Why redesign your newspaper?

Good question.
Why should you redesign your newspaper?
You have a product that is well-received by your community, has won awards and none of your customers complain.

So why redesign?
The answer for a college newspaper might be as simple as the turnover in student leadership from one school year to another.

In discussions we’ve had at TCU, faculty and student staff tossed out a number of reasons.

But in a conversation with newspaper advisor Robert Bohler, we narrowed the reasons down to three:

1. Switch from a broadsheet to a tabloid and make the paper more portable, easier to handle, and easier to read.

2. Create a learning experience for the staff that encompasses the redesign of the traditional broadsheet to a tabloid, the repackaging of existing coverage and creation of new features and concepts.

3. Introduce a new product in the fall where the staff will take advantage of the tabloid format, improve the way information is created and displayed and incorporate more visibility for the Schieffer School of Journalism’s convergence culture.

I have established this blog to focus on the redesign team working on the prototype of the new product.
Throughout May and June I will update their progress on a regular basis, post images and links and solicit feedback and input.
In July and August, I will create occasional posts on the overall countdown to the debut of the new Skiff.

Please leave comments or questions on this site.
Or, you can drop me an e-mail at: b.sears@tcu.edu.

Thoughts and comments on redesigning a newspaper from consultants:
Alan Jacobson, Brass Tacks Design
Ed Henninger, Henninger Consulting
Ron Reason, Ron Reason News Design