After a redesign the newspaper staff has its own process of evolution, adapting to the new design and a new way of advancing the stories they are reporting.
But in the case of Malayala Manorama, this evolution was sped up by the tsunami disaster that tragically affected their region in Southern India. Here was one of those projects where so many of the basics had to be covered: from basic storytelling techniques, to how to use images beyond the size of passport photos, not to mention that we had to train the editors to package related stories.
Everything went well as the newspaper launched the new look in September. However, it was the tsunami disaster that demonstrated that sometimes redesigns do more than just make a paper prettier. As in this case, the redesign advanced the cause of storytelling tenfold, and the editors of the newspaper have embraced it, understood it, and applied it at their best.
From the use of photos, to the packaging of stories, to how hierarchy was created to show the magnitude of the tragedy, and, especially, its local impact, all came together very effectively.
The editors and designers of Malayala Manorama have used all the good tools of visual storytelling to tell the most incredible of stories.