10 Things to Do to Make Newspapers Look Great All the Time

[Originally published September 25, 2010]

Everyone wants to have a really, really ridiculously good-looking newspaper every day.

To get there, magazine design guru Robert Newman recommends to throw away the Wired and ESPN magazines on your desks, and replace them with Real Simple, New York magazine and the New York Post and design your paper like a newsmagazine.

Newspapers can start working towards a better, more engaging newspaper by building a style that allows for “moments” in the paper.

A reader should be able to open the paper and have at least one visual treat or moment every day, Newman said.

Newman also stressed that design should be in service to the readers, not the designer’s portfolios. Every page doesn’t need an over the top typographic display to deliver an engaging visual message.

Newman’s 10 steps towards having a great-looking paper every single day:
1)   Create a look and stick to it relentlessly. The sum is greater than the parts.
2)   Create visual brands. Today’s sidebar is tomorrow’s app.
3)   Images must have value and content.
4)   People like pictures.
5)   Surprise!
6)   Reading your newspaper should be an experience
7)   Stop doing “poster” design
8)   Go deep with service
9)   Make visual statements
10) Act like every issue is your last (which it might be).

Bonus thoughts:
1)   Black letter logos have to go. The New York Times got it first.
2)   You’re an art director. Lost the “visual journalist” and “assistant managing editor of design” titles and embrace being an art director.