Newspaper Redesign

[Still MIGHTY]

Going into this semester at my junior college, Saddleback College, I came back to the college paper and was named (Co... ) Editor-in-Chief.

Anyway, since my last jaunt with the paper two years ago, the paper had taken a major downswing in quality, reputation, and numbers. (Last semester's staff totaled at THREE. We now have 25 on the paper, thankfully.) I was tasked with redesigning the newsprint and the website to take us forward into a more modern approach and design for the whole operation.

Everything on the old website (which unfortunately is still up, but should be changed out by week's end) and the previous newsprint just looked and felt very dated. We had to change just about every single aspect of the identity. We went for a cleaner more modern look, and this is what we came out with last week.

What's your opinions? How did I do with revamping this puppy?

OLD NEWSPRINT: http://issuu.com/lariatnews/docs/issue8/1

NEW NEWSPRINT: http://issuu.com/lariatnews/docs/volume45issue1/1

OLD WEBSITE:

NEW WEBSITE: (Just a mock-up for now. Gray boxes with dimensions = ads, Gray boxes above the lists will be photos)

Comments? Criticisms?

Thanks!

[CS85]

It was a desperately needed update and you did very well. The Lariat look is now much cleaner and more appealing to the eye. It says "legitimate," which should help your readership.

As far as the websites go, take the old website out back and put it down. The new one looks great.

[officeglenn]

Sweet, another ink jockey. This is something I can sink my teeth into. Like CS85 said, the update was desperately needed. Website looks great so far; big fan of the billboard/large images for top stories. Really catches the eye and draws people in. I assume those will automatically rotate?

About the print edition, it's a huge step forward. Love the front page format on this one.

Couple of nitpicks, though: Not a huge fan of the new "Lariat" flag. The line weights on the font are inconsistent and throw off the eye somewhat, especially the "t". Also, I think you're using too many fonts throughout the paper. You've got your headline and body fonts, then a secondary headline font, plus Futura smattered throughout for pull quotes and other stuff. I've done a couple of redesigns over the years, and I've found that, if you stick to two font families — one serif and one sans serif — you should have more than enough options. The paper I work at now, it's Interstate and Minion. There are enough variations of each that I have options for secondary heds, captions, etc., but it all looks like one coherent product.

Out of curiosity, how frequently do you publish?

(As an aside: Argh! Streeters! I hate doing streeters!)

[Still MIGHTY]

Sweet, another ink jockey. This is something I can sink my teeth into. Like CS85 said, the update was desperately needed. Website looks great so far; big fan of the billboard/large images for top stories. Really catches the eye and draws people in. I assume those will automatically rotate?

About the print edition, it's a huge step forward. Love the front page format on this one.

Couple of nitpicks, though: Not a huge fan of the new "Lariat" flag. The line weights on the font are inconsistent and throw off the eye somewhat, especially the "t". Also, I think you're using too many fonts throughout the paper. You've got your headline and body fonts, then a secondary headline font, plus Futura smattered throughout for pull quotes and other stuff. I've done a couple of redesigns over the years, and I've found that, if you stick to two font families ? one serif and one sans serif ? you should have more than enough options. The paper I work at now, it's Interstate and Minion. There are enough variations of each that I have options for secondary heds, captions, etc., but it all looks like one coherent product.

Out of curiosity, how frequently do you publish?

(As an aside: Argh! Streeters! I hate doing streeters!)

I'm pretty sure the top stories will rotate, yes.

As far as the fonts, that unfortunately is the product of reluctantly and begrudgingly being named Co-Editor with someone that truly knows absolute about design and specifically news design. I tried to come to a compromise with her, but it wasn't working really. Her ideas are way, way, wayyyyyy outside of the box and really kind of off the rails when it comes to news design. I understood her wants for an interesting/eyecatching paper, but where she wanted to go was too far off. We were named Editors on a Wednesday and had to develop this in basically a week and a half. So we kind of worked quickly and the situation led to many of "You get this, but I get that" negotiations. I wanted to pair down the fonts and keep the look, but she wanted to do what she wanted, and if I didn't give up some, it would have never gotten done (or I would've been able to get rid of her... hmmm... )

So yeah, I totally get that criticism. Hopefully we can pair them down as we go as I figure we're going to just as things come out.

We update the website every day, and our print usually comes out weekly on Wednesday. (I say usually, because due to our funding, we can only do so many issues per semester so we skip some weeks. It's normally 11 or 12 issues a semester, but the turnover of the entire staff, the teaching that needed to be done, and the redesigning, we're just going with nine.)

