Redesign of the TCU Daily Skiff

The new Skiff hits the stands

2010-08-24T19:50:00.000-07:00

The new tabloid TCU Daily Skiff launched today.

The students did a great job of putting together a 32-page first day edition.

Why not take a few minutes and read through the premiere issue?

To download the pdf, click on this link:

Skiff Archives

To see the new Skiff website, click on this link:

TCU Daily Skiff

Just before the launch

2010-08-24T19:34:00.001-07:00

Phil Record leads a boot camp class on ethics.

Editors work with reporters on stories for the first day of the new tabloid Skiff.

Julie and Libby look over one of the 32 pages to be published.

Julie works on the page introducing Skiff editors to the readers.

New tabletop "grab" racks for the Skiff.

The new rack cards not only promote the Skiff when all the copies have been taken but also serves as a support for the copy that slips into the acrylic holder at the top of the rack.

One more critique

2010-08-24T11:46:00.000-07:00

Michael Tribble, Design and Graphics Director of The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio, was kind enough to do a thorough critique of the redesign. I'll use many of his thoughts and those of Tim and Mario troughout the semester to help us capitalize on the momentum of our new product.
Once again, I was looking for a pure critique for the prototype and he had no insight into any limitations the students had...

First impression
Outside of the cover illustration, the approach of the design is very traditional. The move from broadsheet (I haven’t seen a copy of The Skiff in 10 years) to tabloid did little to break new ground. The reinvention is seen only in the size of the product, which makes me wonder why the move was made, outside of possible cost-cutting measures. Since readers use tabloids differently than they would a broadsheet (usually punchier and more adventurous compared to stogy and traditional), you must respond by offering a product that has a completely different personality than what you offered in the broadsheet version. The team should investigate how stories were told in the broadsheet form and how they can use the new space in a more creative way. And at the very beginning point focus on how the paper not only informs and entertains, but also how it engages readers.

Critique
First off, the edition I saw had no consistent grid from page to page, or on the covers. This made the entire issue seem inconsistent and unstructured. Remember in design, grid is God. I suggest you invent a strong grid structure (both horizontally
and vertically) for all your pages and stick to it religiously. Also, the gutters between columns were a bit too wide, which gave the paper a feeling of being light and unimportant.

Your section toppers are a bit static and don’t relay much information. Seems there could be a more creative approach to these that could offer more information, save some space or give the paper more personality. The negative space offers very little relief here.

The body copy needs tighter tracking and an adjustment to the hyphenation tables. The gaps in spacing between both letters and words make the type tough to read in spots. I’d suggest looking at tightening up your leading as well. They type just seems too airy, which can make it tiring to read. This also adds to the light feeling I mentioned above.

But even though there was a feeling of lightness inside the section, the pages themselves are extremely type heavy. There was very little relief outside of the advertisements. Seems there could be a way to balance the amount of real estate spent on the size of cover art with amount of space used for art inside the section. Right now there is very little contrast. And for a student newspaper, there seemed to be very few images representative of student life (I counted the sports image and the bounty hunter shot. There were also six mug shots and one portrait).

Not a fan of the label headlines. They don’t relay a whole lot of information and because they introduce even more white space, they add to the light feeling I talked about earlier. Love, love, love the crossword and other games. Gives the readers another reason to pick you up and pass the time. You should highlight that more as a selling point.

I like the creativity of the main illustration. But in general, the covers seem to be a bit disorganized. As far as your use of typography, I’d stick with a simple style of headline, make them all centered or flush-left (preferred) and don’t change weights and color to grab attention. Pick one treatment and go strong with it. And even wide-open canvases like these covers can benefit from a tightly followed grid. Break the page into a grid vertically and horizontally and make your illustrations, headlines and copy blocks work within it. It’ll make for much cleaner pages.

Also, if the paper’s philosophy is to “sell” one big story on the covers, I’d suggest giving the secondary elements more pop. Right now the elements are almost too secondary. If readers don’t care for the main story tease, then there’s not much excitement there to get them to see if there’s something inside worth their time. And I’m not sure why you have these both at the top and at the bottom. There’s probably a better solution here to get them in the same space since they do the same job.

