 |
Thinking, tools and tips for a better designed newspaper. Columns will be available here for a full year.
A new publisher has a lot to think about. The design of his paper shouldn't have to be one of his immediate problems. But—just to be sure—here are some questions he can ask to decide if his newsroom is taking care of the design.
What is the v-e-r-y first thing people see when they look at your newspaper? The design. The way your paper looks speaks volumes about the product as a whole. Discount the value of design and you're discounting the value of your newspaper.
In the early days of rock 'n' roll, Kitty Kallen topped the charts with her only hit: "Little Things Mean a Lot." More than 50 years later, it's still true: Little things mean a lot. God is in the details—because it's attention to the details that carries a newspaper's design to excellence.
When a publisher shifts a bit in his or her seat, it's a good sign. From that moment on, our discussions become more intense, more direct and more focused. Some suggestions are sure to get his/her attention.
It's time to change the way you think about handling copy—and reporters. Stop accepting what reporters hand you. Instead, begin working with them to let them know what you want.
Get your designers together for occasional reviews of pages. Bring in some pizza and cokes. It's a chance for those who design pages to relax and learn from each other in a constructive, fun atmosphere.
Good design practices can save you space, time and money with every issue you publish. And... they don't have to cost you a cent to put them into play.
A publisher asked me over lunch: "So...what does a good design do for my papers?" When I had finished, he picked up the tab. And I've redesigned two of his papers since then.
Recently a writer said one of my columns "stated the obvious." I'm OK with that—because some points just have to be made over and over. And over.
The bad news is that metros are bleeding circulation. But smaller and community newspapers continue to do well. Says one publisher: "I think it underscores the unique connection the community newspaper has with its readers."
So, the boss just made some cuts. One of them was an editor who shared the page design duties. Now we have to show that we can work smaller ... but smarter.
Newsprint costs being what they are, more and more publishers are toying with the idea of switching to tabloid format. OK...small is good—it just depends on how you deal with it.
Without records copy, our readers would be much less informed, often missing out on information that's critical to their day-to-day living. Handling records copy correctly is just as important as any other design task.
There's another round of web reduction afoot in the industry and—like it or not—you may not have much say about cutting the width of your pages.
|
|
