This is the weekend edition of TheMarioBlog and it will be updated as needed; next blog post is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 10; reporting next week from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Update #2: Madrid, Saturday, Sept. 8, 14:31
Coming this week in TheMarioBlog
It is, by all standards, an iconic newspaper: USA TODAY has inspired a generation of journalists and designers globally with its color, use of graphics and short stories. Now, 30 years later, it unveils its major redesign of consequence this coming Friday, Sept. 14. This week, TheMarioBlog, will take a look back and reminisce about USA TODAY and how it has forever changed our idea of newspaper design. Part 1 Monday: We chat with J Ford Huffman, who served as one of USA Today’s editors from the start.
Then each day this week, reminiscing with other editors and designers who were involved, as well as people in our industry who relate how USA TODAY influenced them and their work.
Thursday I plan to write about my own personal experiences as a design practitioner in the 1980s when USA TODAY was launched and the impact it had in my work.
Chatting with Tyler Brulé on Monocle Radio’s new show, The Stack
Listen to my chat with Tyler Brulé about future of print in Monocle Radio’s The Stack here:
http://www.monocle.com/24/shows/stack/
TAKEAWAY: The week ahead will bring us the first major redesign of USA TODAY since it arrived 30 years ago, including a new logo.
What next for USA TODAY’s look?
One major design event to be looking forward to September 14: the much anticipated redesign of USA TODAY, its first major revamp since it revolutionized the newspaper world 30 years ago with its color coded, four-section newspaper full of graphics, short stories, and a weather map that was imitated instantly by newspapers big and small—-in countries sometimes too small to have any weather variations from one end to the other.
I, for one, will be looking forward to the new USA TODAY, a newspaper that I always enjoy looking at, and, definitely one which paved the way and showed sometimes not convinced editors of the power of visual storytelling.
My hope is to review the new look in the blog, and maybe I can get some of the great USA TODAY design powerhouses of the past to meditate on this major change for the newspaper they made famous.
Someone who has taken a look at the new USA TODAY sent me this heads up:
“They are going with the big blue circle concept for the logo.”
Can’t wait to see it!
Of related interest:
USA TODAY to redesign paper, relaunch website
http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2012/09/exclusive-usa-today-to-redesign-paper-relaunch-website-134709.html
Weekend reads:
For typography lovers:
Font Bureau’s David Jonathan Ross on Web Typography
http://imprint.printmag.com/typography/turnip-patch-meets-type-technology/
Also, this website shows the Reading Edge font collection from Font Bureau:
http://www.fontbureau.com/ReadingEdge/
Highlight:
Eight font families, each with four basic styles, ?designed to function reliably at 9px–18px
– Apple Newsstand Revenue Quadrupled Since Launch; iPad Revenue 3x That Of iPhone
http://techcrunch.com/2012/09/06/apple-newsstand-revenue-quadrupled-since-launch-ipad-revenue-3x-that-of-iphone/
Good night, Peel; lessons learned
http://hoosier40.com/2012/09/04/goodnight-peel-lessons-learned-2/
Sign up to get information on my new digital book
Assorted screens from the book: top, chapter openers all of which are color coded and carry illustrations by Luis Vazquez, of the Gulf News of Dubai; second image, opener of Storytelling chapter, and two inside screens.
As we get closer to publication date for The iPad Lab: Storytelling in the Age of the Tablet, we are now set up so that you can give us your email address and you will automatically be informed when the book is ready for download.
Now you can leave your email address so that you will be updated and informed the moment the book is read for download.
Simply go here:
http://ipaddesignlab.com
Video walkthrough of the iPad prototype of iPad Design Lab
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:
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/