Overall
The paper has a good, basic organization, but is in need some sizzle. There are too many other outlets competing for eyeballs to remain traditional in structure and storytelling. This is your chance to blow the doors off. Newspapers are about ideas and keeping you audience’s attention means publishing good ideas. After graduation, members of your staff will rarely get the type of opportunity you have now to be smart, innovate and challenge yourselves. And above all else, this should be the most fun you’ll ever have making a newspaper. Planning is the key.

Dr. Mario Garcia critiques the new Skiff design

2010-07-29T10:29:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-29T10:26:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-22T12:20:00.001-07:00

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

2010-07-22T07:59:00.000-07:00

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

View the Skiff prototype online

2010-06-29T20:57:00.000-07:00

Visit this link:

http://issuu.com/tcutest/docs/new_tabloid_skiff

to view the Skiff in color and thumb through the pages like the finished product.

Let the feedback begin.

2010-06-28T18:39:00.000-07:00

Julie put the finishing touches on the prototype today.
Tomorrow she will work with the first student focus group.
Students will be presented photocopied pages of a complete prototype in black and white.
The prototype is 12 pages, and the ones these students will see have been set up with two-sided pages and are actual size.
Students will be given the prototypes and instructed to read through them during the first third of the session.
Julie and I created a survey on www.surveymonkey.com and the students will be given that specific URL and answer 10 questions about their experience in the second part of the session.
Students can ask specific questions and offer observations during the last third of the session.

I'll post some of the those results on Wednesday or Thursday.

If you would like to compare a spring edition of the Skiff to the prototype, go to:

http://www.brocsears.com/tcuredesign.html

Rough prototype available

2010-06-24T18:21:00.000-07:00

Julie, Kayla and Libby have been grinding out pages over the last week and have a rough prototype done.

To access a pdf of the June 24 prototype, click on this link:

http://www.brocsears.com/tcuredesign.html

Most of the content is in place. Adjustments have to be made on some of the typography (like the page two placeholder on the page one centerpiece) and a few of the layouts (like the Perspectives pages).

Julie will be refining the pages over the next three days and we will have the final prototype ready for focus groups on Monday.

One focus group will be Dr. Tommy Thomason's Media I class.

Julie and Kayla will present copies to each student and record their opinions.

Later in the week we will have a focus group of students who have majors outside the Schieffer School.

Throughout the summer we will be sending the prototype to other faculty, staff and students for feedback. I also have several people in the industry who will critique the prototype this summer.

I will post feedback from these groups and others throught the summer.

Pages two and three of the prototype

2010-06-16T20:15:00.000-07:00

Julie has saved page two and three of the prototype in pdf form.

You can look at the pdf by clicking on this link:

http://www.brocsears.com/images/page2and3.pdf

She used Myriad in the page folios, cutlines, bylines, attributions, quotes, creditlines and info boxes.

The overall style is lighter than the spring editions of the Skiff in these areas and allows the headlines to have a greater voice, even though their point sizes are smaller than those used in the broadsheet.

The large black box on the left will be filled with an advertisement.

Minion and Myriad in the redesign

2010-06-16T18:51:00.000-07:00

Minion and Myriad are the two fonts used in the redesign.

Minion for its classic yet sculptured appearance.

Myriad for the wide variety of weights we have in the system.

Samples of both:

Bakersfield editor writes about launching tab

2010-06-13T09:21:00.000-07:00

Robert Bohler passes along this valuable link:

This post from the editor of the Bakersfield Californian, who has engineereda couple of newspaper turnarounds, offers some pretty articulate reasoning behind the launch of a tab format M-F (w/broadsheet on weekends)and some great illustration of how its staff achieved some of the content and design objectives we hope to.

http://brasstacksdesign.com/bakersfield_redesign.htm

What next?

2010-06-07T18:59:00.001-07:00

Now that the nameplate foundation has been set, Julie and Kayla will begin working on a complete page one, page one folio treatment and the inside pages.

The prototype will be designed on a 50% editorial and 50% advertising split.

Breaking down the pages, this would create a 12-page paper that has 6 pages of advertising and 6 pages of editorial.

