Charles Apple

—
UPDATE
Now with inside pages, photos from launch night.

—

One of the more closely-watched redesigns in recent memory launched this morning in the Orlando Sentinel.

Here’s today’s A1, direct from the Newseum:

Looks like they led A1 with a story about the future of NASA. Orlando is a leader in space coverage, so that’s a good story with which to attract readers on Day One.

They’re also displaying stories about the rising sea level and tips on how to deal with rising gas prices. Again, two more fine choices.

The first two jump. The gas story is an ASF, teasing to more material inside.

As advertised, the entire upper half of the page contains the editorial cartoon and promos to the Sentinel’s stable of columnists.

Other section fronts are posted in a gallery at the Orlando web site (thank you, Steve Mullis, for the tip). Here are a few:

My take: It’s big. It’s bold. It’s splashy. It seems to have lots of interesting, scannable material, presented in a very interesting way. I liked the old Sentinel, but I like this even more.

I’m looking forward to getting my hands on actual copies. In the sample jpegs AME Bonita Burton sent us last week, the inside pages really knocked me out. I hope today’s inside pages are just as strong as the samples were.

—
UPDATE

They look pretty good:

—

Keep in mind this is only the first step for Orlando. Their deadline simply wouldn’t allow the typographical changes Bo and her team planned to make. Those changes will go into effect in August, Bonita says.

Find a flash presentation on the new design posted Friday by the Sentinel here.

Find the Sentinel’s quick-and-dirty style guide posted today by Robb Montgomery here.

Bonita sends along a few photos from Saturday night:

Design Editor Todd Stewart has just
pushed the button on the new front page.

The presentation crew celebrates as the first paper
rolls off the press. Incidently, Saturday was jersey
day on the Sentinel’s design desk.

Design editor Stephen Komives, AME Bonita Burton
and Design editor Todd Stewart toast the team with
what Bo calls “very expensive bubbly.” I don’t think
she’s talking about Diet Sprite.

—

There are a lot of folks out there sounding off about the project. Most did what we wrote about late Friday: They based their opinions on the jpegs they saw posted in advance on the internet. One that amused us, though: Creative Loafing’s Wayne Garcia thinks the Sentinel is becoming the new Tampa Tribune.

I’m finding most of the commentary tiresome — very opinionated, which is good. But not based on any facts or actual take on the redesign. Folks who dislike Sam Zell and his initiatives seem to hate it. Folks who are open-minded about the design seem to like it.

From here on, though, I think we’ll confine our scope to those who seem to be reacting to the actual redesign, rather than the idea of a redesign.

—
UPDATE:

News design consultant Mario Garcia on the new design:

It is a bit tabloidy, indeed, but that is good in my way of thinking. Wake them up, and squeeze that orange juice in their face; pull them by their Mickey Mouse ears, and show them that an American newspaper does not necessarily have to be dull, or aimed to please the Mamie Eisenhowers of the world.

As in any other redesign, some will love it, others will hate it, but I give the Sentinel staff and its designers a B+ for effort, and for their adventurous spirit.

—

In the meantime, I’m hearing great things about the South Florida Sun- Sentinel redesign. It’s even more radical and exciting than the Sentinel’s project, I was told. We’d love to see and post some pages.

And at the Chicago Tribune mothership, redesign efforts have been bumped up, according to a memo from Tribune editor Ann Marie Lipinski posted Friday by Poynter’s Romenesko. The Trib put a mountain of people of the project — reportedly due in mid-September — and plans to use its Saturday paper as a testing ground for new ideas.

The impact of that on the rest of us: It should give us a good idea of what the Trib thinks is working and not working. I wonder if it’s possible to buy a subscription to just the Saturday edition.

Meanwhile, at our own mothership — the VizEds social networking site — our fearless leader, Robb Montgomery, is attempting to contact Lipinski, his former colleague, for a Q&A on the project. Robb wants to know what questions you’d have. He’s also seeking Ann Marie’s e-mail address. Heh.

Best of luck to all our friends in the Tribune organization. We’re all interested in seeing what you’re up to, folks. Please keep in touch!

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 22nd, 2008 at 8:59 am and is filed under Innovative ideas, News design, Newspapers, Redesigns, VizEds Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.