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Thinking of launching a new newspaper or niche publication? Want it to be different? Want it to develop immediate interest from readers and advertisers? At Henninger Consulting, we work with you to develop a plan for your product that combines winning content with advertiser opportunity. Ed Henninger has been involved in the genesis of several startups, including business newspapers, trade newsletters and niche publications. Now you can put his experience to work for you.
Expertise in:
Typography: Text type. Display type. Lists. Columns. Accessory type.
Color: Identity. Contrast. Linking.
Design elements: Nameplate. Page labels. Standing heads. Column sigs.
Pullouts. Infoboxes.
Structure and spacing: The page grid. The baseline grid. Column width.
Space between packages.
Readership research: What we know about newspaper readers. What we can learn about your prospective readers.
Content research: Who’s your target audience? What do you want to
give them? What can you give them that others don’t? What risks are you willing to take?
Content organization: Setting up your publication so readers can find
what they want quickly and consistently.
Focus groups: Preparation. Facilitation. Follow-up.
Preparation of templates and style sheets: Using InDesign or QuarkXPress.
Promotion: Creating a campaign that works for readers and advertisers.
Style guide: The document that embodies and protects your redesign.
On-site visits: Throughout the redesign process, to allow for intense
consultation and preparation.
Follow-up visit: Three to four months after launch.
Long-term follow-up: Continued observation and review.
You think your newspaper may need freshening. More than that, you fear you may be losing touch with some readers. But you want to be sure a redesign works for your readers, your advertisers—and your newsroom staff. At Henninger Consulting, we’ve put together years of consulting experience to develop a redesign plan that’s careful in direction, comprehensive in detail and collegial in approach. Experience. Excellence in design. Care in consulting. There is no equal.
Expertise in:
Typography: Text type. Display type. Lists. Columns. Accessory type.
Color: Identity. Contrast. Linking.
Design elements: Nameplate. Page labels. Standing heads. Column sigs.
Pullouts. Infoboxes.
Structure and spacing: The page grid. The baseline grid. Column width.
Space between packages.
Readership research: What we know about newspaper readers. What we can learn about your readers.
Content research: Who’s your target audience? What do you want to
give them? What can you give them that others don’t? What risks are you willing to take?
Content organization: Setting up your publication so readers can find
what they want quickly and consistently.
Focus groups: Preparation. Facilitation. Follow-up.
Preparation of templates and style sheets: Using InDesign or QuarkXPress.
Promotion: Creating a campaign that works for readers and advertisers.
Style guide: The document that embodies and protects your redesign.
On-site visits: Throughout the redesign process, to allow for intense
consultation and preparation.
Follow-up visit: Three to four months after launch.
Long-term follow-up: Continued observation and review.
Your classified ads are a major money-maker. Yet the classifieds are difficult to navigate and the typography is woeful. Worse, the classified header has become a hodgepodge of colors, elements and typefaces—and the deadlines and policies outlined there seem so daunting to buyers that they may go elsewhere. For more than 16 years, Ed Henninger has been applying his design and content skills to improving classified sections. He can do the same for you.
Expertise in:
Making classifieds easier to navigate.
Making classifieds easier to read.
Making classifieds more buyer-friendly.
Making your classified header simpler and more attractive.
Getting even your casual readers to check out the classifieds.
Your editorial product is fine. As a matter of fact, you’ve recently been pulling down your share of design awards. But you sense that your advertising design is holding you back, that it cheapens the very product you’re trying to sell. Henninger Consulting works with your advertising and graphics staff to develop more appealing and more powerful ads.
Expertise in:
Training for advertising designers: specific to their ads, their account
representatives and their advertisers.
Training for account representatives: how to help offer better
design—and better results—to advertisers.
Training for advertisers: how they can get the best design for their
money.
Creating a framework: for long-term development and promotion of
spec ads.
Creating a framework: for long-term advertising planning.
Not sure you need to redesign? Perhaps all you need is a “tweak.” And perhaps it’s a project that your staff can handle with just a bit of outside guidance—if any. Either way, you think you need help to decide on the next step. Just send us some issues of your paper and we’ll give you expert and honest feedback.
Expertise in:
Complete evaluation of your newspaper’s design.
Constructive recommendations for improvement.
Observations on issues contributing to design problems.
Evaluations are available in three formats:
Complete written evaluation of several issues of your publication.
Allows for a more thorough review of design elements and issues but may lack the context and Q&A that comes with a phone evaluation.
One-hour evaluation by phone. Allows for clarification and give-and-take and may include other editors and managers by speakerphone or conference call.
Phone evaluation with written follow-up.
Ask your readers what they expect from your newspaper’s design and often they’ll mention a factor that has nothing whatsoever to do with the look of your paper. They’ll plead with you to just put the same content in the same place from issue to issue. Readers are frustrated, for example, with having to search each issue for the obits or a favorite column. At Henninger Consulting, we have a proven approach to solving the problem
of consistent content placement.
Expertise in:
Who needs to be involved in the process of reorganizing your content.
What you can do to reposition items.
When is the best time to make the changes you’ve decided upon.
Where your readers would like these items placed.
Why you need an outsider to help make the process work.
