WHAT'S NEXT: INNOVATIONS IN NEWSPAPERS

The National Post launched its new design yesterday and today it is paying a high price for a wrong decision with its new vertical name plate.

And the front page picture had to be cropped in order to fit with the aesthetics of the new format…

So, we lost the most dramatic part of the picture of the day: the killing of a photojournalist.

The Toronto Globe and Mail front page shows the whole picture.

The same bad choice was made by the Austrian Kleine Zeitung.

While the Canadian and Austrian papers made a terrible mistake, the International Herald Tribune presented the two photos in full.

Publico, the new Spanish viewspaper, selected another excellent picture.

Reuters has done a superb job covering the demonstrations.

Watch the killing of our colleague in this video from Reuters.

His death deserved a more sensitive news judgement and better photo editing.

What a shame!

Metro Canada presented its new design today.

Well, could you tell me which one is new?

Both look terrible.

A portfolio from the first day of the redesign.

The web site of the paper has today this Q&A section:

Why redesign the paper?
To make the paper bolder, more elegant, easier to use, more inviting and easier to find the news you want. We want to reflect our community in the content and the presentation. We have added dozens of new features to make reading The Pilot a more pleasurable experience and to help you understand more about the world around you.

What’s that new masthead: The Virginian-Pilot?
That’s a restoration of the original masthead that adorned The Pilot for about 100 years. It was changed about 25 years ago. We had the original one redrawn to reflect the 142-year-old legacy of The Pilot and to give the paper’s name a more commanding presence. Compare it to the old masthead and you’ll see that the new one is much more powerful and elegant. By the way, it was custom drawn by a very well known typographer named Jim Parkinson, whose work includes the masthead for Rolling Stone, The Chicago Tribune and Esquire. See more of his work at www.typedesign.com.

You made the type smaller didn’t you?
NO! We have not changed the body copy. It’s the same as the old paper. We don’t want to mess with success.

Did you make the actual paper smaller?
No, we did not.

So what are all these new features you told us about?
Well, for starters we have a page called Co-Pilot, where you pilot The Pilot. This page will appear three days a week and contains nothing but reader-generated content. We want you to be able to contribute to the daily paper and we want you to see yourself in the paper more than you do now. So we created this feature.

Is that some new kind of headline font?
Yes, we have three new headline fonts: Vonnes, our sans serif font; Tidewater, the elegant looking serif font; and Neutraface that is used for the section flags (titles) at the top of each section.

Why isn’t there color on every page?
Our presses won’t allow that. We are currently refurbishing the presses to improve our printing process. That process will take about a year and a half at a cost of $25 million. We still won’t have color on every page, but the paper will be better.

Did the price of the paper go up?
Nope. It is still the best deal on the planet.

Deborah Withey, deputy managing editor for presentation, presents her redesign of The Virginian Pilot:

Good design communicates ideas, but there’s an art to it

It usually hits me when I’m by the Chesapeake Bay.

But yesterday as I drove down a magnolia-lined street, a love of Hampton Roads washed over me.

I arrived exactly three years ago “for the job” as they say, after living in another quite lovely, but far-away place, Wales, in the United Kingdom.

I returned to the U.S. to join The Pilot because it is a newspaper with a tradition of excellence in visual journalism.

My task was not only to carry on that tradition but to grow it, improve it, redesigning the paper for present and future readers.

No small task, but an exciting one.

The first order of business was to align a new design to our content goals, good design is not decoration, each choice we make must be meaningful.

Next came the hardest part how to preserve the personality of The Pilot yet propel it forward making it more stimulating and accessible to both younger and core readers.

My solution was to look to our surroundings for inspiration, to reflect and celebrate what I saw and experienced here.

What’s before you is a design that’s unique to this newspaper and community.

Our color palette comes from the environment we share, in the water that both joins and separates us, in the myriad of greens of both plant and pollen.

Our choice of classic and modern typography is influenced by our rich history, and our eclectic mix of traditional and hip urban architecture.

This creative design will remain organic, driven by the news.

We will not become a templated newspaper where various stories play in the same spot every day, leaving little room for surprise.

Against the trend, we remain primarily black and white.

Our use of color is deliberate.

So yes, the design that will unfold in the days ahead has taken much thought, more than I express to you now.

What I wish for most is that you’ll feel the passion in our work and know that newspapers are indeed very alive, and will continue to be, as long as people appreciate the printed word.

I invite you to grow with us.

Today’s well-designed front page of The Virginian-Pilot, with a great photo, punchy headline and good story is a good example of what is comming on June 6th when the paper will present its full redesign.

The promotion has started with the slogan “readelicious.”