Here’s congratulation the teams of these very local newspapers in northern Germany, part of the NOZ group which have all launched what the Germans describe as “new optics” to make a reader’s journey through the print edition of their newspaper easier.
This is not what you would call a full redesign, but it was a methodical, well studied way of looking at every page of these local newspapers which are so dear to the readers, and finding ways to do two things:
- Create a unified look that would be similar across various newspapers in different communities but under one major group.
- Facilitate production through a unique look for all.
- Make the migration of content from digital to print easier.
I worked closely with the editors and staffers of each of the titles through a variety of in person workshops in Hamburg. The Garcia Media team of Rodrigo Fino and Paula Ripoll, senior art directors, assisted me.
From, Nicolas Fromm, CEO NOZ Digital::
We gave our daily newspapers from shz das medienhaus, medienhaus:nord and the Bramscher Nachrichten (noz.de) a new, contemporary look. Not a complete makeover, but a fresher look and also a better readability. Thx for an amazing project to my dear friend and worlds most famous designer Mario R Garcia .Or to say it in the words of Michael Seidel: ′′ Under the modernized packaging we stay true to ourselves though: So deep in rooted in the region like no other medium, we shine a light on the facets of our homeland with attention to detail and the range of journalistic representations. We look at the person responsible for the fingers and brush information ′′ against the line “. This is how we perform our statutory task: We take a stand, practice criticism and contribute to the formation of opinions.” #future #qualitätsjournalismus #newspaper
Stefan Hans Kläsener,Editor in chief at Schleswig-Holsteinischer Zeitungsverlags GmbH, went on video to explain the changes to his readers Stefan tells me about the scope of this undertaking, starting last Thursday with 22 issues in Schleswig-Holstein (all of them), with all the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern issues (another twelve) and one NOZ in „bramsche“ near Osnabrück (as a test for lower Saxony).
“Readers are interested, agreeing and mostly describing the relaunch as „well done!“. Cause of two central producing desks in Schleswig-Holstein we were extraordinary disciplined and correct in using the nee Formats, types and Boxes. “
If we look at these two prototype front pages, you will see that these regional papers vary in size. The Flensburger Tageblatt is a Berliner in its daily edition and , while the Osnabrukcer Zeitung is a “Rhenish*” format. The weekend edition of Flensburger Tageblatt as you see here is a half Berliner. But in Schwerin, it is a Berlin format and in Osnabruck a Rhine-broadsheet. These various formats presented a challenge in the creation of one look for all, as you can imagine. However, we were able to create an architecture that is easily adaptable, in case articles are shared by the titles, which is often true.
*Rhenish is a newspaper format associated with the Rhineland. Rhenisch format pages measure around 350–360 mm by 510–530 mm. A version of Rhenish around half the size is known as “half Rhenish” or “semi-Rhenish”.
Here is a sample of the first edition with newly incorporated design changes, the daily and weekend front pages:
Inside pages: A total modular look, better organization, hierarchy and display of photos.
Type palette
Serif = Whitman DisplaySans =
Freight Sans Body Text =
Freight Text
The feedback
Readers are generally pleased with the new look, in the words of Ralf Geisenhanslüke, Editor in Chief of NOZ-Medien:
“We are extremely happy with the new newspaper design by Mario Garcia for our media group NOZ- / MHN-Medien. Readers really like the light, clear layout. The print editions with a circulation of 430,000 copies are the perfect additions to the successful digital channels with 150,000 paid subscribers.”
Views from a relaunch day: Papers come off the press, always a most exciting moment at the end of a project. Nothing beats that feeling when you see the new design concept translated into ink and paper.
Then the readers sits down to a familiar newspaper with a new look. That, and a cup of coffee, a reminder that some things in life remain the same.
Results of India’s newspaper design competition are here
Here are the results of the newspaper design competition conducted by this site www.newspaperdesign.in
http://newspaperdesign.in/winners-of-the-3rd-edition-of-newspaper-design-competition/
Inquire about our mobile storytelling workshops!
Every week I bring my mobile storytelling workshop to a different newsroom around the world. I begin with a 90-minute presentation about the essentials of crafting/editing/designing stories for mobile consumption. Then I break the participants into groups and for two hours they produce a mobile story which they then present to the entire group for evaluation. It works all the time.
Another type of Garcia Media program is when we sign up for mobile storytelling coaching after completion of the first workshop. Once a week, or as planned, I work virtually with a team of reporters, editors, designers on actual stories that will be published as linear mobile stories. Let me know if you are interested in more information: mario@garciamedia.com
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TheMarioBlog post # 3287