Front page design: Some trends continue

Newspaper Research Journal, Summer 2003 by Utt, Sandra H, Pasternack, Steve

Of the four front-page design studies, this was the first to examine the online page. With online newspaper pages continuing to evolve, future research must, by necessity, anticipate significant changes in online design, and should track these developments. What's interesting about the online newspapers is use of print techniques in their design. Even though people are reading the paper online, the designers-who are usually in a separate department-can't get away from creating a "front page" with a dominant photo, using different typefaces and sizes for various parts of the page, using the same flag as the print paper and setting the type in justified columns.

Also, the trends among printed front pages showed-for the first time-a slowing or even retreat from the modernization bandwagon that enveloped the news industry in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Future studies should certainly monitor whether these "retro" trends continue.

Notes

1. John Nerone and Kevin G. Barnhurst, "Visual mapping and cultural authority: design changes in U.S. newspapers, 1920-1940," Journal of Communication 45 (spring 1995), 9-43.

2. Mario Garcia, "We've come a long way," The American Editor (April 2000), 4-5. See also, Mario Garcia, "Get a look-your own look," Editor & Publisher, 26 September 1998, 30-34, in which design "guru" Garcia urges newspapers to stop looking like one another.

3. Ron Johnson, "Design evolution," The Quill (March 2002), 22-25.

4. Alicia Shepard, "Designer newspapers," American Journalism Review, (December 1996), 30-35.

5. Joe Strupp, "Designing women (and men)," Editor & Publisher, 16 October 1999, 6.

6. Tony Case, "L.A. Times will sport a new look next year," Mediaweek, 5 July 1999, 12. See also, Joe Strupp, "News-reader friendly design in Detroit," Editor & Publisher, 17 April 1999, 50-51.

7. Among them are: San Antonio Express News, Chicago Tribune, and Sacramento Bee. "Three newspapers cut web width in redesigns," The Quill, (June 2001), 8.

8. "Three newspapers cut web width in redesigns," The Quill, (June 2001), 8.

9. Stacy Lynch, "Inside satisfaction: What it Means, How to Improve it. Presentation to ASNE," 11 April 2002, (23 July 2003).

10. "Understanding and improving "easy-to-read" content," report by the Readership Institute, 2002, (23 July 2003). The researchers found that the use of a featurey style, more go-to information in articles, etc. played a bigger role in increasing navigability.

11. "So what's next?" The American Editor (April 2000), 28.

12. Melinda McAdams, "Driving a newspaper on the data highway," Web site located at: http://www.well.com/user/mmcadams/online.newspapers.html (23 July 2003).

13. See Melinda McAdams, "Eliminating Page One," 1995, (23 July 2003).

14. Other studies have focused on reader reactions and use of design innovations, whether a public opinion poll of reader response to a re-design of a newspaper or an experimental study measuring reader response to some design-based stimulus.

15. Monica Moses, "Consumer mentality," The American Editor (April 2000), 6-7.