Goodbye, Rocky Mountain News

Damn.

Newspagedesigner is back

And it's now part of the SND site.
Find it here.

A new fisherman

Here's more New England news that I got from a guy in Virginia. There's a new fisherman topping the paper in Gloucester, Mass.
Read more here ...

Portfolio wanted

Anyone want to be this week's featured designer? I've e-mailed several people in the last few days and gotten no response. I'm either being ignored or, worse, they've been let go.
E-mail me at sgriffin@rep-am.com if you're interested.

Some live looks

Here are three New England front pages from today that I thought were interesting.
>> One of the newly redesigned from Worcester, Mass. Maybe it's just a jpg/pdf problem causing rules to vanish, especially between the top two stories. What do you think about the size of the coins?


>> And from Portsmouth, N.H. A nice package sure to startle the old timers. An interesting ad at the bottom of the digest (?) box.


>> And, finally, this from Quincy, Mass. I'd like to see more of the lead story on the page. Any thoughts on the astronaut package?

The world's best

Here are SND's World's Best-Designed Newspapers:
Akzia, Moscow, Russia, biweekly, circulation 200,000
Eleftheros Tipos, Athens, Greece, daily, circulation, 86,000
Expresso, Paço de Arcos, Portugal, weekly, circulation 120,000
The News, Mexico City, daily, circulation 10,000
Welt am Sonntag, Berlin, weekly, 400,000

Here's New England's scorecard:
Boston Globe: 24 awards
Hartford Courant: 10
Cape Cod Times: 5
Check here to read more.
Got an opinion?


>> Newspagedesigner.com is down. Hope you backed up your portfolios. More news on the replacement as it happens.
>> We've got a request for live pages to post here. If anyone wants some feedback on a page not found on the Newseum site, send a jpg to sgriffin@rep-am.com.

Designer of the week

I'm going to try something new, and, hopefully, make it a weekly thing. It's a pages profile of one New England's SND members.
I sort of drew a name out of a hat based on the e-mail list I received from the folks at SND and the debut designer is Jill Blanchette of The Day in New London, Conn.
She's got a really nice sense of space and clarity. Good stuff. She also tells me these are before the redesign about a year ago.
** Bio update: Jill's been in the biz about 20 years, starting as an obit clerk, then beat reporter, entertainment section editor, copy desk chief and features designer. She's worked in Westerly, R.I.; Norwich, Conn.; and New London.**





What do you think? How about some critiques.

This is also a good way to remind everyone that newspagedesigner.com, which is where Jill's pages were found, will be shutting down at some point and moved over to SND. So back up your portfolios!

Redesign news

Dohhh!!! A newspaper redesign debuts here in New England and I have to learn about it from a guy in Virginia.
Read about the new look for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette here.
If anyone's out there reading, let me know, especially if you have some news like this.

World's best judges arrive

The 5 people judging the SND's World's Best-Designed Newspaper competition arrived in Syracuse today. One of the judges is a New Englander: Bobbie Roessner, managing editor at the Hartford Courant.
Read more here.

Let's hope she keeps the newspapers ...

Our governor here in Connecticut has apparently come up with a way to save $40K: No more magazine subscriptions.
Read more here.

SND in NYC

The folks next door in Region 2 have an interesting event set up ... and it's free! They've planned a gathering at the NY Times on Saturday, March 7, from 1-5 p.m.
Speakers will be Joe Hutchinson, Nigel Holmes, Sarah Slobin and a member of the NY Times visual staff. Each speaker will go about 45 minutes, then answer questions. Some cocktails provided afterward. More details to come but click here for more info.
Sounds like a great event.

Your turn

Anyone want to send a jpg that will be posted for group critique? Send it ASAP to sgriffin@rep-am.com.

SND judging

The final day of the SND judging has wrapped up in Syracuse. The top 10 winners by number of awards are the Los Angeles Times, the National Post (Toronto), The New York Times and its magazines, The St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times, La Presse (Montreal), The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer, the Boston Globe, Zaman (Istanbul), The National (Abu Dhabi), and three newspapers tied for No. 10: The Buffalo (N.Y.) News, the Chicago Tribune, and Clarin (Buenos Aires).
Read more here.

Bronx cheer!

Not much else I can write about this little gem.

Jet for sale

It appears Copley Press, owner of the San Diego Union-Tribune, is trying to dump its corporate jet. This story reports the plane has only been used in the past few months for trips from San Diego to the French Riviera, St. Maarten in the Caribbean, Palm Beach, Fla., and the Virgin Islands. Times are tough. A similar plane is on the block for $17 million. Anyone?

Sunday morning coming down

A quick glance at New England's front pages this morning on the Newseum showed nothing special. Anyone have an inside page you'd like me to post? Sports? Features? Commentary? ... Send a jpg to sgriffin@rep-am.com.

Are we essential?

CNN's Jack Cafferty asks the questions today, are newspapers worth saving? Are newspapers essential?
One commenter hit the nail on the head in my opinion: Yes, they're essential because there's a huge difference between an informed opinion and forming an opinion.
Read more here ...
What do you think?
Thanks for the tip, Katrina.

What's a designer to do?

Wednesday was a big state budget day here in Connecticut (and Rhode Island). Not an easy, inspiring day for designers, at least in my case. Even with the sky-is-falling message from our governor, it's tough trying to pull something out of these stories that will grab people around the throat and scream, "READ ME!!!!"
So here's a look at what the Nutmeg newspapers (and Providence) offered up today. You think any scored with non-budget fans?



What's your opinion?

Nudity and ice

>> Got lots of technical skills and don't get enough chill from New England's winters? Check out this job posting.
>> Sam Zell spreads good cheer through male nudity and self-destructive prophesies.

Random picks

Here are a couple of pages that caught my eye this morning.
Hard not to look at this eagle photo. Sharp.

Is this a message to my buddy Alan Jacobson?

Monday's sports cover from the Record-Journal in Meriden, Conn.

Any thoughts? I miss any standouts?

Super Tuesday

Here's another Super Bowl sports cover. This is from the News-Times in Danbury, Conn. Send 'em to sgriffin@rep-am.com if you want 'em posted.

Super Monday

Here's just a quick glance at how New England papers handled the Super Bowl on 1A. Without the Patriots involved, things were obviously toned down.
** I've added the Boston Globe's 1A and Sports covers (thanks, Dan).
*** If you've got a sports cover I can include, send a jpg to sgriffin@rep-am.com.








And then there's this genuine New England sport: Polar Bear Plunges!