The proposed distribution:

Page one - editorial
Page two - 3 columns ad/3 columns editorial
Page three - 3 columns ad/3 columns editorial
Page four - editorial (Opinion pages)
Page five - editorial (Opinion pages)
Page six - 6 columns advertising
Page seven - 6 columns advertising
Page eight - 4 columns ad (puzzles) / 2 columns editorial
Page nine - 5 columns ad (including 2 columns puzzles) / 1 columns editorial
Page ten - 4 columns ad / 2 columns editorial
Page eleven - 4 columns ad / 2 columns editorial
Page twelve - 5 columns editorial (Sports) / 1 column ad

New Skiff nameplate

2010-06-07T18:49:00.000-07:00

We chose the Bodoni design as the foundation for the new nameplate.

The flush-left treatment alone distances it from the nameplate from last year, but the Bodoni is visually different from the Minion font used in the headlines.

Julie and Bitsy will work tomorrow on a treatment for the side of the new racks.

The design must be finished this week and shipped off next week to the vendor so the racks will be completed and delivered by mid-July.

Vote on the three final nameplates

2010-06-03T20:11:00.000-07:00

Here are the three final type treatments we are considering for the nameplate of the Skiff.

Take a close look at the options and vote on your favorite.

Leave comments if you can.

There will be refinements throughout the month, but one of the three will be the foundation element for the nameplate.

Bodoni (below)

Caslon (below)

Century (below)

Comments, revisions and the timetable

2010-06-02T08:12:00.000-07:00

Folks have commented on the nameplates over the last few days via this blog, e-mail and in person.
I appreciate the feedback.

It is very helpful for the students to understand the scope of a project like this and how it extends beyond the Convergence Center where they work.
External input reminds them this is a publication that reaches out into their community and beyond.

A few excerpts:

jcranefwst said... "... I think there's already enough going on in the nameplate that you don't necessarily need any variation between 'TCU' and 'Daily', I'd keep them consistent and focus on creating the right contrast between 'TCU Daily' and 'Skiff'...
... Good luck with the redesign, keep up the good work."

Anonymous said... "...I like the frog pond graphic next to the S in Skiff...
... You guys are doing great! Let's see some more samples!"

Gayla Jett Shannon said... "My preference is #1 but perhaps omitting [Ext. 1902] - it seems to hang off the end. #1 seems sturdiest and most professional and "happening" at the same time. "

Kathryn Hopper said... "I like #4 - very clean and fresh. I also like having everything the same typeface. "

Tomorrow, the students will bring in updated versions and page one layouts.
Friday I'll post a few of the presentations.

Several people have asked about our timetable.
I created a back-out schedule in May that we have been operating from.
The original intent was to make the redesign a summer class to run over four weeks in June, but when the class concept was set aside, I backed the schedule out into May.
Many of the team did a great deal of foundation work on the project before the "fun" part of the redesign began.

The redesign schedule has been posted just above this text and if you click on it, it will pop up to a more readable size.

The nameplate must be completed by the second week of June. The designers will then work with Bitsy to create a treatment that will be placed on the sides of our new racks.
Bitsy will send off the design to our vendor who will build the new racks and deliver them to us in mid-July.

New nameplates under construction

2010-05-26T20:10:00.001-07:00

Julie and Kayla have been refining the flush left nameplate treatments.

One of the challenges is including the many elements the TCU Daily Skiff requires into the nameplate.

Another is keeping the freshness of the flush left display but incorporating a treatment that will stand with authority as a source of daily news and community information.

Samples are shown above.

Please leave comments.

Refer to the numbers below each nameplate when leaving a comment.

How do you expect the page count to change with a tab?

2010-05-26T19:45:00.001-07:00

On May 25, Anonymous asked...
How do you expect the page count to change with a tab?

Last year the smallest broadsheet product was 6 pages.
Expect 12 to be the lowest page count of the Daily Skiff in the 2010 - 2011 school year.
Just like in the broadsheet, as advertising increases or big news stories break, the page count will increase.
But with a tabloid product the pages will increase in multiples of four.
That means the paper will jump from a 12 to a 16, 20, 24, 30, 36, 40 or 48-page product.

Flush left nameplate most popular, refinement next

2010-05-23T07:34:00.001-07:00

It appears that the flush left nameplate has received the most support from our TCU community.
That and a newer, cleaner version of the old nameplate claimed the top two positions in last week's poll.

