Update #6: Saturday, 03:48 AM, EST: This blog will be updated throughout the weekend, so come back and check it out
TAKEAWAY: The new lighter version of Welt am Sonntag is a beauty as a compact, but if you like the style of the more traditional broadsheet, you can have that, too, with more pages. Readers make the choice: WAMS original, or WAMS light. PLUS: New Pit Gottschalk blog dissects newsrooms and what makes them tick ALSO: In Nigeria, how NEXT covers a tragic massacre AND: Your iPad comment of the day
Apple and religion?
We know that to many people Apple and anything it produces is like religion, which is why I got a kick from the title under the name of an Apple executive in Europe whose card I happened to get.
Paolo Varani is a Senior Manager for Apple in Europe. Under his title: Tech Evangelism & Partnerships.
Of course, it is the perfect title, and I am sorry I did not think of it before to add it under my name in all my business cards.
If we look for the definition of the word, evangelism refers to the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others who do not hold those beliefs. The term is often used in reference to Christianity, where the scriptures often describe “evangelism” as “spreading the Gospel”.
Well, amen, I say. We spend most of our time spreading the Gospel,and , in today’s newsrooms, often relaying information to others who do not hold those beliefs.
And by the way, notice that Apple’s color scheme for its little apple on the cards of its executives does not stick to one color: there are little green, blue and pinkish apples. Religion can be colorful.
Romania Libera readies for Monday launch
A movie poster environment is used by Romania LIbera to promote its launch of new look scheduled for Monday
The marketing campaign is already on and preparations are in order this weekend for the launch of our project, Romania Libera, in Bucharest, Romania.
The marketing guys at RL have put together an eye catching campaign inspired by the movies. Indeed, many of the visuals look like movie posters, with the theme: We Publish Your Life.
Different video segments show spots where a short dialog takes place between two individuals, leading to information about March 15, launch date, followed by the new logo for RL.
Indeed, a logo change is taking place here.
The new logo, shown here, emphasizes just the RL for Romania Libera, against a purple background, as opposed to the fully spelled, red existing logo.
The changes go beyond the logo, however, to include:
1. Content restructuring: our project included not just a change of the look and feel, but also a deep analysis of content rhythm, as well as the specific needs of younger readers.
2. A different set of navigational tools
3. New typographic scheme
We will update this information to include a blog posti about launch day for Romania Libera and reader reaction.
iPad pre-orders are started in the United States: get that credit card out, get in line.
There are a lot of people telling someone “iPad me” today, as pre-ordering of the new gadget begins. And the Apple Store is probably a busy place already.
However, I had no problem connecting, choosing my 64GB iPad and completing the transaction, complete with all kinds of accessories for the new toy, in a matter of minutes.
It’s free shipping with this purchase, and April 3 is the day.
Now counting the days.
We are one step closer.
A thing of beauty: Welt Am Sonntag compact
Something new in the Sunday newspaper market in Germany.
Not necessarily a new title, but a compact version of the well known Welt am Sonntag, which now appears with two different formats: broadsheet and compact. Readers can pick what they want.
The compact premiered three Sundays ago, and it is already very popular.
“We are happy about our little project. The Welt am Sonntag kompakt is targeted to young and/or female readers, who don’t want to read every Sunday 120 pages. 64 pages seemed to be the perfect size. The first results are encouraging,” says Ulf Poschardt, editor in chief.
The design of the new WAS was created by that talented and always active German designer, Anja Horn, with whom I have the honor of working now. Anja symbolizes all the good things we associate with the classic look, the clean pages that please, with the ever present magazine style covers that are show stoppers. Many of those can be found in her new creation. Together with her creative and fun team at Einhorn Solutions in Berlin, Anja plays those pages of the WAS like a Stradivarius violin.
“It was fun to do this, Mario,” Anja tells me as we sip expressos in her studio, flipping pages of the past three editions of WAMS. “Sometimes it is too many ads, but we try.”
No complaints about all those ads, Anja. The pages still look great.
At a time when so many give up on print, decide that there is no excitement to be found in anything print, here comes WAMS to give us a wake up call, send us a strong visual message and make Sundays in Germany, well, something to look forward too, even if you are not young, or a woman.
New blog on the block: worth looking
While on the subject of Germany, and Axel Springer, let me introduce you to a new blog that you will find interesting and even necessary if you are in this business.
It is written by my colleague Pit Gottschalk. Head of CEO’s Newspaper Office for Axel Springer, with whom I always enjoy discussions about the workings of the newsrooms.
That’s Pit’s academic subject, and he is one person who analyzes all that happens in those newsrooms, with interesting observations.
In his own words:
My blog was inspired by your thoughts about “the path of the story” you mentioned in your presentation at Axel Springer. The core of my academic work is to create an evaluation model how well (or badly) newspaper companies and their editorial staff are prepared for the digital age, especially for the iPad. I agree on your statement that the iPad will be a game changer and that companies should be conscious of what is going on – but most of them aren’t. I will deliver a measurement system as an analyzing tool to determine individually the degree of online integration within the newsroom in terms of structure, culture, tasks, and people in the organizational alignment. By that tool, you can easily find the points where the path for the story should be fixed, improved or even built.
You surely see the lack of effective online integration immediately by your experience and understanding of the workflow in a newsroom. But the tool delivers the empirical proof in addition to what you observe. The data helps convince chief editors that something more has to be changed to integrate the online world in the print world than in the past.
For the moment, says Pit, he is just creating the editorial environment before revealing the results and insights of his data research which he gathers by the support of 59 chief editors in Germany. “The work itself is done,” he says.
So follow Pit as he reveals his findings, and especially how he tells us about newsrooms adapting to fast changing technology and new platforms, as in the case of iPads and other tablets.
Here is link to Pit’s new blog:
http://www.pit-gottschalk.com/
NEXT covers a sad day in Nigeria
Front pages of three consecutive issues of NEXT, the new Nigerian daily. “A tragedy of major consequences,” is how an editor describe the Sunday attack on villagers
I asked NEXT design director, Victor Ehikhamenor, to send us front pages of the newspaper as it covered this recent event. On Sunday, killer mobs armed with guns and knives massacred hundreds of villagers in the country’s rural heartland. Following the incident, Nigeria’s acting president, Goodluck Jonathan, replaced his national security adviser, as seen on the second front page shown here. At least 200 Christian villagers died in the attacks early Sunday, when groups of men with guns, machetes, and knives attacked people in three villages south of Jos, in the Plateau State, Human Rights Watch said.
For more information about Next, go here:
The official website:
http://www.234next.com
Previous blogs dealing with Next:
https://www.garciamedia.com/admin/index.php?S=3d288590d403189c70a2b177e20a8bb8577a3b25&C=edit&M=edit_entry&weblog_id=6&entry_id=685
https://www.garciamedia.com/admin/index.php?S=6bed83f06c1beac7b1d0578a3c490f80481ba6b1&C=edit&M=edit_entry&weblog_id=6&entry_id=684
https://www.garciamedia.com/blog/articles/nigerias_next_on_sunday_changing_journalism_one_sunday_at_a_time/
https://garciamedia.com/blog/articles/next_on_sunday_the_new_newspaper_that_raises_journalistic_bar_in_nigeria/
Joe Zeff ‘s blog: views on iPad development
The iPad Puzzle Calls for Partnership
http://joezeffdesign.com/blog/
http://joezeffdesign.com/blog/