Newspapers and Technology May 2000
USA Today gets a face-lift
The nation's daily changes its 80s
look for the new century
By Thomas G. Dolan
Staff Writer
Back in the 1980s, it was innovative -- a national daily newspaper.
USA Today took its lumps early on, frequently lampooned and sometimes referred to as McPaper for its nuggets of news.
As the years have passed, though, USA Today has grown into a respectable publication and advanced in ways that others newspapers talk about.
The newspaper finds itself the center of talk again with a redesign.
"The print doesn't shout off of the page as it once did, but rather has a marginally softer look," said Steven Anderson, director of communications at the Arlington, Va.-based USA Today, describing the paper's new graphics format. "The paper had a definite 1980s look. Now it appears much more contemporary."
Anderson explains the paper wasn't particularly looking for a change, but was simply responding to the industry trend toward cutting costs by basically shrinking the width of the page by 1.5 inches while increasing the top to bottom length by one half inch.
But, given that primary motivation, Anderson adds that the format of the paper had not undergone any changes since it was first launched 18 years ago, so this was an opportunity to create a fresh look.
Richard Curtis, managing editor of graphics and photography, who designed the first format back in 1982, was put in charge of the team that would design the new look. One innovation Curtis came up with was the move toward the Gulliver typeface.
USA Today is the only U.S. paper to use this type, and only four European newspapers use it. It's a slightly narrower and also slightly higher type than the newspaper previously used. Curtis chose it primarily because it both saves space and increases readability.
J. Ford Huffman, deputy managing editor of graphics and photography adds, "The Gulliver type face is also unique, which we feel is fitting since USA Today is the nation's only daily newspaper."
One reason the previous print appeared to "shout off the page" is that the headlines, captions, cutlines, and other attention grabbers all used different typefaces. The Gulliver typeface now standardizes the paper's appearance.
"We needed a new design for the new physical dimensions of the paper, but we didn't want to lose anything for the reader," Anderson says. "The intent was to make a more efficient use of a smaller space. In some ways, by changing the font we saved on space, and in some ways gained space, most notably on the weather page."
The transition took about three months, and involved considerable coordination between the various departments and different computer systems. One challenge, explains the director of quality services, John Yates, was to center the new image on the existing 54-inch newsprint, while converting 37 different presses on 33 different print sites.
"Logistically, it would have been extremely difficult to convert every press the same day," Yates says. "What really helped is that it happened that we completed our direct-to-plate system, which allowed us a great flexibility in running some sites in one mode and the rest in the other."
The direct-to-plate process was completed on March 3, and the first runs of the new format took place on April 3.
Anderson reports that since the new design became operative only on April 3, there has not been much time for much response from the industry.
The newspaper has been getting feedback from readers.
"We've had about 3,000 responses, and about three to one are somewhat critical of the design," Anderson said.
Anderson believes, however, that this might just be a normal response to change.
"Three thousand responses might seem like a lot," he says, "but that has to be put in the perspective that we have 5.4 million readers per day. When you pick up the newspaper, you might notice a slightly different look or feel, but as you read it, you see that nothing's been taken out of it, and, in some cases, more has been put into it."
Anderson also believes these initial negative responses may not be indicative of the overall response to the redesign. "These initial responses have pretty much trailed off," Anderson says. "The fact is -- we haven't lost any subscriptions."