In a May 22 comment, Kimmy Daycock wrote:
Out of all the options, I like "A," especially the new logo.

Handwritten comments on pages posted in the library and the BLUU expressed the same opinion and general appreciation for the new format.

This week we will post refinements of the flush left nameplate and seek additional feedback from our readers.

The students on the redesign team will also plunge into the interior of the Skiff and look at the presentation of bylines, page labels, cutlines, etc. and begin construction of the Opinions pages and the etc. package.

Not familiar with a daily tabloid newspaper?

2010-05-19T09:46:00.001-07:00

If you are not familiar with the way a daily tabloid newspaper looks or reads, go to the electronic editions of Stars and Stripes.

You can get a good feel for the packaging and story positions a tabloid has to offer.

You can also read the 6 different editions published each day.

Smaller size is not a financial decision

2010-05-19T09:33:00.000-07:00

Anonymous asked in a comment to the May 18 post:

They all look tiny compared to the paper we have now. Is the idea to save money and go with a smaller paper?

The prototype covers posted on this blog may look tiny but I urge you to see the actual pages that should be posted in the library and the BLUU. The originals are roughly the size of an 11" x 17" sheet of paper.
In fact, the image area of the tabloid is exactly the same width of the old broadsheet.

As far as saving money, that was never a reason to move to the tabloid format.
Portability and a faster, friendlier read were the main factors.
We also took the average 6-page Daily Skiff and basically folded it in half to create a daily standard of 12 pages for the new product.
Production costs are similar for the old and new newspapers.

Page one layouts and new nameplates

2010-05-18T09:03:00.001-07:00

Julie and Kayla have created several page one treatments for story layout and how the name of the Daily Skiff might appear.

One of our redesign team members, Paige McArdle, headed out yesterday to see if we might be able to post black & white, full-size copies of these covers at the BLUU and the library with Post-it notes for folks to write down their comments.

I've posted mini-versions today and invite any of those following the redesign to comment or vote on the covers.

Refer to the letter in the circle on each version when commenting or voting.

The new Skiff could feature a variety of layouts options or stick with one or two formats. Displays range from a single photo to photos with stories to no stories at all, just photos and teases to the inside content.

Let us know if you have a preference or not.

You can scan other national and international tab covers along with daily broadsheets as the Newseum.

Are there new concepts and fonts?

2010-05-17T10:30:00.000-07:00

Jason asked in a comment left on the May 16 entry:

What are some of the new concepts being thrown around?
Does such a switch bring about any particular concerns when choosing a font pallet?

The tabloid shape is probably the biggest new concept to work with.

The new page size (see the purple shaded area in the diagram to the left) is roughly 40% smaller, so art and headlines won’t have to be as large to dominate the page.
The new shape does retain the national standard advertising measures in column width so as to conform to industry standards and keep us from having to morph or adapt ads to odd widths.

We will look at packaging across the gutter.
Ad stacks to the outside of two facing pages make a much more manageable editorial “well” that can be bridged by page toppers and similar content can played as one package.

The true doubletruck in the center of the paper will create a magazine-like display area, a wonderful opportunity for features, photo packages and special reports.
It will also offer a dynamite location for a what was a full-page broadsheet advertisement.

Editors Libby Davis and Kayla Mezzell worked on prototype content with Design Director Julie Susman. Some of the new content ideas include bringing back the Purple Poll (a person-on-the-street commentary package), a student profile and little-known facts and figures about TCU and its community members.
There are also plans to aggressively pursue content generated by TCU students outside of the Skiff and the Schieffer School of Journalism.

Julie and Kayla are working on nameplate options.

They posted several for the redesign team to review during our weekly meeting.
Some are very traditional, others shall we say are quite… different!
We hope to post images of the new front pages for folks to comment on by midweek.

With time restraints and few, if any, complaints about legibility or readability from our readers, we have elected to stay with the fonts used in the broadsheet. We will be looking at adjusting the headline schedule and weights of the fonts used throughout the product.

Selecting new fonts is a huge undertaking and involves hours of reviewing and testing.
We could have easily taken up two weeks on fonts alone!

To look at a nice variety of fonts for newspapers to choose from, check out the folks at the Font Bureau.

Why redesign your newspaper?

2010-05-16T14:47:00.000-07:00

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