First look -- Sun Sentinel redesign

[dixiehack]

The cheeseball "Help Team Consumer Report" label that they so blatently stole from last place TV newscasts everywhere is what set me over the edge, I think. Why not go all the way and use "Stay classy South Florida" as a page-topper?

 

[SoCalDude]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the bad grammar in the hed:

HEY, WHERE'S OUR REBATE CHECKS?

Hey, where is our rebate checks? No!!! Where ARE our rebate checks. Cut them all!

First thing I saw, first thing I thought.
If the story has a mistake in the lede, why read it? If the top headline in the whole paper has a head bust, why read it?

 

[SF_Express]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the bad grammar in the hed:

HEY, WHERE'S OUR REBATE CHECKS?

Hey, where is our rebate checks? No!!! Where ARE our rebate checks. Cut them all!

First thing I saw, first thing I thought.
If the story has a mistake in the lede, why read it? If the top headline in the whole paper has a head bust, why read it?

Well, not to excuse it whatsoever, but I don't let a typo or even a head break stop me from reading a story. That's a nice old journalism saw -- doesn't really work that way.

Property taxes cot 30 percent

I'm not going to read that? Sorry.

That said, this is now my "new" paper, and just continuing an unhappy trend.

 

[Diabeetus]

I'd still read it...it's just a pet peeve of mine and a mistake someone shouldn't have made. Especially on something going on display to show off a redesign.

 

[SF_Express]

I'd still read it...it's just a pet peeve of mine and a mistake someone shouldn't have made. Especially on something going on display to show off a redesign.

All true, of course.

 

[spaceman]

Property taxes cot 30 percent

I'm not going to read that? Sorry.

Jessica Alba Sax Tape

 

[Frank_Ridgeway]

This design reminds me of the Boca Raton News' redesign during KR's "25/43" experiment, which ... failed ... in South Florida ... in 1990.

 

[SF_Express]

Property taxes cot 30 percent

I'm not going to read that? Sorry.

Jessica Alba Sax Tape

Bad example, because I move ahead right when I get to "Alba."

 

[spaceman]

ok....

"(Demonstrably hot hoochie of your choice) Sax Tape."

 

[deskslave]

The new SunSentinel logo.

The Safeway logo:

 

[SoCalDude]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the bad grammar in the hed:

HEY, WHERE'S OUR REBATE CHECKS?

Hey, where is our rebate checks? No!!! Where ARE our rebate checks. Cut them all!

First thing I saw, first thing I thought.
If the story has a mistake in the lede, why read it? If the top headline in the whole paper has a head bust, why read it?

Well, not to excuse it whatsoever, but I don't let a typo or even a head break stop me from reading a story. That's a nice old journalism saw -- doesn't really work that way.

Property taxes cot 30 percent

I'm not going to read that? Sorry.

That said, this is now my "new" paper, and just continuing an unhappy trend.

I get your point and yes, my post was a bit hasty and abrupt.
I was just thinking back to the last time I judged a writing contest. I went in saying that a story can't win if it has a bad lede. So I started out by reading the ledes and narrowing it down. Some of the other judges liked this one story. I didn't have it in my top five. I thought the lede was bad. I read the whole story, it was pretty good. But still, I didn't think I could justify propping a story that had a bad lede.

 

[MMatt60]

I love the fact that "serious designers" around the country will congratulate the SunSentinel for doing something "so bold and innovative."

 

[HejiraHenry]

Whatever its merits, or lack or merits, this is one of those prototypes that seems as if it would be devilishly difficult to sustain day in and day out.

 

[SixToe]

It's disgusting.

The "S" logo looks, indeed, like a supermarket logo. After seeing the Safeway logo it appears the Sun-Sentinel (hyphenated, you Tribune mother****ers!) has decided to be the ******* cousin hiding in the back bedroom with its "bold" logo.

A major problem with this logo change and terrible redesign is the brand gets lost amid 39 teases and garish colors. What helped give the paper its first-look identity - its name - now is buried amid a slag heap of melted Crayolas so another tease can be added: "Puppies, kitties find love and warmth in new homes: B1".

Readers will not look at a rack of papers and say, "Oh, there's the Sun-Sentinel" because they see the plainly-obvious name. They'll say, "There's my ugly-ass local newspaper" and ignore it.

What "name logo" would the L.A. Times use? LAT or just T? If the Sun-Sentinel had its hyphen amputated, would the Times lose its periods? When will the Chicago Tribune become the CTrib? Or maybe C'rib?

Zell, Michaels and Abrams are complete ****ups.

 

[Simon_Cowbell]

I mean, removing the hyphen that is part of the company name is .... innovation? It seems like sloppiness and inaccuracy, intentional at that.

Is THAT the first subliminal image you want readers taking away from your paper EVERY day.... inaccuracy?


Also, re: that hideous S: I have been told, the Lifestyle section will have a like-minded "L" and Business a "B."

Anyone want to guess what Sports will get? Wait for it... the same S that is on the front.

 

[Jay Sherman]

1) That's really ****ing busy. Ugh.

Agreed.

 

[MMatt60]

Jamming together Sun-Sentinel into "SunSentinel" is very ........1970s. Like labeling a page "BizBits" or "SportsStats."

Yep, that will attract young readers!

 

[VJ]

Good thing Tribune isn't laying off designers and editors who will be needed to put out a design-intensive product like this. Oh wait...

 

[MMatt60]

Actually, Tribune has been adding expensive designers while at the same time axing other newsroom members.

 

[Simon_Cowbell]

Actually, Tribune has been adding expensive designers while at the same time axing other newsroom members.

To put designs (that, frankly, a bunch of recently released dinosaurs were doing a dozen years ago) on a muddy newsprint that more often than not gets printed a quarter-pica off register, rendering even the most expertly designed color elements a radioactive eyesore.