Atlanta Journal-Constitution launches redesign Tuesday
Tuesday is D-Day for the redesign of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, a project first set in motion in October 2007.
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UPDATE:
On the left is Friday’s AJC front. On the right is today’s front:
Here’s a closer look at the new front:
The AJC’s Melissa Angle has posted an entire set of section fronts at the SND Region 3 blog. Find them here.
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As we’ve noted before, in previous looks at AJC prototypes, you’ll immediately notice a lot of text. The redesign will focus on content — as in written content; written prose.
A piece in Sunday’s paper — ironically, an Alternative Story Form — says:
The new design supports a high volume of news … because of denser layout and improved typography, content is not sacrificed.
Will Alford, the paper’s product design chief, tells us:
The narrower format saves paper, and the physical product is smaller. But we make the most of the space we have with efficient layouts designed to pack in the most content without wearing out your eyes.
Here is a before-and-after look at a live daily front from March on the left and that same page remade as a prototype on the right:
We don’t have an example of the daily metro page, which will be color-coded brick red, we’re told. Here’s a prototype of the biz page — on the inside of the A section on weekdays, so it’s color-coded blue — and the newly redesigned op-ed page:
Here are prototypes of the daily features section and the Friday entertainment section:
So what’s the big idea? Why smaller visuals with bigger sticks of type? Why this huge zig when the conventional wisdom in the industry calls for a zag?
Will writes:
For years our industry has chased those elusive nonreaders. Our market research led us down a different path. What we’d have to do to win over those folks risked driving away our core readers.
We believe we can thrive by increasing the satisfaction of those who already engage with us regularly. To us, this meant we had to design a newspaper for people who like newspapers. If our strategy works, more of you will renew your subscriptions or purchase the paper more often or convert from single-copy customers to home subscribers.
Will cites a couple of other content-driven talking points for the new design, designed to respond to feedback from readers:
News reporting without bias
Our journalists are working to eradicate any perception of bias in our news pages. Devices, such as “Check our sources,” now appear with many stories and provide greater transparency so readers can make up their own minds about issues.More optimistic, positive stories
There’s plenty of bad news, but we’re making an effort to not let it overshadow the good news all around us. We’ll look for inspiring people to write about and focus on providing solutions rather than just reporting problems.
Here’s a closer look at the old nameplate, the new daily nameplate and the new Sunday nameplate:
The Sunday paper will debut this coming weekend; May 3. Or, rather, May 2 for the many folks in Atlanta who buy the early edition on Saturday. On the left is a page published in December, obviously. On the right is the same page, remade into a prototype:
Some of the other features of the redesign, you’ll notice right away. Will writes:
An improved organization, labeling and headline system gives you straight information quickly at the top of a story so you can decide whether you want to read further.
Press upgrades now allow us to consistently sequence our daily and Sunday sections, a longtime reader request.
Here is sports — again, the left page was published in January. On the right is the same page, remade as a prototype:
You’re only seeing section fronts here, but there will be more color throughout the paper, Will says:
We’ve invested $30 million into upgrades at our printing facility in Gwinnett County [Northeast of downtown]. This gives us the capacity for more color on news and advertising pages, including daily color comics, which launched earlier this year.
More press enhancements this summer will help with consistency and crispness.
On the left is a Sunday biz page published in December. On the right, a prototype:
The new font, by the way is Publico:
The Sunday ASF said this about the type:
We’ve simplified our typography, taking cues from classic American and European newspapers. The primary font, Publico, customized for the AJC by typographer Christian Schwartz, is exceptionally readable and easy on the eyes at all sizes. More straightforward headlines help readers scan stories and absorb more information. And no, we have not shrunk the type!
In her Region 3 blog piece today, Melissa Angle quotes AJC publicity material elaborating that Publico…
…is named for the Lisbon, Portugal, newspaper that first used it.
Our secondary font, Boomer, is used for information boxes, photo captions and calendars. It was originally developed for AARP.
