Update #3 Tuesday, Feb.9, Gothenburg, Sweden, 18:12
TAKEAWAY: Monday report from Gothenburg, Sweden: at the Goteborgs Posten, evolutionary progress across platforms. Testing prototypes on Facebook, not a bad idea. PLUS: Times of Oman’s big surprise wins at the SND Awards AND: Bild’s app cheesy pop up
Today’s pop ups
Bild does it again. In its lifestyle section, all you want to know about cheese.
See Frank Deville’s pop up choice.
It is all about cheese here, writes Frank Deville. “Never be at a loss with cheese anymore,” proclaims the headline. The pop up directs the user to all you really wish to know about cheese, how should cheese taste, which cheese is high or low fat? At which age is cheese mature? Bild editors tell us how to recognize several types of cheeses, guaranteeing that , after studying this video, we will never again be lost while standing in front of a cheese bar.
In other words, cheese at the touch of your fingertips.
GP: where change is a constant
Three recent front pages of the Sunday GP—emphasis is on the mini poster for this tabloid-format newspaper
The new GP iPhone app is here
Recently, an article in The Economist explained why Britain’s Prime Minister, David Cameron, is so fascinated by Sweden and its Nordic neighbors. The headline on the article was “Nice up north”.
Indeed, it is nice up north, and I am always impressed by what I see when I visit Sweden as well as other Scandinavian countries: not just their civilized way of living, their individualism, not to mention their food: uncomplicated, tasty and always giving you the impression that you are not just eating healthy but looking at a plate that fills you visually as well. And did I tell you that I am addicted to their WASA multigrain toasties at 30 calories per toast?
So, again this is Scandinavia week for me, first Gothenburg, then Stockholm, among my favorite five cities in the world, then Oslo, another Scandinavian beauty.
I have been visiting the Goteborgs Posten for 17 years, as I was reminded today. So many redesigns, transformations, workshops, seminars and the ever present curiosity of the team to advance to the next level.
That is what it was all about today at the GP, as the snow fell outside: the next level for GP is here already, and I was fascinated, but not surprised, when Per Andersson, the project editor who wears many hats, and all well, I may add, showed me a quickie summary of what GP and the team have been up to since the last time I visited:
1. Tons of new things happening with print——especially the developing of those mini poster front pages that we first introduced two years ago for the Sunday edition, and now have made their way to the daily edition.
2. A newly designed online edition, www.gp.se, which is one of the largest regional news sites in Sweden.
3. A new iPhone app that was expected to have 3000 downloads max, and is now over 53,000——with an app that not only gives users the news but also allows to find their location and direct them to restaurants and other points of interest.
Today we had an initial meeting on the upcoming GP iPad app, which will highlight the best photographic showcase of Gothenburg and western Sweden, among other things.
But, alas, the most fascinating bit of information for me, and, hopefully for you, too, was the revelation about how prototypes still in development were placed on Facebook for comment by readers.
Facebook and prototypes
Screen showing pages of the GP’s sports page prototypes.
The editors floated some prototype pages before a recent redesign of the sports section on Facebook. First, they assembled a group and asked the members to evaluate the prototype pages.
“We got some very interesting remarks, not just about layout, but the content as well. Readers wanted more on international football, for example,” says editor Jonathan Falk.
“But they also got into areas like color, more stories, fewer briefs,” added managing editor Cecilia Krönlein . “And we invited bloggers to join in and offer their opinions too.”
“It was a great way for us to test the pages,” says Per Andersson. “We got as much information as we normally do from focus groups, very spontaneous.”
For Design Director Mats Widebrant, the Facebook interaction with readers, which he says involved some really die hard “sports fanatics”, offered him faster feedback than that of any organized focus group, with greater spontaneity.
Interesting and productive way to test prototypes, and I mentioned to the GP team that I don’t know of other prototypes for publications tested this way, but perhaps some of you have done this already. Do let me know.
For now, it is another busy day Tuesday with the GP team as we continue to discuss ways to make the newspaper and its sister platforms better.
