The redesign of the nation’s top business newspaper won’t likely cause any revolutions in journalistic circles. Instead it appears — not surprisingly — that the decision to change The Wall Street Journal was driven by economic concerns.
The Journal launched its new design Tuesday with a narrower, 48-inch web width. With the smaller page size and fewer columns, ads have new prominence,
especially on section fronts. Improved typography, charts/graphics,
refers and Web teases represent a few of the improvements made to the Journal.
The new design, led by Dr. Mario Garcia (a Poynter Affiliate for Visual Journalism and a member of our National Advisory Board), closely resembles the Journal‘s tabloid-size European and Asian editions.
Overall, the Journal does not appear radically different. Missing is the long-familiar sixth column, but otherwise the front page looks fairly similar. The other changes to the front are not particularly noteworthy: The refers above the flag are not new to the Journal, but with increased use of color and some typographical changes they seem to take on increased importance. Likewise, the stock ticker under the flag debuted years ago in USA Today, but is new to the Journal. Most striking of all is the two-column advertisement tucked into the bottom right corner. It feels proportionally larger than before the redesign, due to loss of the sixth column.
The advertising throughout the redesigned Journal is much more sophisticated than the ads in most daily newspapers. Whether that can be sustained will have to be seen, but on the redesign’s launch, the Intel, Computer Associates and Barney Smith advertisements were clean, readable and not intrusive. There are several creative ads that divide the page into quarters; a single ad occupying the top left and bottom right of the page (see the Sprint ad on the back of the Marketplace section) and it seems likely that there will be more unusual shapes and placements in the future. For the Journal, one of the most important things coming out of this redesign will be the adherence to Standard Advertising Units.
The color palette and typography are close to what was already in place, but have been refined. The colors are slightly brighter than the champagne-inspired palette that debuted a few years ago. Column sigs now have a colored background that further separates from the traditional woodcuts, but are still distinct and different from most other newspapers. The typography is clean and easy to read and, for most readers, not different enough to be noticed.
Also introduced are more charts and graphics. These appear on section fronts and inside stories. Charts are most prominently used to replace listings in the Money & Investing section. Overall, these charts and graphics are sophisticated and seem a welcome addition to the newspaper, as they help to show trends rather than just list facts.
Acknowledging the influence of WSJ.com and the breadth of storytelling online that is sometimes limited in print newspapers, the Journal added a slew of Web refers. They bring the look of the site to the printed page, with curved headers and the distinctive blue tints (when in color). The boxes seem a little out of character when compared to the rest of the newspaper. The white title bars — which are a small point size — seem to be a color-registration challenge.
The overall redesign is not groundbreaking, but definitely upholds the Journal‘s heritage. The What’s News columns and the hooded feature story (formerly of the fourth column, now in the third) are Journal staples and don’t seem significantly changed. The redesign seems to respect the loyalty of most Journal readers and makes enough changes to warrant a closer look — but few enough to avoid driving anyone away.
