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newspaper design
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newspaper design

NEWSPAPER DESIGN: EDITORIAL, CLASSIFIED & ONLINE



before and after gallery
newspaper design
Newspaper design can be a catalyst for positive change. Visit the gallery to see how we improve publications and websites.

newspaper design

EDITORIAL NEWSPAPER DESIGN



newspaper design

CLASSIFIED NEWSPAPER DESIGN



newspaper design

ONLINE NEWSPAPER DESIGN



Read Steve Outing's interview with Alan Jacobson and learn why newspaper web sites are seriously flawed. Then see alternatives.
newspaper design

WEB SITE DESIGN



newspaper design

NEWSPAPER DESIGN WHITEPAPER


newspaper design
A redesign is a waste of time and money if it doesn't deliver a return on investment. Download our report to learn how to make your redesign pay off, then see how four newspapers boosted readership and revenue by following our advice.
newspaper design

TARGETED PUBLICATIONS



newspaper design

INTERACTIVE TOUR OF NEWSPAPER DESIGN



See in detail how a content-driven redesign did more than make a community daily look better – it made it a better paper.
newspaper design

RADICAL STRATEGIES FOR CIRCULATION WOES



newspaper design

STORIES BEHIND THE REDESIGNS



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See the future. Monetize online.
 
newspaper design
Wyoming Tribune Eagle
NEWSPAPER DESIGN
newspaper design
Wyoming Eagle Tribune
NEWSPAPER DESIGN
 
For the second week in a row, the redesign of the Wyoming Tribune Eagle has produced a significant boost in single-copy sales, averaging more than a 15 percent increase year over year. Most redesigns produce a spike in their first week, then fall off to pre-redesign levels. This doesn't seem to be the case in Cheyenne. See the pages

Read NAA's story about single-copy

Read E&P's story

Read Charles Apple's story

 
 

newspaper design
Country Life
NEWSPAPER DESIGN
 
Country Life is a weekly broadsheet section produced by the Republican American in Waterbury, CT. It targets the wealthy residents of the affluent towns north and west of Waterbury. Country Life bucks the tab-conversion trend. It was failing as a tab, so it was reborn as a broadsheet with a redesign by Brass Tacks. Now it's chock full of ads and better positioned to compete more efffectively with all other products – tab or broadsheet. See the other pages.

 
 
newspaper design
Pocatello Idaho State Journal
NEWSPAPER DESIGN
newspaper design
Idaho State Journal
NEWSPAPER DESIGN
 
The ISJ shows its passion for Pocatello by filling its fronts with faces – featuring five or more per front per day. You can't be too local and you can't run too many faces of local people, because everyone loves to hear these words: "I saw your picture in the paper." See the pages.

Circulation up! Hear from the circulation director.

Read the Poynter Institute interview: Bringing big changes to a little place called Pocatello
 
 




 
 
newspaper design
Victory for Bakersfield's newspaper
newspaper design
newspaper design
Bakersfield Californian newspaper
newspaper design
 
The Californian's redesign earned it a spot on Editor & Publisher's list of “Ten That Do it Right.” According to E & P, Bakersfield is appealing to its “really, really conservative market with a really, really radical redesign.”

And it's working.

Circulation stops are down and revenue is up – over a thousand inches in the redesigned real estate section alone. See before and after, see more pages and read the stories.


 
 
newspaper design
El Universal
The leading newspapers in Mexico City and Bogotá get first-of-their kind redesigns. El Universal (247,000-circ.) gets a radical redesign of Mexico's largest and best-know classifieds, both in print and online.

aviso oportuno

Building on Lucie Lacava's redesign of 2003, Brass Tacks put a new face on Aviso Oportuno, Mexico's best known brand for classified advertising. According the Classified Ad Director Ricardo Jose Mena Gamboa, the redesign has increased classified ads.

For its online redesign, less was more, with a dramatically simple user interface that eliminated clutter and keystrokes, and reduced the online brands from six to one. The redesign has produced an increase in unique visitors. Now Aviso Oportuno is poised to become “The Google of Mexican Classifieds.” Click to see before and after and live site.

