This week reporting from Kiev, Ukraine, while attending and presenting at the WAN IFRA 2012 Congress. Follow my live reports on Twitter @DrMarioRGarcia
TAKEAWAY: With its new redesign, La Nacion follows what has become two trends for many major metropolitan dailies: fewer daily sections, an enhanced weekend offering.
Changes at La Nacion
La Nacion is one of Argentina’s major daily newspapers, and a dean of Latin American journalism, with a 142-year tradition of distinguished writers, independent thinking through its editorial pages, and a journal of influence.
The headlines here: a more compact, fewer sections La Nacion daily, and an enhanced Saturday edition, two themes that are right on target for the classic newspaper that must adapt to modern times.
It is interesting to get a note from Rodrigo Fino, of our Garcia Media Latinoamerica office in Buenos Aires, reporting a new design for this iconic newspaper.
One noticeable change: fewer daily sections. The Economia (Busiiness) section will be part of the newspaper’s first section. So, the new La Nacion will have three sections daily: News, Entertainment, Sports (in tabloid format).
This means that the first section of the new La Nacion will carry world, politics, business, society, opinion, editorials and opinion, public safety and Buenos Aires news.
In addition, the letters to the editors section is amplified to carry all those voices that come to the newspaper via its digital platforms, lanacion.com and through the social networks.
The new design
Part of the new design includes the introduction of “balconies” to highlight important information at the top of section openers.
Easier navigation throughout the entire newspaper. Typographically, bolder headlines will distinguish “hard news” from features. Interviews will have a different style of presentation as well.
The typography: The Portuguese type designer, Dino dos Santos created the new Prumo for headlines. Prumo, which resembles the style of Bodoni, offer the elegant/classic style that La Nacion wishes to convey. The modern touch is added through Mario Feliciano’s Sueca, a font that we also consider to be incredibly attractive and utilitarian (notice that we at Garcia Media recently used it for the weekly TradeWinds, the journal of the shipping industry) .
Saturday
The new Saturday product, a total lean back experience, is text driven with content in such topics as social trends, personal relations, problems of our time, stories that inspire, technology and its impact on our daily lives, and the presence of experts who will answer readers’ questions.
Cultural section
Emphasizing the type of coverage that Latin American classic newspapers are known for, La Nacion has enhanced its offerings in the Cultural section, which now has been rebranded as a “cultural newspaper” with literature, ideas that shape our times, art reviews, with prestigious writers from Argentina and around the world.
In their own words (in Spanish):
http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1504532-el-nuevo-diseno-de-la-nacion
Design consultant for this project at La Nacion: Javier Errea.
Of related interest: our previous blog post
For printed newspapers: less may be best
https://garciamedia.com/blog/articles/printed_newspapers_frequency_less_may_be_best/
SPD: Speaker Series Begins with “News You Can Use”
(Joe Zeff Design Illustration, courtesy of SPD)
Tickets are now available for the Society of Publication Designers’ first Speaker Series event of the fall, “News You Can Use,” scheduled Sept. 10.
For more information:
http://www.spd.org/2012/08/speaker-series-begins-with-new.php
SND Scandinavia Space 2012 conference
Still time to get a spot to attend the SNDS conference in Copenhagen, Sept. 27-29;
For more information:
SNDS workshop ever. Read all about SPACE 2012 here:
Mario Garcia’s upcoming speaking engagements:
WAN-IFRA World Editors Forum, Kiev, Ukraine, Sept. 2-5
http://www.wan-ifra.org/events/64th-world-newspaper-congress-19th-world-editors-forum
Cumbre Mundial de Diseño en Prensa 2012: Mexico City; September 24-26
http://www.cmdprensa.com/mx2012/
SND (Society of News Design) Cleveland; Oct. 11-13
http://cle.snd.org/
1st Middle East News Design Conference
It promises to be a great program, and a historic one, too: the first SND Middle East gathering. Put it on your calendars: November 8 & 9, in Beirut, Lebanon. Sponsored by An-Nahar and SND.
For more information:
http://www.snd20events.com/conference/