WHAT'S NEXT: INNOVATIONS IN NEWSPAPERS

This is an excellent front page from i, the National European Newspaper of the Year.

Instead to present just the bas news (more jobless people), the newspaper present the other side of the news: more people than ever are investing in their own education.

That’s a trend happening in many countries.

The negative/positive front page strategy is a good one.

Readers want to know the problems (well, let’s say that they need to know), but they looking for solutions.

Yes, the Problems & Solutions Journalism works.

It’s Smart Journalism!

We always wanted a very flexible logo.

And today, the “i” logo sells the big news of the day.

Parabens!

The New York Times reports about i:

It would be hard to find a less promising country in which to start a newspaper than Portugal. Not only are readers defecting to the Internet, as they are elsewhere, but relatively few people ever picked up a paper to begin with. And print advertising has plunged by more than 40 percent this year.Yet while newspapers elsewhere are shutting down or grappling with an uncertain future, Portugal recently got a new one, called i, short for informação, or information.

“Everyone was astonished that they went ahead with the launch when they did,” said João Palmeiro, president of the Portuguese Publishers Association, referring to Lena Group, the Portuguese industrial conglomerate that owns the paper. But he added, “Most of the people are sticking with it once they read it.”

Well, this Thursday, the regional chapter of the Society of News Design holds its annual meeting in Lisbon with a fantastic program that includes the award ceremony for the best designed newspapers of Spain and Portugal.

And the editors of  i will explain and present the new paper.

A perfect front page for an eight page cover story.

Pure “daily-news-magazine.”

Designed on deadline.

This 37 year old Portuguese journalist is the publisher and editor of i, the new quality national compact and compelling daily newspaper published by Sojormedia that was launched in May 2009.

Martim was the former editor of Diario Economico and later became the Communications Director of SONAE.

I had the opportunity top work with Martim and his team in the planning and implementation of a simple idea: let’s produce a new and relevant on and off line daily newspaper for the new generations of professionals in Portugal, hiring young journalists and giving them a “no limits” freedom to report, edit and present exclusive news and tell stories that move people.

In less than six months, i has become the most innovative newspaper of Europe, and the best designed newspaper of Spain and Portugal.

And Martim is now one of the main speakers in any big newspaper congress.

His case, a new quality newspaper when many old ones are not sure about the future of this industry, is a great example of courage, entrepreneurship and vision.

So Martim is, for sure, a Media Innovator!

(I took the above picture during my last visit to Lisbon before the launch of i: from the left to the right, Martim with his Commercial Director, Joao Pedro Mendes, and the President of Sojormedia, Francisco Rebelo dos Santos)

This is a hell’s front page.

Compelling stories sell newspapers.

The only problem is that you have to be in Portugal to read i on print.

Or just taste this fantastic paper here in a brilliant website developed by Dos al Cubo that has been awarded as one of the best designed websites of Spain and Portugal at the ñH6 competition.

i has been awarded as one of the best designed newspaper of Spain and Portugal, but just looking at this fantastic front page of Publico you realize that Portuguese newspapers are today leading de visual journalism revolution.

Well done!

Everyday, a kind of difrerent front page.

Today, the banners formula.

And a white logo.

Brilliant!

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.

More amazing pages from i, the new INNOVATION’s revolutionary newspaper of Portugal that excels in how to present and explain the news using the best tools of visual journalism.

Investing in hard news.

With knockout pictures.

Covering Sports with revealing and compelling interviews.

Or just splashing terrific and well edited panoramic pictures.

And small is beautiful, too.

And bold double spread pages that you never saw before.

Yes, nothing new.

Just Journalism.

Period.

The best of the best solutions for any newspaper.

And this is, for me, the biggest lesson learned from the directors and editors of i.

They are the ones that deserve the credit for this display of creativity and courage.

The INNOVATION team was only a provocateur.

They are the ones that at the end of the day implemented our crazy ideas.

Parabens!