Next up, a redesign ushers in an entirely new branding strategy at Colombia's largest newspaper, 453,000-circ. El Tiempo.


NEWSPAPER DESIGN
 
 

AUGUST 25, 2008


The current crisis in newspapers is driven by a drop in revenue, not readership. So it's time for newsrooms to pursue a paradigm-shifting approach to content: developing editorial products that advertisers believe people will read.

Why?
  1. Because newspapers need advertisers to pay the freight.
  2. Because advertisers are also readers, and if they believe people will read a newspaper's products, then they'll be willing to advertise in them.
  3. Because this strategy works.*
“Church and state” separation is so pre-CraigsList. Newsrooms need to take their new ideas to their ad departments and ask, “Can you sell this?”

If the answer is no, then it's back to the drawing board.

This is not reinvention. This is change we can believe in.**

This is not selling out. While the advertising department has no right to control or dictate editorial content, they have every right to let the newsroom know whether a new idea will sell – because they're the folks responsible for selling it.

It's the newspeople that make the newspaper. There's hope for them and the readers they want to serve. I know, because the newsrooms I've visited recently are making the changes necessary to reconnect with readers.

Editors and designers are taking a hard look at everything they do, beginning with their front page choices. They're realizing that many lead stories are barely worth the front page at all, while stories at the bottom of the page or elsewhere in the paper are more relevant to more people. They're revisiting the decision-making process behind their published pages and realizing they could have made better choices.

From Cheyenne, Wyoming, to Gainesville, Florida, to Duluth, Minnesota, they're abandoning design conventions like "skyboxes" and "centerpieces" and "lead art," because these devices are often driven by images and content of little value to readers. Now they're pursuing content that illuminates, educates, informs and entertains – and ultimately, sells.

Newspapers need to rewrite their playbooks. Dominant images: Who says we need them? Editorials on the front page – why not, if they deliver the most compelling content? Can user-generated content drive a new editorial initiative? You bet'cha!

When it comes to change, most newspapers have barely scratched the surface. It's time to dig deeper – beginning with an approach that works for readers and advertisers.

*In Waterbury, Connecticut, a zoned section that was losing money was redesigned to create a more appealing environment for advertising. As a result, ad revenue increased more than 600 percent.

**In Cheyenne, Wyoming, a weekly entertainment tab that was losing money was converted to a daily broadsheet section to better serve readers and advertisers, earning a positive response from both groups. At the same time, Cheyenne recast its front page as a marketing vehicle, and single-copy sales went up 15 percent.



 
 
newspaper design
big pictures
Do 6-column photos boost readership and revenue?>>

new rules for newspapers
How newspapers should play to win in the Internet age.>>
newspaper design
How TV books hurt newspapers
By reinforcing our fear of change.>>
newspaper design
Washington Post gets visual
Len Downie's memo calls for more emphasis on design.>>
newspaper design
Newspaper Next is the answer
Read our abbreviated version of API's report. It'll only take a minute and it's worth it.>>
newspaper design
Lies, damn lies and statistics about newspaper circulation
See the charts that show why now is the time to redesign for revenue.>>
newspaper design
How to sell more newspapers
A practical, step-by-step approach with examples from newspapers large and small.>>
newspaper design
Knight Ridder sale
Learn from KnightRidder's mistakes at the Inky and the Merc.>>
newspaper design
NYTimes.com redesign is not enough
This online redesign is not enough to please users and advertisers.>>
newspaper design
Does design matter to readers?
newspaper design
Design does matter to readers, but only if it's reader driven.>>
newspaper design
Newspaper innovation is lacking
If newspaper markets are so different, why do most papers look so much alike?>>
newspaper design
Newspaper redesign
I wish you luck and offer some advice.>>
newspaper design
Newspaper tab conversion
This overhyped trend is a non-starter for America.>>
newspaper design
Newspaper design contest
We can make a difference, but not by chasing awards.>>
newspaper design
Newspaper classified advertising
At stake is nothing less than newspapers as we know them.>>
newspaper design
Newspaper design contest
A thousand awards a year? Gimme a break.>>
newspaper design

They never said higher RBS scores would sell more newspapers.


 
newspaper design
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newspaper design