3. São Costa, Sara Correia and Sergio Mateus.

WHAT ARE THE BASIC GRAPHIC RULES FOR YOUR FRONT PAGES?

We try very hard to have a dynamic front page that changes as the news dictates.

The main challenge is to be flexible without being inconsistent.

Graphically, the most important elements are the blocks of bright color we use to designate different stories and the conscious choice we have made to keep headlines relatively small (to compliment our small format).

On average, our main headline is only about 40 points.

HOW READERS ARE REACTING TO THE DRAMATIC GRAPHIC DOUBLE SPREADS?

I don’t have any specific information about what readers think of these… but I know we like them!

We use a lot of large, dramatic photos.

And something we call “info-strations”, a mix of simple infographics with illustration.

We try to keep them quite graphic and as simple as possible.

There are days when we can make a simple, powerful statement with text alone, too.

There are so many possibilities.

ANY COMMENT ABOUT THE INVOLVEMENT OF THE REPORTERS AND EDITORS IN THE PRESENTATION OF THEIR STORIES?

We couldn’t make this paper without the editors.

They spend a lot of time discussing pages and concepts directly with the designers.

And as the news changes throughout the day, we rely on them to communicate the changes so that the newspaper can evolve with the news.

There are more than a few “word” editors who I think would like to be art directors in another life.

That’s great for me and my team!

WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED AS A DESIGNER AND AS A VISUALJOURNALIST WORKING IN PORTUGAL?

Coming to Lisbon has been wonderful for me.

The newspapers here are really exciting and inspiring.

It’s fantastic to work in a market where the competition includes a couple of recent world’s best designed newspapers.

Some lessons from i: Everything is possible (even on deadline). Nothing is ever finished (even after the deadline!).

And I’ve learned an especially valuable lesson by watching the directors here work.

They don’t put limits on their ideas.

So what if something seems crazy?

So what if it seems impossible to accomplish in a day (or a couple of hours)?

They believe in good ideas, and they don’t wait for a focus group or another newspaper to prove that something works.

They just do it.

And that’s the real secret of i.

No limits!

And, of course, I’ve learned some Portuguese! (Especially the things to yell on deadline…)

One thing that I am especially proud of is the commitment to illustration here.

We have a great group of illustrators working with us.

And we have a steady stream of assignments to spread among them.

We’re very lucky that the directors here understand and appreciate the journalistic value of their work.

Martim and André have managed to assemble a really wonderful group of people here at i.

The were really smart in the hiring process to look outside the usual candidates.

I’m very happy to be working in Lisbon, especially with such a great group of people.