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FEBRUARY'S BEST BFD
THE KANSAS CITY STAR

CHARLES GOOCH, DESIGNER

3.7.07

What makes this page a BFD: Using visuals to tell the story.



 
 
Some interesting comparisons today:

The Bees – Modesto and Sacramento – offered different takes on Ernest Gallo, while The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press offered different presentations on the Comerica story.

The Morning Call had a great headline: "The Atkins Plan: It's to diet for."

The Rocky Mountain News had a somewhat-more-interesting-than-typical meeting photo. The Commercial Appeal's photo was just weird. The Hartford Courant had a striking photo of someone bundled up. The Virginian-Pilot went over the top with through-the-roof assessments.

Tbt made a strong statement. Well done.

The newspaper with the best front design today is Republican American for its effective use of visuals to explain the Libby verdict.

The Libby verdict is The Washington Post's story. But compare the Post's presentation to the Republican American. At a time when the Post's circulation is plummeting, and Executive Editor Len Downie is making calls for the paper to become more visual, it appears as if the Post still doesn't get it. The Post's front page looks like your father's Oldsmobile.

In contrast, the Republican American used typography, color and mug shots to explain this complex story. The RA also took the bold step of moving the text of the story off the front page.

The OC Post was powerful, but didn't explain like the Republican American.


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2007 WORKSHOPS
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API: New products
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NAA: Marketing
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Wyoming Press
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Kentucky Press
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Minnesota Press
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New England Press
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NAA: Single-copy
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Inland: Classified
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New York Press
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API: Advertising
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WCAA
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CLASSIFIED NEWSPAPER DESIGN
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ONLINE NEWSPAPER DESIGN
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Read Steve Outing's interview with Alan Jacobson and learn why newspaper web sites are seriously flawed. Then see alternatives.
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EDITORIAL, CLASSIFIED & ONLINE NEWSPAPER DESIGN
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newspaper design
Our redesigns are catalysts for positive change. Visit the gallery to see how we've transformed publications and websites.
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EDITORIAL NEWSPAPER DESIGN
classified redesigns
Bakersfield Californian
RepublicanAmerican
The Eureka Reporter
Sunday Star-Times
Yakima Herald Republic
St. Louis Post‑Dispatch
The Virginian‑Pilot
Observer-Reporter
The Sunday News
newspaper design
ONLINE NEWSPAPER DESIGN
classified redesigns
classified redesigns
NEWSPAPER DESIGN WHITEPAPER
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A redesign is a waste of time and money if it doesn't deliver a return on investment. Download our report to learn how to make your redesign pay off, then see how four newspapers boosted readership and revenue by following our advice.
classified redesigns
TARGETED PUBLICATIONS
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INTERACTIVE TOUR
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See in detail how a content-driven redesign did more than make a community daily look better – it made it a better paper.
newspaper design
RADICAL STRATEGIES FOR CIRCULATION WOES
classified redesigns

 
newspaper design
Pocatello Idaho State Journal
NEWSPAPER DESIGN
newspaper design
Idaho State Journal
NEWSPAPER DESIGN
 
The ISJ shows its passion for Pocatello by filling its fronts with faces – featuring five or more per front per day. You can't be too local and you can't run too many faces of local people, because everyone loves to hear these words: "I saw your picture in the paper." See the pages.

Read the interview by Jeremy Gilbert of the Poynter Institute: Bringing big changes to a little place called Pocatello
 
 






 
The Californian's redesign earned it a spot on Editor & Publisher's list of “Ten That Do it Right.” According to E&P, Bakersfield is appealing to its “really, really conservative market with a really, really radical redesign.”

And it’s working.

Circulation stops are down and revenue is up – over a thousand inches in the redesigned real estate section alone. See before and after, see more pages and read the stories.


 
 






 
The Eureka (CA) Reporter was just a 6,000-circ. weekly in 2004. Our radical yet elegant redesign helped this startup weekly grow to a daily in less than two years. The Reporter goes head-to-head with an established daily owned by Dean Singleton, who told The San Francisco Chronicle last month that his competitor, “does some good design things.” The Society of News Design agrees – they cited this redesign as one of the best in the world. See more pages.

 

REDESIGN OF THE
IDAHO STATE JOURNAL

Circulation up ! !

Poynter interview

Editor's comments
Before-and-after pages


 

big pictures
Do 6-column photos boost readership and revenue?>>

tv books
Who would have thought that TV books would lead to the end of newspapers as we know them?>>

Washington Post
Len Downie's memo calls for more emphasis on design.>>

newspaper next
Read our abbreviated version of API's report. It'll only take a minute and it's worth it.>>

lies, damn lies and statistics
See the charts that show why now is the time to redesign for revenue.>>

how to sell more newspapers
A practical, step-by-step approach with examples from newspapers large and small.>>

Knight Ridder sale
Learn from KnightRidder's mistakes at the Inky and the Merc.>>

nytimes.com redesign
This online redesign is not enough to please users and advertisers.>>

does design matter to readers

Design does matter to readers, but only if it's reader driven.>>

newspaper innovation
If newspaper markets are so different, why do most papers look so much alike?>>

newspaper redesign
I wish you luck and offer some advice.>>

newspaper tab conversion
This overhyped trend is a non-starter for America.>>

newspaper design contest
We can make a difference, but not by chasing awards.>>

newspaper classified advertising
At stake is nothing less than newspapers as we know them.>>

newspaper design contest
A thousand awards a year? Gimme a break.>>

readership institute
They never said higher RBS scores would sell more newspapers.>>


 

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