How to safeguard the positive moves you’ve made.
You’re not unhappy with your design but you think your editorial content needs some revamping. Too much wire and not enough local. Or too many “process” stories. Or not enough stories about people. You need someone to evaluate your content and help you with improvements. At Henninger Consulting, we know content is king.
Expertise in:
Making content work for your readers.
What should stay.
What should change.
What should be discarded.
What should be added.
Working with editors and reporters to improve content.
Focus groups with readers to determine content areas needing
improvement.
Reader research and what it tells us readers want.
Your newsroom is doing its best to prepare and present meaningful content. But something’s missing. Your staff always seems to be just a bit behind, having to settle for a story that isn’t quite what you had hoped for. Planning is the key. At Henninger Consulting, we’ve been driving that point home for more than 16 years—and we’ve developed a content planning system that can help your newsroom staff deliver content that’s current, compelling—and meaningful.
Expertise in:
Daily content planning.
Weekly content planning.
Long-term content planning.
Special events planning.
Special section planning.
Planning coordination with other departments.
A successful editorial product is the result of successful newsroom leadership. Unfortunately, too many newsrooms are well managed—but poorly led. A newsroom veteran himself, Ed Henninger provides expert guidance on everyday leadership approaches and techniques.
Expertise in:
Redesigning the way you think.
Establishing the framework for better design thinking.
Creating a commitment to design training and education.
Getting out of the way.
In every newsroom, the odds are someone is swimming upstream—because that someone just isn’t qualified for the work or is unhappy doing it. Perhaps it’s more than just one someone. At Henninger Consulting, we can work with you to restructure your newsroom so all the pieces fit.
Expertise in:
Making sure the right people are in the right places.
Examining options for repositioning staffers as needed.
Examining options for restructuring the news process.
Examining options for restructuring the newsroom.
Helping your staff to “work up.”
Your design is good. Your content is fine. But there’s an uneasy sense that your newsroom can do a lot better if only you could get everyone pulling together—and in the same direction. Often all it takes is just a bit of training and coordination. Henninger Consulting has helped newsrooms across the U.S. and in Europe improve their product through advanced training. We’ll be happy to help you, too.
Expertise in:
Focusing on the requirements of your production desk.
Setting page deadlines.
Setting section deadlines.
Creating a copy flow process.
Coordinating with advertising.
Coordinating with prepress.
Good design doesn’t just start with the assignment editor. And it doesn’t just stop with the page designer. Good design relies heavily on your reporters knowing how their story will be incorporated into the total package. Once they know, they can write the story so it’s a better fit—and the package makes more sense for readers. At Henninger Consulting, we’ve mastered the approach and we’re committed to it. We can help you make it a success at your newspaper.
Expertise in:
Reorganizing the story so it can be broken into pieces.
Reworking the story so it won’t have to be continued on another page.
Planning the package with all key players involved.
Involving writers and editors in the design process.
Involving designers in the writing and editing process.
Coordinating efforts on special packages and sections.
Allowing for flexibility in deadlines and ad placement.
Design excellence doesn’t just happen. And it certainly can’t be achieved solely by the efforts of the page designer. It takes an orchestrated effort to make the design work—for you and for your readers. And it takes dedicated editing to hone the package and prepare it for the designer. Henninger Consulting can help you train your editors—and your designers—to make this a way of life at your newspaper.
Expertise in:
Placing the package first.
Learning to think like readers.
Brainstorming techniques.
Coordinating the package.
Those who have attended Ed Henninger’s workshops offer these
comments:
‘Ed took our paper apart. He raked us over the coals. It was the toughest criticism I ever had to endure—and I loved every moment of it!’
‘Doesn’t mince words. Understands both sides: writing and design.’
‘Packed with information and suggestions—we could have listened for
days.’
‘I can’t wait to share what I learned with my copy desk.’
‘Ed Henninger did not look down on us—he relates well to people from
papers our size.’
Workshop topics:
Typography: Does it work for your readers?
Design elements: Do you look like you—or someone else?
Content organization: Do you play hide-and-seek with your readers?
Basic design principles and techniques: Do you do the fundamentals
well?
Structure: Does it help make your paper easier to read?
Ad design: How can you improve it for better customer service?
Evaluations: What’s working? What’s not? What most needs fixing?
The visual director: Who guides the presentation process?
Design style guide: What are the rules? Who has to follow them?
Staffing and staff structure: Do we have the right people in the right
places?
Newsroom leadership: Who’s in charge here? OK...who’s really in
charge?
Want to know what your readers think about your design? All you have to do is ask. Most readers—and non-readers—will be more than happy to give you an earful. But to create an effective focus group, you have to have the right people. In the right place. Answering the right questions. With a facilitator who can keep the discussion focused and moving. Ed Henninger is an experienced group leader who knows how to prepare for and conduct the discussion—then evaluate the feedback that’s critical to effective design.
Expertise in:
Developing key questions for the focus group: your time is limited.
Deciding on the group: who will be invited to participate.
Preparing: identifying what you want to learn.
Setting up: making sure the area works for your group.
Facilitating: keeping the discussion even and moving.
Following-up: Evaluating what you’ve heard.
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