Boomer Sans, in fact:
Read more about Publico at Schwartz’ web site. Learn more about Boomer Sans at the Font Bureau.
On the left, a page published in December. On the right, a prototype:
Here is the new Living&Arts section:
Certain popular standing features won’t move in the paper, Will says:
We know better than to mess with them: Peach Buzz, Vent, weather, puzzles and obits.
There are a few fun little details we’re noticing in the PDFs Will sent. One example, instead of the usual color or grey bar beneath each page header, the redesign team used a typographical motif instead:
It’s a small touch, but adds a little texture to the page. As do the new column sigs, which use thin, parallel rules as a backdrop to a black-and-white mug shot:
Will also told us a little more about the philosophy behind the redesign:
Why launch an expensive redesign in this economic climate?
Print is a powerful medium, and the AJC is Atlanta’s leading media company by any measure. We’ve held this leadership position for more than 140 years by listening to our audiences and advertisers.
Nearly two years ago, we set out to chart a course for the future — the project known internally as AJC 2.0. As circulation declined and more of our print audience shifted to the internet, we knew the status quo was not an option. A struggling economy only added to the challenge before us.
Deep market research informed our early strategic decisions, and hundreds of readers guided us … Also along the way, we found ways to do things more efficiently. Our reader feedback channels proved valuable when economic necessities forced us to scale back plans and coverage. It was our readers who helped us set priorities for what to keep and what could be sacrificed.
The truth is, we cannot do everything [they] want or everything we want. We’ve already rolled out most of the content changes the last few months.
The redesign was led by an in-house design team, Will says, led by himself and collaborating with Montreal-based consultant Lucie Lacava.
Lucie Lacava, left; Will Alford, right. Obviously.
The core team, left to right: Evelyn Ortega, design supervisor (taking a buyout, but will stay through June, Will says); Kelly O’Neill, technology; Will Alford, prototype design manager/product design chief; Joanne Sosangelis, Sunday art director/designer; Patty Murphy, Daily art director/sections supervisor; Dee Dee D’Asaro, design supervisor; Omar Vega, designer (also taking a buyout, but will stay through May).
There are a number of places you can go for more information about the redesign. The AJC set up a blog page where key managers are giving their thoughts about the project. Will tells us:
For the next few weeks, newsroom leaders will host an online dialogue about the changes. Visitors to ajc.com/conversation will hear from our design leaders, watchdog editors and others who make decisions about what goes into the paper and how we present it. We’ll talk about how we choose what goes on the front page and how we decide what to cover.
AJC designer Melisssa Angle adds:
Editor Julia Wallace will be blogging about the redesign and taking questions there Tuesday, April 28. Alford will be online Wednesday, April 29, and Lacava will be blogging Monday, May 4.
In addition, here’s a marketing site designed to explain changes to potential advertisers. Download a PDF copy of a marketing brochure here. Go here to find a Q&A about the new design.
We mentioned an alternative story form on the new design that ran Sunday. Wallace’s column runs down the left. Click for a larger view…
…or click here to download a PDF.
There are already a number of critical reviews of the redesign — based purely on prototypes and the other promotional material released recently. Here’s one from Atlanta’s alternative media outlet, Creative Loafing. Here’s a particularly scathing one from a local blogger.
Previous coverage of the AJC redesign project, here in the blog:
- October 2007: Lucie Lacava is picked to be the project’s redesign consultant.
- February 2009: The AJC’s Melissa Angle shows working prototype pages in a webcast from Syracuse, N.Y.
- April 9: The AJC lays off its entire news art department.
- April 24: The AJC posts a video in which editor Julia Wallace explains the redesign.
In addition, Melissa says she’ll have new pages posted first thing Tuesday in her SND Region 3 blog. Pages will also be posted at Lucie Lacava’s web site, Melissa says.
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UPDATE
Heh. Melissa has new section front pages posted shortly after midnight. Find them here.
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UPDATE 2
Creative Loafing has posted a more thoughtful review of the new design here.