Charles Apple

For your holiday weekend reading pleasure, we thought we’d bring you a brief selection of unusual Friday fronts…

First up is this nice over-the-nameplate treatment by designer Joe Jayjack and photographer Justin Hayworth of the Des Moines Register:

Fireworks shots are nothing new on A1 this time of year, of course. The question becomes: How do you make it look different?

You probably don’t want to mess with the nameplate every day. But every once in a while, this kind of treatment can be quite nice. Especially if you handle it as well as this.

Huntsville, on the other hand, did something quite different. We’ve all seen diagrams that explain how fireworks work and how they get all those different colors. But the Times went with a page-one buyer’s guide approach:

Design director Tim Ball tells us:

I designed today’s front, but really, any credit should go to Jon Busdeker, one of our entertainment reporters, who tested all the fireworks and reported on them with a perfect, whimsical tone. I really just tried to match that a bit.

The safety primer — and details of what the law says about where you can and can’t set off fireworks in our circulation area — ran on the jump of our other fireworks story off the front page. We did ponder putting it out front, but didn’t get any calls about its placement, as far as I know.

Jon’s recommended best buys and duds are clearly marked, there on the front. Find the story online here. There’s even a video showing each firework — so you can check them out yourself — on the web site. The background music of Elvis Presley singing America the Beautiful is a nice touch.

Huntsville, by the way, has an average daily circulation of about 57,000.

Speaking of fireworks, our next designer is on fire: Jon Benedict of the Virginian-Pilot. This marks the third time in two weeks we’ve cited one of his exceptional pages here in the blog (previous mentions here and here).

The story was about an enormous traffic jam Thursday — perhaps one of the largest ever, here in Hampton Roads — that tied up traffic literally all day. It was a disaster — and it suggests that, if we ever had a big hurricane or something here — there could be a lot of folks caught, unable to evacuate:

Note the awesomely dramatic vertical crop on the lead photo. Note the decks and the map. Note the downplayed nameplate. Note the huge headline. (I know, I know: I’m a sucker for pun headlines. But this one works really well.)

We’ll run this one, Jon. But from here on, we’re billing you each time we mention you here in the blog.

Y’know, it wasn’t very long ago when we weren’t allowed to run photos of fallen soldiers returning from the Middle East. The law has been relaxed quite a bit recently, and Newsday today used such a photo to tremendous effect:

Credit the Associated Press with the picture. Nice headline placement and a wonderful crop by the folks at Newsday.

Speaking of pun headlines, we found this one a real LOL moment today:

That’s in Waterbury, Conn., you see. The punny hed was conceived by Bill O’Brien, we’re told.

Terrific photo, too, by the Republican-American’s Gina Vierra. The paper has an average daily circulation of about 51,000.

And we’ll close with another barrel of yuks — or is it yucks? — from Chicago’s RedEye:

With this front, apparently, RedEye’s designers are aiming for the respect of their peers. *Ba-dum Bump*

Meanwhile, we’ll be looking for any interesting or unusual July 4th treatments Saturday. We know we can count on something cool from the Herald of Rock Hill, S.C., for example. But do you have an interesting presentation in the works? Feel free to e-mail it to us tonight or tip us off so we can pull it up via the Newseum tomorrow:

chuckapple [at] cox.net

And we were just talking about this yesterday…

Here is the front page o the St. Petersburg Times‘ TBT that appeared in the Newseum today:

That’s an ad wrapped around the tabloid paper, clearly marked in red up top: “Special Advertising Wrap.”

These things are still unusual — perhaps decreasingly so, but unusual. This one is more unusual in that, like the Chicago Tribune wrap we wrote about in May, it shows readers a small image of the real front page.

Unusual. But honest.

The other unusual thing about this front: Typically, we find, papers don’t release a Spadea or a wrap to the Newseum. We find that refreshing as well.

Make no mistake: We really hate the fact that readers are finding ads, rather than editorial copy, displayed on what’s perceived as the front of their newspaper. But we understand its’ keeping more of us from getting laid off.

Find our discussion here about an advertising Spadea wrapped around yesterday’s Virginian-Pilot.

Like several folks commented yesterday: Get used to it.

Extraordinary Charlotte Observer designer Luke Trautwein has left newspapers to work for the Brewers Association in Boulder, Colo.

Luke tells us:

I got a great job as a graphic designer, doing magazines and some other fun stuff. My last day at the Big O was on Wednesday.

Here is the official announcement, sent out recently by the Observer’s Eric Edwards:

I am saddened to say that after 5 years of inspired, dedicated work, Luke Trautwein is leaving the Observer to make his mark in the world of beer. Luke has accepted a position with the graphics department of the Brewer’s Association based in Boulder, Colorado.

Luke’s accomplishments at the paper are too many to detail. He has brought the Observer awards, he has helped us develop our online brand and he gave Charlotte the Phuzzle. But as impressive as his resume is, it sits in the shadow of his personality. Unofficially voted “Most Likely to be invited to a Maestro,” Luke’s energy is as unmistakable as his bold design. He not only makes the reading experience better but he makes collaboration exciting and fun. From MoneyWise to CLT covers to sports fronts to historic events like the election of Barack Obama, Luke’s work practically leapt off the paper it was printed on.

A few samples of Luke’s work (click — most will give you a slightly larger view):

We thank Luke for all of his contributions and we wish him the best of luck in his new career. If anyone can make drinking beer more fun, it’s probably Luke.

Luke’s last day is Wednesday, July 1. Please stop by and say goodbye.

