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From: XXXXX
Sent: Friday, January 21, 2011 5:11 PM
To: XXXXX
Cc: XXXXX
Subject: USA TODAY Redesign 1/24 Edition -- Note to the Print Sites
You will see many changes with the new design of the paper starting with Monday’s USA TODAY domestic edition (1/24). Below are a few of the changes.
1A (News) Changes:
The USA TODAY logo, the "SCORES INSIDE," "THE NATION'S NEWSPAPER," and the "$1.00" will have a new color break: 100C, 10M, 0Y and 10K (10% magenta was added).
The words "SPORTS" and "LATE" (SPORTS SCORES INSIDE AND LATE SCORES INSIDE) are now 50% gray type.
Inside Section Fronts (Money, Sports, Life) Changes:
The section fronts’ mastheads for Money, Sports and Life will add a 10% black tint. An example: the Sports color break will be 0Y, 100M, 100Y and 10K.
Folios:
The page folios will be larger and will have information on each side of the page. On the inside of the pages will be the USA TODAY/Date (9.5 pt. type) and on the outside will be the page number (14 pt. type). We will have special cases where the folio will be smaller (all type will be 9.5 pt. type). Examples are the weather page and when advertising is placed at the top of the page.
I have only one question: WHY? Why screw with a winning formula?
ReplyDeleteI assume these will be very, very minor changes.
ReplyDeleteThe logo is bigger and it might be noticeable. But this is not a wholesale redesign by any means.
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ReplyDeleteTwo reasons for doing this:
ReplyDelete1. The design team can justify their five-figure paychecks, demonstrating they do work at something.
2. USA Today is preparing to confront the Daily, Rupert Murdoch's new newspaper that will be unveiled soon. This paper will be a direct challenge to USAT, leaving the WSJ to take on the NYT.
It would not surprise, me if the new design is a way to increase front page ad space.
ReplyDeleteA memo was sent out earlier that a more substantial redesign of the front page is coming very soon, but do not recall the date. Prototype pictures were sent too. We are talking within the next few weeks.
ReplyDeleteThese are the kinds of things that Gannett does best -- rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. The employees are equally to blame in this area; they spend too much time and effort on areas that have little to do with readership.
ReplyDeleteMonday's logo redesign will see the logo size increase and the top half of the page de-cluttered. The goal is simple: to create a cleaner, more attractive page that results in more people wanting to pick a copy up off the newsstand. I can't see how that's a bad thing.
ReplyDeleteDesign team's FIVE-FIGURE paychecks? Wow, they must be living the good life.
ReplyDeleteThis has nothing to do with the DAILY, or even ad space (there is actually a little less space for ads). Just a requested update.
What negative loons inhabit this board.
We saw the two front pages side by side at the editorial meeting. The redesign looks good. I like it.
ReplyDeleteIt looks good with all the new Bells and Whistles ...
ReplyDelete.... But.... is it going to increase the circulation?
This has all the signs of a desparation move. We can't do anything about the circulation decline, and ad salesmen are fighting the collapse in ads. But we can do something about the design of the paper, so let's tinker with that. It is all such a sorry mess.
ReplyDeleteIsn't, say, $10,000 a five-figure salary?
ReplyDeleteWell, nobody said reporters were good at math.
Sam Zell ordered redesign of all the Tribune properties and within months they were in bankruptcy. Looks to me we are heading in the same direction with this revamping of local type faces and USAT changes. Leave the design alone. It's a certain curse to play with design.
ReplyDelete"We saw the two front pages side by side at the editorial meeting. The redesign looks good. I like it."
ReplyDeleteGood for you, 4:48. Should we care?
7:43 p.m.: You must be fun to work with. About as fun as cyanide.
ReplyDeleteThe Blog is overhyping this. Very few people will see any difference at all.
ReplyDelete"Very few people will see any difference at all."
ReplyDeleteOr care.
This is an area where corporate gets only part of the blame. Stupid employees buy into this stuff and blow it out of proportion.
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ReplyDelete10:37 If very few people see any difference at all, what has been accomplished?
ReplyDeleteYour post says it's noteworthy, Jim. Nice 180.
ReplyDeleteThey are making such a fuss about it, it has to be a significant move.
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ReplyDeleteHey, this stupid employee didn't write a memo to everyone detailing the changes. If, as presented, they are minor, why not just let them go through unannounced and no one would notice? Sending out a memo shows some intention of major change, and that could affect my future and the well-being of my family.
ReplyDeleteBrainiacs - this note was for print sites, who have gone 100% cyan on the nameplate for decades. This memo was simply to forestall pressman calls in the middle of the night. Jeez.
ReplyDeleteChanging the USA flagship color from solid blue to purplish is not a major change? Come on. What about the blue ball and the logo on the side of the building in McLean. They going purple, too? It's laughable to say this is minor.
ReplyDelete9:47: The logo is currently 100 Cyan (not blue). Adding 10 percent Magenta and 10 percent Black makes the logo a deeper shade of Cyan, not Purple.
ReplyDeleteThe last few posts show why and how the employees have done a lot to wreck Gannett.
ReplyDeleteCorporate is a mess, but the worker bees have done a lot of damage, too.
There's plenty of blame -- and credit for good work -- to go all the way around.
ReplyDeleteI did it with my daughter's paint set, and when you mix blue together with orange, it comes out gray.
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ReplyDeleteEveryone should talk about this tomorrow, when they have something to actually talk about.
ReplyDeleteWhat the heck difference does this make?
ReplyDelete