Dr. Mario Garcia critiques the new Skiff design

Dr. Mario R. Garcia was kind enough to look over the Skiff prototype and send us his impression.

Dr. Garcia is the premiere authority on communication design and he and his company, Garcia Media, have redesigned hundreds of websites, newspapers and magazines.



As with other professionals who critiqued the new tabloid, he was not aware of time constraints, migration of existing styles, the the goal to create the prototype as a template for fall content or number of students working. His reaction to the prototype is straightforward as if he was seeing a complete product offered to the reader.

He was very pleased that students were given the opportunity to undertake an effort like this.

His comments:

"... On the positive side, the tabloid format will be more popular with students, for sure; it is more manageable and a favorite, especially with younger readers.

I have to say that the (a spring Skiff pdf was sent for comparison) broadsheet front page was a nicer looking product, in its classic style, than the tabloid version.

Don't take me wrong, the students have done a good job of organizing things in the tab, but I do feel that it lacks visual impact.

I would prefer flush left headlines, and not these escalated headlines that are neither centered nor flushed left; overall, the headers for Sports, etc. are plain, and more to be found on a broadsheet than a tabloid.

There is hardly any interesting use of color.

Inside pages are boring and represent a style of newspaper design that is circa 1990s. I would expect students to be more creative and innovative.

This, although well laid out, is NOT designed at all.

If I were in charge, I would send the students back to mobilize their creative instincts and to present something that is more 2015 and less 1992.

God, I hope I was not too harsh, but, to be honest, we need to see more adventure..."

A running criticism I hear and read from many professionals and academics is the conservative approach students take to problem-solving. There is safety in the familiar. And efficiency in repositioning existing resources.

Dr. Garcia's criticism falls directly into that line of thought.

Knowing the students involved, I believe that if they had the time to really dig into the assignment as a true redesign they might have generated something much more visually stunning. But pushing through a changeover like this in 6 weeks while students were taking summer courses allows only so many marathon sessions on the actual redesign.

The goals established for the students were met.

But the stage is set for the students to stretch beyond those goals.

Dr. Garcia has thrown a valid challenge down for the Skiff staff to take up.

They must push themselves to build an engaging, vigorous and creative product each day for their readers. Over a few weeks they will better understand the tools they need to use and the strategy to adopt in order to bring their tabloid to the level of success of their old broadsheet.
More time, more planning, more hands and heads involved in the process will be assets to be utilized aggressively.

Will they respond to the challenge?

I know they will.

Especially since I will send some of the fall issues out for the pros to critique once again.

Response to Tim Harrower's critique

I’ve had several folks take odds with Tim Harrower’s critique of the Skiff redesign.

I agree with their comments, but I was perhaps unfair to publish Tim’s text without informing folks that I gave all the people who were critiquing the prototype as little as background on the project as possible.

I was searching for frank, honest assessment of the design and presentation of content.

If reviewers knew that this was a project to migrate basic style, set the stage for fall production, had limited staffing for the project and was done on a part-time basis over 6 weeks I would be concerned they would soften their criticism.

Tim's reaction is much like our readers.

The only thing they focus on is what they have in their hands at the moment.

The reader doesn’t care what your deadline was, how much time it took to produce something, if you are understaffed or had a migraine at the Mac while editing a story.

If the content and presentation fill the reader’s needs, the reader is happy.

If the content and presentation doesn’t fill the reader’s needs, she will turn the page or dump the paper and move on to the TV or iPhone to find what she wants.

So Tim’s critique is as solid and valuable as the opinion of any one reader.
Maybe a little bit more because he knows our industry.

Some responses to his critique support his comments on too much advertising, a need for tighter, shorter stories and a presence of roundups or briefs.

One comment in particular, from our director, John Lumpkin, does give objection to Tim’s dislike of the big photos:

“I disagree with the big illustrations on the covers being a waste of space.
Done correctly, they are a profoundly different and compelling way to tell a story. How many gray words would it have taken to make the point of the domino graphic about NCAA realignment?”

Good point.

And student feedback moves in direction of really enjoying the big picture on the front.

New racks rock the campus

The new racks our Skiff Business Manager Bitsy Faulk ordered are making their way onto campus.

These modular purple racks blow our old white, composite-wood boxes away.

They have a much more contemporary feel.

The clear plexi area at the top offers a great spot for promotional material such as that day's issue or a special rack card.

The two shelves allow us to place the Skiff issues on the top shelf and the Image magazines on the bottom shelf.

New displays for the new product.

A nice way to build momentum for the August launch.

Feedback from the pros

I sent out pdfs of the Skiff prototype to folks in the news and academic fields and requested feedback.

I had hoped to gather enough material to use for sessions during the Skiff boot camps in August.There is a majority of support and praise for the changeover and general design and layout but what I was hoping for was constructive criticism to propel the content and mission of the newspaper forward.

The redesign sets only the foundation, the language of the paper. It is up to the students to build something great upon it, to create engaging stories and display with the language.
A few responses are starting to trickle in.

The few professionals who have responded went right for points that I believe are very valuable for the staff to consider as they move towards launching the new design.

The first is from Tim Harrower.

Tim’ s books, The Newspaper Designer's Handbook and Inside Reporting are popular not only as handbooks for working journalists but also as textbooks.

He’s been an editor, designer and now consults on print and online design, teaches journalism and, according to his website, runs a dog-and-frog ranch deep in the Oregon woods.

Two of the biggest points of Tim’s critique:

“You've got 12 pages. Half of those are ads. That leaves 6 pages for actual news. Right?
And of those 6 pages, you're blowing off TWO of them -- the front & back cover -- for big photos? One-third of your available space for images that may or may not deserve big play? That do almost no heavy lifting, journalistically speaking?

Big mistake.

Your real estate is too precious, and in too short a supply, to pretend you're a magazine with loads of interior space -- and with enough art and photo talent to make this concept sustainable week after week.

I counted up the actual story modules (for news and opinion) in this prototype. Fourteen items. That's all. (Not even any news or sports briefs, either.)

You may not realize it, but you've simply GOT to give readers more traffic than that. You're moving in slow motion at EXACTLY the moment in time when you should be accelerating the traffic flow. One thing I know about young, impatient readers: they want as much volume and variety as you can possibly deliver.

… And that 50/50 ad ratio?

Listen, I was in Texas a few years ago, speaking to a convention of shopper editors. You know, those tabloids you see stacked at supermarket entrances, with names like Nickel Ads and Coupon Clipper?

I'd never really paid attention to shoppers before that. In fact, I didn't even know how to explain the difference between a newspaper and a shopper. So I wrote my own definition:
A newspaper is where you put ads below your news stories. A shopper is where you find news stories to plug the holes around your ads.

You're creating a shopper. “

Once the printed prototype was reviewed, most of the folks here realized that a 50/50 ratio is unrealistic and advertising targets will be adjusted.

This will allow the story count to rise.Striking a good balance between content and display on the front and back covers is essential for the paper’s success.

TCU students have loved the big photos but Tim makes a good point.

Producing art like that on a daily basis is stressful and most often unsuccessful. More prudent planning and opening up the covers, especially the back, to more story presence make sense. Lack of briefs and roundups, which consistently pop up in surveys as reader favorites, can be addressed once editors arrive for boot camp.

Visit Tim's site for great tips and free pdfs on multimedia, editing, design and more:

http://www.timharrower.com/index.html