Luke served as the lede for this story about young journalists at the traditional Charlotte Observer, which ran two years ago in American Journalism Review. Carl Sessions Stepp reported:

From his old-timer’s perch after three years in newspaper design, 27-year-old Luke Trautwein barely hesitates when asked if he would advise young people to join today’s newspapers.

“No,” he says firmly. “I’ve been in the newspaper business for three years, and I’ve only seen the negatives. Papers being sold and bought, and sold and bought, and people not knowing if they would have a job. I don’t know if there ever were the glory days, but I haven’t seen them. It seems like I can see it ending, and you wouldn’t want to tell people to get into that.”

Would he himself do it again?

“I’d totally do it again,” he exclaims. “I love it. Any job where you can ride your bike to work and come in and joke around and high five and wear what you want to wear, and they respect you for who you are, and they need you for who you are.

“The people are so different and you get them all together and work harmoniously–most of the time–to put out something good every day. That’s very cool.”

Caught in the obvious contradiction, Trautwein grins.

“It doesn’t make sense,” he concedes, “but I love what I do.”

Find that story here.

This leap from newspapers into the beer industry is the second I’ve heard about in two years. Last summer, Bill Manley of the Virginian-Pilot’s Link left to work for the Sierra Nevada brewing company in California.

Two is only a coincidence. One more, though, and we’ll call it a trend.

Here’s wishing the happiest of VizEds birthdays for a couple of fine visual communicators…

Bruce Austin is marketing manager for Springs Creative Products Group in Rock Hill, S.C. A 1989 graduate of UNC Charlotte, Bruce spent seven years as an advertising designer for the Rock Hill Herald before becoming ad design team leader at the Charlotte Observer in 1997. He left the Observer for Springs last spring. Bruce turns 43 today.

Chris Courtney is a senior designer with Tribune Interactive in Chicago, Ill. A 1998 graduate of the University of Central Arkansas, Chris worked as a sports designer for the Tulsa World, the Indianapolis Star and the Chicago Tribune before becoming design director of RedEye in 2002. He moved into his multimedia role in December. Chris turns 35 today.

Bruce and Chris share a birthday with actor Tom Cruise, talk show host Montel Williams, writer Franz Kafka, Bozo originator Larry Harmon and columnist Dave Barry.

Plus, today is Stay Out of the Sun Day and Compliment Your Mirror Day. Seriously.

Best wishes, guys, for the happiest of birthdays!

I’ve lauded the Virginian-Pilot many, many times for its inventive ways to surprise, delight and inform its readers. Just last week, for example, I applauded work on a metro front and for its Michael Jackson front page.

(And full disclosure, to anyone who doesn’t know: I spent four-and-a-half years running the Pilot’s news graphics operation.)

But today, I got up, fixed breakfast, opened up my morning paper and was immediately disappointed by the front of today’s edition:

Yes, that’s a Spadea advertisement, covering half of today’s front page. Not only that, but the right side of the page — the side not covered by the giant appliance ad — is graced with a vertical two-column ad for a building supply company.

You can see a one-column refer rail and part of an elaborate skybox refer above the nameplate. But for real, live editorial copy, all you can see here is one story. And only a few inches of that, even.

Here’s what the paper looks like when you open the Spadea:

Ah, now, that’s more like it.

Note how the hed on the lead story is stacked in the rightmost two columns. That suggests the A1 designer at least knew a Spadea was coming, at least. Smart move.

But does giving the reader such a tiny peek at live editorial copy help sell papers? I doubt it. But sometimes it’s not about selling papers. Sometimes, it’s about selling ads.

Denis Finley, editor of the Pilot, tells us:

Yes, this is a first.  I’m not crazy about it, but it pays the bills.  The best we could do was to get two lively topics at the top of the page to draw readers in.

Most of our single-copy papers are vended, not boxed, so prospective customers are able to peel back the spadea if they want to see the rest of the page.  It’s effective for the advertiser that’s for sure, and readers have the option of pulling it off and saving it, or discarding it.  So it goes.

It’s a first for an ad, but in fact, for several years, the Pilot ran a Spadea around A1 on holidays and at the start of every weekend, from Memorial Day to Labor Day. The Norfolk/Virginia Beach area, after all, is a resort area. The idea was to reach out to vacationers and help guide them to cool things to do, besides enjoy seafood and lay out on the beach.

The front of each Spadea was brightly illustrated with plenty of refers and tezes, with special thought given to rack presence:

Inside the Spadea was a small area map, a tip on a day-trip vacationers could take and other things to do across the region — which, by the way, consists of five large cities on this side of the James River and two more on the other side. It really is a happenin’ place, especially in the summer.

Our A1 designers always knew when the Spadeas were running and adjusted their deisign so that the lede headline would not be covered up. They’d sometimes even ditch promos or skyboxes. No sense in putting a teze above the nameplate if nobody can see it, right?

So what’s the difference, then, between running these weekly editorial-driven Spadeas — which the Pilot ran for four years, if I’m not mistaken — and the advertising Spadea that wrapped it today?

I honestly can’t tell you while I like the old Spadeas but not the new. Perhaps it’s simply the old geezer in me coming out. I readily admit, though, that if selling this ad keeps from laying off another of my former staffers or colleagues, I’m all in favor of it. Dammit.

Now, when the Chicago Tribune recently added an A1 Spadea — well, a Spadea-sized ad, anyway — it shrunk down the image of its front page and floated it into the white space to the right of the ad. “Your Full Tribune Inside,” said a big headline:

Not a perfect solution, either, admittedly. Read more about that here.

Find our recent post here about increasingly intrusive advertisements.