Since becoming region 15 director for SND I made a point of contacting all 40-odd members to try and convince them to tell me what they’ve been up to lately. Mainly so I can then share their news on this blog.
First to respond was none other than Michael Crozier who has been a member of SND since 1988.
Michael is one of Europe’s leading journalist designers, with staff experience on The Daily Telegraph, The Times and The Independent. In 1986 as Design Director of The Independent, he was directly involved in the newspaper’s award-winning original design, concept, layout, graphics and pictures, as well as internal publications. In June 1998, he re-designed the newspaper. He founded his own company, Design Unlimited in 1988 and is a Fellow of the Chartered Society of Designers.
Here, Michael gives us a rundown of his work over the last few years:
From left:
The Evening Standard, London, is the biggest evening newspaper in the UK (circulation – 276,230, 28 May-01 July 2007). I redesigned it during a four-month period in 2006. It is always difficult when you have a really well-established newspaper which is very keen to update but still wants to hang on to a traditional feel. Headline fonts were Minion Bold Condensed (news), Syntax (features), Humanist 777 (sans info text) and Minion (body text). We tried about 45 new mastheads on them but in the end they stuck with the original one. All the rest of the paper from top to bottom , including classified headers, race cards, City prices etc was changed in six colour-coded sections. The design remains intact in July 2007. Circulation has stabilised and rising slightly, despite competition from the two London ‘frees’.
Next the Daily Mail, London (circulation – 2,294,929, May 2007). I was called in in 2005, shortly before the Mail shot up to 100 pages with colour everywhere, to provide some “ blue-sky thinking” – whatever that is. We did many new mastheads, dummy front pages, type variations for every section, new bylines, crossheads and the like. In the end it turned out into a “design exercise”. It stayed nearly the same with some changes, I hope, instigated by me, coming in over the following months. The example here shows a refined masthead, new splash head font (Times New Roman Mt Extra Bold, heavily scaled)) and body type (Minion).
The Western Daily Press, Bristol (circulation – 43,500, Dec 2006). Ian Beale who had been editor of the WDP for many years approached me in 2000 to help him update the paper. I did a complete dummy (104 pages) of the main section plus supplements with three variations of typefaces (Life, News 706, Humanist Extra Black Condensed), a new masthead (Clearface) and many layout options. Before the re-design could come in Ian departed and a new editor took over with his own plans . . . such is the lot of a newspaper designer.
The Independent, London (circulation – c.252,000, March, 2007). Four years after leaving The Independent and becoming a full-time freelance newspaper designer, I was brought back by the new owner, Tony O’Reilly, to re-design the newspaper. (Headlines in Modern 880 – the Bitstream version of Linotype Modern; Revival 565 for section heads, body copy News 706 (Bitstream version of Aurora). It was the third time I had designed the paper, the first on launch in 1986, then in 1991, then 1998. Since then, of course, it has gone tabloid in a design by friends of mine, Cases I Associats from Barcelona in 2003.
From left:
The JC or Jewish Chronicle, London. The oldest Jewish interest newspaper in Britain, established in 1841 (circulation – 34,000 Dec 2006). This paper I re-designed for the second time in 2005-6, the first was in 1994. Straightforward job with new typefaces (Life and Aldine again), layout and general design.
Second and third from left: designs for the Daily Echo in Southampton (circulation – 40,000 Dec 2006). I was able to experiment with lots of colour including one of the first double-page TV programme spreads for the then editor, Pat Fleming. I used Modern 880 for headlines and my favourite Aldine 721 for body text (This is very similar to Plantin). Note the yellow box around advertisements on page one in place of the bog-standard black ad rule. Fleming left, a new designer took over and things changed again.
The Western Morning News, Plymouth (circulation – 43,000 Dec 2006). I redesigned this West Country newspaper in 2001 and carried on doing bits and pieces for the great Barry Williams, editor, until he retired in 2005. This was shortly after his paper was named Daily Newspaper of the Year in the Regional Press Awards. I decided on Garamond mixed with a classic Gill Sans headline typeface throughout. The design remains.
Last on this row is the Toronto Sun (circulation – Mon-Fri 200,000; Sat 150,000; Sun 340,000, latest 2007 figs). Interesting design gig in Toronto, probably north America’s most competitive metropolitan market with several paid-for newspapers and frees battling it out. Typefaces were a mixture of Franklin Heavy, Futura Extra Black Condensed, Swiss 721 and Swiss 911 Ultra Compressed. This time I was hired by Neil Fowler, former editor of the Western Mail, who pitched up in Canada as Publisher and CEO of this brash, downmarket tab. Great relaunch; he left, the paper changed but they kept my new masthead!
From left:
The Irish Independent (circulation –163,000, Dec. 2006) and Sunday Independent (circulation – 288,000, Dec. 2006), both based in Dublin. These papers I re-designed one after the other from 1994-96. The proposed new ‘Indo’ typefaces were ITC Aldine 721 for both headlines and body text. The Sunday paper went all the way with my re-designs which it largely maintains until this day. Main typeface is ITC Garamond in various weights and fonts with Aldine 721 for body text. The new masthead was in ITC Latin 725 bold. As with all the other newspapers my brief extended over all the sections/ magazines/ supplements/ advertising. This is essential if you are to provide a proper overall design. Can you imagine re-designing a car body without changing the interior or dashboard?
Next is The Western Mail, Cardiff, (circulation – 40,000, Dec. 2006). One of the first papers I re-designed after leaving The Independent in 1994. The new paper was launched on St David’s Day, March 1, 2005 under the editorship of Neil Fowler. A variation of the tried and tested Garamond was used as well as Humanist 777. The design stayed pretty much the same for many years; then the paper went tabloid in 2004 with another major re-design. Every new editor wants to put their stamp on the design. However, one of the first papers I re-designed, the Press and Journal in Aberdeen in 1988 kept the design in place for about 12 years.
Last is the Diário da Regiáo, Brazil. This was a strange one. The paper comes from a town about four hours by plane from Sao Paulo but all the work was done in my London studio. In 1998 the executive director and her art editor came to the UK and virtually camped out with us for two weeks as we did the design. Working in the Portuguese language was fun as was coming up with a very visual and colourful concept which reflected some of the national characteristics. Typefaces were a mixture of Transitional 511 (headlines), Aldine (body text). In each case for different newspapers, I do a different h‘n’j, different leading and point size according to the paper’s needs, Fenice and Myriad for panel text and skylines. It was great success over there . . . unfortunately about four months after it was finished the government ordered newspapers to reduce their width so a column was lopped off making it very tall slimloid.
Thanks to Michael for your time on this.
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