And I'm not familiar with the term streeters? Haha

Thanks for the positive feedback and the comments guys!

[oddball]

The old one was good, while the new one is better. Not great, but better. What I really like is the continuity of the look on the website. That right there is nice branding and establishing a look. The only thing I really don't like is the font used for "Lariat". It's clunky, steril, and not very inviting. Preferrably, I would've used a font with think and thin lines, whether it be serif or san-serif. Overall, great job.

[jstraper]

Well I can certainly say the new print format looks fresh. I recently completed a project which involved cataloging EVERY major student newspaper in the US (ended up being around 700 publications).

The College Media Network "managed" many of the newspapers, thus a similar website layout.

Many,though, were extinct (based off of an old list), and a good few shifted to an online-only format. I anticipate that this trend will increase, though students (selfish and aloof) are apathetic to doing more than is required (ie: going to a website) unless it's easily accessible and right there in their face (newspaper stands).

Anyway, good luck with your project.

[officeglenn]

I'm pretty sure the top stories will rotate, yes.

As far as the fonts, that unfortunately is the product of reluctantly and begrudgingly being named Co-Editor with someone that truly knows absolute about design and specifically news design. I tried to come to a compromise with her, but it wasn't working really. Her ideas are way, way, wayyyyyy outside of the box and really kind of off the rails when it comes to news design. I understood her wants for an interesting/eyecatching paper, but where she wanted to go was too far off. We were named Editors on a Wednesday and had to develop this in basically a week and a half. So we kind of worked quickly and the situation led to many of "You get this, but I get that" negotiations. I wanted to pair down the fonts and keep the look, but she wanted to do what she wanted, and if I didn't give up some, it would have never gotten done (or I would've been able to get rid of her... hmmm... )

So yeah, I totally get that criticism. Hopefully we can pair them down as we go as I figure we're going to just as things come out.

We update the website every day, and our print usually comes out weekly on Wednesday. (I say usually, because due to our funding, we can only do so many issues per semester so we skip some weeks. It's normally 11 or 12 issues a semester, but the turnover of the entire staff, the teaching that needed to be done, and the redesigning, we're just going with nine.)

And I'm not familiar with the term streeters? Haha

Thanks for the positive feedback and the comments guys!

Ah yes, design by committee sucks like that. Thinking outside the box is OK, but with news design, you can't get too far outside the box. But it's all very impressive for a week and a half.

Oh, and streeters are the man-on-the-street thing, the "Should skateboarding be allowed on campus?" in the issue you posted. Hate hate hate doing them. It seems very simple to do, but I always get a ton of resistance from people when I try to do them.

[Still MIGHTY]

Well I can certainly say the new print format looks fresh. I recently completed a project which involved cataloging EVERY major student newspaper in the US (ended up being around 700 publications).

The College Media Network "managed" many of the newspapers, thus a similar website layout.

Many,though, were extinct (based off of an old list), and a good few shifted to an online-only format. I anticipate that this trend will increase, though students (selfish and aloof) are apathetic to doing more than is required (ie: going to a website) unless it's easily accessible and right there in their face (newspaper stands).

Anyway, good luck with your project.

We've actually gotten a decent amount of web traffic. Not a whole lot, but with our new direction and constantly updating the site/social media, we're up to around 900 or so hits a day. I see that as a decent success for a JuCo paper.

But yes, our print readership is actually pretty strong among the faculty and the students. The amount that people actually read our stuff on campus does surprise me, because as a community college, most students aren't likely to care a whole lot about the school itself or stick around on campus long enough to actually grab/read a paper. I found that students reading more of the print edition was the case when I was at Arizona State's paper for a year. Print may be declining professionally but it's very alive on college campuses.

Oh, and streeters are the man-on-the-street thing, the "Should skateboarding be allowed on campus?" in the issue you posted. Hate hate hate doing them. It seems very simple to do, but I always get a ton of resistance from people when I try to do them.

Ah, I gotcha.

Yeah, me personally, I'm not the biggest fan of it, but apparently the students like it. They like being asked their opinions (as insightful as those can be...) and the students like seeing other students opinions in print. And it helps take up space

[nash61]

Oh, and streeters are the man-on-the-street thing, the "Should skateboarding be allowed on campus?" in the issue you posted. Hate hate hate doing them. It seems very simple to do, but I always get a ton of resistance from people when I try to do them.

Streeters for TV are still the worst thing ever. You wouldn't believe how many people ar fine with giving you their opinion, but are deathly afraid of appearing on camera.