By the way, what Prime Minister Cameron likes about Sweden is not necessarily their high taxes, but, instead, their sense of individualism and “brilliant ideas working well”.
I agree. Look at that WASA toastie, for example. It is, indeed, nice up north.
Here is the WASA toast: tasty, healthful and low cal!
Society of News Design competition results
Before and after front pages of Times of Oman: notice change of logo—-as published on day of the launch of new look March 31, 2010
A variation of the new front page of Times of Oman
For those who follow the SND contest, held at Syracuse University, here are the results of the 32nd Annual Competition:
http://www.snd.org/2011/02/unofficial-results-32nd-edition-of-the-competition-is-complete/
Congratulations to all the winners. Very special kudos for the team at Times of Oman and Al Shabiba, of Oman, a group with which we worked on redesign of both in the last year. The Times of Oman placed second overall in number of awards (36), with only The Los Angeles Times winning more awards. Design Director for Times of Oman and Al Shabiba is Adonis Durado.
“This is a fantastic recognition – a great feat of our design team, our editorial staff, our newspaper, and our country. Instantly, we have put Oman in the global spotlight. For I truly believe that a great country deserves a good newspaper. And this is just the beginning: We will continue to do amazing work for our readers.”
—Ahmed Essa Al Zedjali, CEO, Times of Oman/Al Shabiba
“Winning 36 awards is unprecedented and truly very historic for us. Our newspaper is relatively unknown, and it’s the first time that we’ve entered the competition. Making it instantly to the top five (in the company of the giants in the industry) is surely a big honor.”
—Adonis Durado, Design Director, Times of Oman & Al Shabiba
Our previous blogs/case study on Garcia Media’s work with Times of Oman and Al Shabiba:
Times of Oman goes for total rethinking, redesign
https://garciamedia.com/blog/articles/times_of_oman_goes_for_total_rethinking_redesign
Our work with Al Shabiba logo continues
https://garciamedia.com/blog/articles/sunday_updates_our_work_with_al_shabiba_logo_continues/
https://garciamedia.com/blog/articles/basic_ingredients_for_ipad_design_stay_close_to_the_basics_plus_more_times_
For previous Al Shabiba posts:
https://garciamedia.com/blog/articles/monday_in_muscat_readying_two_newspapers_for_april_4_launch
https://garciamedia.com/blog/articles/tuesday_report_from_oman_opinions_vary_on_al_shabiba_logo_and_we_continue/
https://garciamedia.com/blog/articles/moschino_it_is_the_best_youngest_logo_for_al_shabiba_wins/
https://garciamedia.com/blog/articles/basic_ingredients_for_ipad_design_stay_close_to_the_basics_plus_more_times_
Of interest
– Apple’s iPad a driving force behind new newspaper subscriptions
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/11/02/03/apples_ipad_a_driving_force_behind_new_newspaper_subscriptions.html
– Yahoo Promotes AdLabs, Touts Hyper-Local Targeting
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=144302
– News Corporation ‘working around the clock’ to fix Daily bug
http://blogs.journalism.co.uk/editors/2011/02/07/news-corporation-working-round-the-clock-to-fix-daily-bug/
– Is Murdoch’s new ‘iPad newspaper’ competing with print, or TV?
http://www.journalism.co.uk/news-features/is-murdoch-s-new-ipad-newspaper-competing-with-print-or-tv-/s5/a542645/
– Murdoch’s iPad Daily is a voice of America; can it cross the Atlantic?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/feb/06/rupert-murdoch-the-daily-ipad-apple
– The Daily debut flops: What went wrong?
http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2011/02/daily-debut-flops-what-went-wrong.html
– Why The Daily’s Detractors Are Missing The Point
http://paidcontent.org/article/419-why-the-dailys-detractors-are-missing-the-point/
– The Daily vs. Flipboard: One of These Is The Future of Newspapers…
http://www.nytimes.com/external/readwriteweb/2011/02/06/06readwriteweb-the-daily-vs-flipboard-one-of-these-is-the-57857.html?ref=technology
TheMarioBlog post #708