Charles Apple

The Salt Lake Tribune unveiled its new tabloid today: Buzz.

Like Chicago’s RedEye or Link, here in Hampton Roads, is a free daily tab. But unlike those others, Buzz is an afternoon paper, aimed at p.m. commuters.

The front page of the first edition. Click on the
thumbnails below for a few inside page samples. 

     

Here are two more prototype fronts:

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Tribune Assistant Managing Editor Josh Awtry writes on the new-and-improved VizEds:

It’s been the brainchild of Colin Smith and I (he’s done a ton of the heavy lifting), and we’re really excited about it. We set out to create something that fit our market, but we also wanted to drive some changes that are plaguing the industry as a whole. Here are a few bullet points on the beast, if anyone cares to read on:

– Hyper-modular fixed advertising. One of the biggest issues we have in page design are the random ad stacks. Some days, we have a cavern to fill; others, it’s a tight squeeze to pack in all the news. On top of that, advertisers don’t see the response they should; little thought is given to exclusivity and premium placement (it stinks to be the little advertiser in the middle of a piled up stair step).

We did away with all of that. The ad sizes and spots in Buzz are fixed to provide optimum oomph for advertisers and news display. You can’t just “buy a 2×2;” spots are sold as they come available, and when they’re gone, they’re gone. It’s basic supply and demand; if everything’s full, rates start to tick up when things open up again. It’s a simple, yet alien concept for our ad staff, who are finally coming around to it.

– Consistent size. We decided on a 24-page tab; it’s enough content to read on the train, but not so much that you can’t get through it or feel overwhelmed. Having consistent ad layout and size really helps you develop a rhythm and pace for what to expect, whether you’re on the staff or a reader.

– Emphasis on the short form. There’s one full-length “story” in all of Buzz. After that, everything’s 3 grafs or shorter. Each section front has a simple ASF approach that must be used if anything goes for more than a couple of inches. It’s not the place for deep, investigative features — you read it, hit your stop, and hop off.

And, as an afternoon paper, Buzz has a quick turnaround, Josh says. They put their last page to sleep at 12:30; it’s at downtown train stops and office building exits three hours later.

Plans for day one were scuttled by breaking news, Josh says:

An ongoing live news event has already forced us into a cover story (the death of LDS president Gordon B. Hinckley), so we don’t have the luxury of being as free-wheeling as we’d like, but it’ll be fun all the same.

Doesn’t look like the news hurt Buzz any. It still looks pretty nifty.Colin Smith is an interesting guy. Those of you who have attended my presentations may recognize some of his pages from my slideshows:

See more, of course, in his NewsPageDesigner portfolio.

Download PDFs of the entire first edition — plus some prototype pages — here.  Josh and Colin are seeking feedback, so please check ‘em out and tell ‘em what you think.

Congratulations, Colin and Josh, for a successful launch!

This entry was posted on Friday, February 1st, 2008 at 5:51 pm and is filed under Innovative ideas, News design, Newspapers, VizEds Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.