It's not often that I get around to writing a letter to our readers.
Generally, I like to let The State Press speak for itself. If there's a major reader concern, I usually address it personally.
Today is different.
As my opinion editor rushed to check our morning e-mail, he came across a letter to the editor wondering why the newspaper design changed somewhat dramatically in March.
This reader noted (with dismay) varying fonts and conversational headlines that didn't always inform. You can check out exactly what he had to say in the "Letters to the Editor" section to your right.
What prompted me to address his e-mail in our editorial space is that I'm positive he's not the only one who has noticed our slightly updated look.
For the past five years or so, The State Press has had a very solid but fairly static front-page design. Essentially, I felt it was missing a tangible personality of its own. Being a college newspaper, I thought we ought to experiment in trying new designs in the hopes of making the paper more accessible, readable and identifiable.
The changes actually began with this semester. We added labels to various stories to pull you in as quickly as possible. We also added key words to our captions to draw your eyes toward our photo staff's work. More recently, we've begun to add descriptors to particularly involved stories so that readers can get the essential facts quickly.
As for the new typeface, though it may look like we've added several fonts, we've only added one. For those who are interested in this sort of thing, it's called Futura. It's a particularly flexible font family, which is why you may be noticing some variation. It's all designed to give The State Press a younger, more personable look. Hopefully it reflects our student body to an extent: serious but not afraid to take risks.
Why the conversational headlines? Well, I think they bring a reader in and contribute to the general tone we're trying to build. I think our letter writer was right, however, in noting that we may be using them too often.
In the coming week we will be rolling out a more extensive redesign that will incorporate our new font throughout the paper.
I hope that the letters regarding our little experiments don't end here. I encourage you to write in over the next few weeks to tell us what you like and what you don't so that we'll be able to fine-tune it all for next semester.
Best,
Ryan Kost
Editor in Chief
