Editors' comments “When we heard the publisher was going to bring in a design consultant, we all rolled our eyes. My not-so-gracious thoughts on the subject were that consultants are guys we pay out the nose for, only to ignore their advice – always what the publisher wanted to hear – the moment they board the plane home. When Alan came to our site, however, he blew all my consultant stereotypes out of the proverbial waters. The man knows newspapers, and he knows the pitfalls of the redesign process. He wasn't afraid to challenge our notions and ask the hard questions. He didn't just help us make our paper look great, but his pragmatic, hands-on guidance helped our paper read great. Alan knows that content is king and that great design is only great if it is packaging great content. Alan was a pleasant straight-shooter who defused egos and took a lot of the pain out of the redesign process. The bottom line for me is that our readers have a better paper because of Alan's efforts.” – Lucas Roebuck, Benton County Daily Record “Alan came in as a consultant and immediately elevated our redesign efforts to the next level. Though his time with us was limited to a few days, his first task was perhaps his most important: He insisted we pause to evaluate our motives and establish editorial goals. Once we solidified our foundation, we were able to focus on design. Alan brings years of newspaper experience to the table, and his knowledge was invaluable as we honed our project. He knows what will work and what won't. He gave us honest feedback as well as suggestions on what could improve our product. To all this he adds an extensive knowledge of QuarkXPress, which enabled us to configure our templates to function optimally. Jacobson's comprehensive knowledge and experience in the newspaper industry made him the perfect choice for our design needs, and also gave us the peace of mind in knowing that all bases were covered as we moved into the final stages of our project.” – Matthew A. Snyder, Production and Design Editor, Benton County Daily Record

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