China Daily launches redesign
The China Daily — the largest English-language daily and China and known to many of us as the paper that hired Bill Gaspard a few weeks ago — launched a redesign today.
A before-and-after look at page one (click anything today for a larger view):
A story posted on the papers’ web site explains there will now be a daily in-depth “cover story,” with which…
…we aim to set the news agenda instead of just follow it. Our talented team of roving reporters will bring you the voices from the heart of the action, while our exclusive interviews with key policymakers offer a broader understanding of the motivation behind the decisions.
Here’s the jump page for today’s cover feature, Gold Standard:
Creative director Jonah Kessel tells us:
This redesign has been a very interesting experience. In some ways, the issues we face in China are much different than in the West; other issues seem to be universal.
Last night I asked Bill Gaspard at 3 a.m. to rate “the pain” involved in this redesign, compared to other projects he has been involved with. Beer in hand, with a smile on his face, he said, “about an 8.”
While monetary issues don’t necessarily make the top of our worry list here, many more people have eyes on what we do. Normally, we try to meet the needs and wants of our readers and publishers; but, here we are trying to meet the needs of our editors, publishers, government officials, a diverse expatriate population, a Chinese population — all while trying to push forward in the notion of a free press. Its a very tricky task, a very difficult task and at times, a very fun task.
Back to the paper’s news story:
One of the major aesthetic changes is the nameplate, which is based on the color of the original 1981 nameplate. The “Futura” font is a modern and bold new version, while the original handwritten Chinese characters were kept as a symbol of China Daily’s 28-year evolution from a newspaper to an international multimedia group.
The nameplate was introduced to readers last week via a four-page wrap, Jonah says.
This was a little different than anything I had done before. I had this idea of “Hollywooding” the new nameplate into the Great Wall about 4-months ago when I started this project. It took a couple trips to the Great Wall to get the right image, but eventually I found the right light.
Here are before-and-after looks at the new editorial page…
…the new features page…
…and the new sports page:
Big changes are in store for a small zoned insert. The paper reports:
Metro Beijing, inserted into the flagship edition for the Beijing market, will expand from four pages to eight, making the Beijing edition a 32-page daily. Serving millions of international readers who arrive in the capital city every year, this section combines news reporting with service information.
The paper reports:
This model will eventually be replicated in Shanghai and Guangdong, providing more localized content for each metropolitan market.
Go here to read the paper’s story explaining its own redesign. Find a second story and video here. Find a letter here from editor Zhu Ling.
Find Jonah Kessel’s blog here.