Virginian-Pilot redesign

This is my first look at the new design, so I'll reserve comment until then:

Front page:


Local front:


Entertainment front:

 

Sports front:


Sports page 3:


Sports page 7:


Thoughts?

 

Hmmmm.

They really fucked this up. Really. Fucked. Up.

The metro front looks like fucking Glamour. So does the teaser on top of 1A. I thought the things at top were dresses, teasing fashion, when I realized they were talking about nuclear bombs. Wow. What a huge fuck up. Have I said that already?

I wish I could see the rest closer. Is that a one-grid column on the left of 1A? And is that like a 28-deck subhead on the Portsmouth story?

Again I hate the Hampton Roads font for the news section. Is that a story or a lister box at the top of that page? And why is the photo running BELOW the listerbox/story and which story goes with the "Va. urged to manage coast" headline?

The Vick package is horrible. Nothing compelling me to read it.

There might be some good things here, for instance the feature section is fine, but it is so very overshadowed by some really bad judgment. I can understand trying to do things differently but this is so out of whack it's dysfunctional.

Any of the nice people from Virginia reading this: This is fucked.

Thanks for posting this, Meat.

 

I tried to get them bigger, but without Photoshop on my personal computer, this was the best I could do.

I don't like the throwback1, for lack of a better word, section flags. Too art deco for my tastes. Is there some sort of national competition to create the smallest rail? The Pilot's right-side rail on the sports front, assuming that's a regular feature and not a one-shot deal, makes the Baltimore Sun's look fat and cumbersome by comparison. And most of the design philosophies are intact from earlier designs -- they would have done the Vick package in the same way 10 years ago.

And I don't know why, but the script they use in spots is reminiscient of the one they use on cans of Budweiser.

1 -- the A1 masthead, apparently, literally IS a throwback. This was the one they used in the 30's.

 

The 1A flag is fine, unless you're talking about the teasers on top as well - which would be fine if it were teasing features (I've forgotten a lot of the jargon over time so). But that treatment for a nuclear bomb story is absurd. The metro front flag is horrid. Just horrid.

 

There is nothing about that sports front that says "Sports." It's awful, awful, awful.

 

It's right there in art deco, Doc, what are you complaining about?

 

The font used on the day of the week looks like it came from a wedding invitation. Also, they use reverse headers (white type in a black box) for scoreboard headers, which I hadn't seen (and hadn't missed) in years.

And, as you can see on the Hampton Roads front, they continue the curious practice of putting a 5- or 6-column headline over a story that only runs down the far right column, with a completely different story under the other columns. Ugh. Who thinks that looks good or logical. They do something similar on A1.

I also hate the all caps headlines.

 

A few thoughts....

1. I know the Pilot is big on white space, and usually they pull it off, but there's a difference between white space and a waste of space.
2. The font for the day of the week is simply awful.
3. The right-side rail on the sports cover is worthless and unreadable.
4. I like the Washington Post-style masthead. Hampton Roads flag is awful.
5. Not sure what to think about the all caps headers. Don't hate 'em, don't love 'em.

Overall, a pretty weak effort for the Pilot. This was purely an ego redesign. Nothing more.

 

"The sports-front design has a very powerful message," the designer would tell us.

Yes: Nothing to read here. Please move along.

The design guru for the paper is an alleged hot-shot in the industry.
(See info below.)

Knight Ridder, I believe, used to pay her big bucks as a consultant.

What a joke.


The Virginian-Pilot Newsroom Staff Directory

Department: News Administration

Deborah Withey
Deputy Managing Editor for Presentation

Withey oversees the following teams: News Graphics, Design, Copy Desk, Day Desk and Photo. She also is charged with redesigning the newspaper.

 

Holy fuck. That is absolutely the most horrible piece of shit I have ever seen. My only comment at the moment: the right-hand rail on the sports page must be the most worthless use of space ever. What is that, a pica wide?

 

That rail wasn't there the first day I saw, I think that might just be an NBA finals thing so they don't have to CP it for some reason.