TAKEAWAY: Pure Design download: headlines and storytelling ALSO: My letter from Nigeria, part two: inspiring a newsroom of young journalists as they prepare to launch Nigeria’s newest newspaper, the daily edition of Next.
It is (almost) all in that headline!
It’s make it or break it when it comes to a headline and its effectiveness.
A story may be appealing, well written and a must-read piece. However, if the headline does not entice us——seduce us is the correct term—-then legions of readers may never get to
the story.
Lately I have been fascinated by the power of the word “recovery” in a headline. Indeed, as we begin to emerge from the global economic crisis of the past 18 months, I, and I am sure many readers/users worldwide, stop when we see “recovery” in the headline.
A recent issue of the International Herald Tribune carried the word “recovery” in six headlines, out of a 12-page edition. I stopped to read every single story.
Today’s Pure Design installment is all about effective storytelling thru headlines and reminds us that the one line, single statement headline is out, and that we, as scanners, prefer multi-deck headlines that flesh out a story, just in case we are only reading the headline and have no plans to read the story.
Message to a new newsroom and its journalists
Next’s Creative Director Victor Ehikhamenor’s internationally recognized art work has inspired our color palette for the newspaper
Logos of Next the daily and its Next on Sunday edition: logos alternate use of five different colors for an accent, all inspired by the local art.
Today I begin my day in Lagos, Nigeria, with a good run in the gym, to prepare for my first task when I enter the newsroom of the soon to be Nigerian daily, Next—-launching in mid August here.
Sometimes, as was the case yesterday, I work with small groups to tackle specific topics on the agenda.
But today, the morning is devoted to the task of inspiring. I speak to the very young journalists of Next about the importance of their job as this newspaper is born in a country where the press/government/business have not enjoyed a very cordial relationship. In some cases the relationship has been more “cordial” than is good for readers or for a democracy. And that is the point we make here today: Next is an independent voice. Under the leadership of publisher Dele Olojede, Next is not just another newspaper launch. It is one where one of the important aims is to introduce a new, courageous and independent style of journalism to Nigeria.
While we prepare styleguides, fuss about typographic touches (Verlag and Chronicle), and color palettes (inspired by the magnificent work of local artists, such as creative director Victor Ehikhamenor), we are well aware that there is more to Next than its visual presence.
Its presence itself is what matters. For Dele and his team, this is what makes it all worth it. More to come as the day develops.
For more information about Next, go here:
The official website:
www.234next.com
Previous blogs dealing with Next:
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/
Nigerian diary entry for Thursday
While Dancing in the Dark is still one of my favorite songs (especially the Diana Krall rendition of it), it is less fun to do Shaving and Showering in the Dark, which I did this morning.
A power outage at our hotel started at about 07:45 when I was running on the treadmill (no, the machine has its own power generator obviously, since there was no abrupt stop for me), and at 08:30 was not resolved yet.
Shaving in the almost dark requires that you have a good mental map of your face (I never knew about this necessity till today). However, at 62, I guess I have the shaving routine down quite well, so no cuts on the old face. Showering, I find out, you don’t need any light for.
We adapt. We look at the positive side and, alas, when you step out into the lush gardens around the hotel, especially the mango trees, you take a deep breath and get ready for your day.
Download entire first section of Pure Design: Words
Now that I have fully presented the first of six sections of Pure Design on TheMarioBlog, I am offering the entire initial section, “Words,” available for download—all 33 pages of it. This may be useful for those of you saving or printing out Pure Design and will be done following each of the remaining sections. At the end of our journey through words, type, layout, color, pictures, and process, I will publish the entirety of Pure Design in one file.
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TheMarioBlog posting #319