San Diego U-T redesign

ALL CAPS SHOW
MONSTROUS IMPORTANCE
TO TODAY'S READERS

 

It's been a good-looking product for a couple of decades. Unless there is some type of improved navigation throughout, I see no point to a redesign other than for the editor show some tangible evidence that it's a different paper under him.

 

If this redesign cost more than $10,000 it was a waste. Why give established readers another reason to drop the paper. Chances are you are not going to gain enough new readers because of a redesign.

 

I almost don't mind the block ad (except for the fact that it's on the front at all, of course). It looked pretty much like a photo or graphic in that spot would, and looks almost like art that just goes with that bottom story.

The top bothers me much more, what with there being nothing to anchor the top to, um, the top. Nothing but a a white sky -- and a colossal waste of space.

All the mugs didn't make the best lead art, of course, but I'm willing to chalk that up to something that occurred just for the day, and assume that it's not necessarily part of the new design "style."

 

Oh, and one serious drawback to these changes as far a copy desk would be concerned: Having an all-caps style is bound to make headline writing infinitely more difficult. :'(

 

Not that much--they'll get used to it. I would be more concerned with all caps being visually harder to read and that modern readers, trained in netiquette, will wonder why their newspaper is yelling at them on every story.

 

The section fronts (for what it's worth, not all caps headlines):

 

I like the sports front, or at least how they played the swimming photo.

The biz front, with that strip of white space is odd, very odd.

Here's today's front. Centerpiece art — light switches.

 

Mostly blah, but like Jay, I do dig the sports front.