Trinity Journal — a Northern California weekly — launches redesign
The Trinity Journal of Weaverville — in the mountains of Northern California — launched a redesign last week, according to Wayne Agner, editor and publisher of the 4,350-circulation weekly.
Wayne tells us:
Yes, we initiated a redesign July 1, largely because our printer (a neighboring daily) reduced its newsprint web size from 24 to 22 and we are tied to their standard broadsheet size. Having just bought the paper in February, I really didn’t want to toss a major redesign onto my already full plate, but sometimes you don’t get to choose the timing of things.
A look at the final front in the old design and the first front of the redesign, last week:
Wayne writes:
Our primary objectives were to provide a better organized paper, a better fit on narrower columns and more consistency for typography throughout the paper, and better display for photography.
At the moment it is still something of a work in progress. We are working out some technical glitches (we had some baseline grid mishaps, among other things) and waiting for mug shots from our columnists, etc. But we’re probably 90-plus percent of the way there.
One of the big features of the new front was a new nameplate. A story Wayne ran on the July 1 front reported:
We’ve brought back the eagle from the mast of the Journal’s premiere issue back in 1856. She has been given a light makeover, but we felt it important to bring back a bit of the newspaper’s history. You’ll find her nestled into a revamped nameplate.
A closer look at the new front page:
Wayne tells us:
Ed Henninger was (and is) the redesign consultant. He is responsible for creating the design elements. I worked more on the organization of the paper.
Body type is Lucida Bright; headlines are Californian; cutlines and other standing elements are variations of Franklin Gothic. We worked with existing fonts in our system.
A vital part of any weekly is the editorial page. A before-and-after look:
Wayne’s page one story reports:
The Opinion page remains on Page 4, but look for more local editorials and commentary to anchor the page. On the days we don’t have a staff-written editorial, we’ll pick the top letter of the week for special treatment.
A closer look at the new page:
The redesign anchored a number of features into easy-to-find locations around the paper, the story reports:
- The Sports and Outdoors pages are anchored in the back of the first section.
- Obits are anchored on the inside back page of the front section.
- Local events and a calendar are anchored on the first pages of the second section.
- All community columns will be anchored in the second section.
On the left is the previous page nine. On the right is the new page nine, which led off the second section of the July 1 edition:
A larger look at that new features front:
Wayne tells us:
The paper is produced using InDesign on PCs — quite the change for a guy who spent the last 15-plus years using Quark on Macs.
What drew our attention to the redesign? Our Google Alerts found a letter to the editor this week, from a Mike Wenninger:
The Journal sure is pretty in her new dress. It’s a pleasure to look through the paper and read it. It’s well organized. It takes lots of thought and hard work to implement a redesign of a newspaper from front to back. Good job! And thanks for keeping The Trinity Journal a very special newspaper.
Wayne tells us Wenninger is the former owner, publisher and editor of the paper. Which makes the compliment even nicer.
Wayne writes, a week after the launch…
The feedback has been almost exclusively positive. One person even called it “invigorating.” Another said it was easier to handle in the wind, which I found amusing since this is by far the least windy place I have ever lived.