Blamblog - Brett Lamb's Blog

Monday, January 19, 2009

A Dose of Redesign

EYE WEEKLY used to be a bit of a dumpy runt, but back in 2005 they had a huge win with a major redesign. Over the years, they gradually abandoned that rule book and the paper became sloppier and sloppier and, with last week's redesign, the transition is complete and they're back to ugly.

The new design might make you think DOSE is back from the dead. EYE's content and layout changes have transformed it into a zombie clone of the discontinued print version of the old transit daily. DOSE's design was a little cold, but it was crisp and fresh. EYE's reinterpretation looks like the victim of some mad slasher. The 2005 redesign had a very clear purpose and style; this year's staggers around aimlessly.

Ok, here are a few thoughts about what doesn't work and what really doesn't work:

HEADLINE FONTS - they're horrifying; what were they thinking? The font combinations on the MacLean's redesign -- which was done by a fifth grade student using MS Works -- is easier on the brain. There are two major problems, 1) the rounded font they borrowed from DOSE clashes badly with the other fonts they're using, and 2) Gotham is really overused at the moment, suggesting that it's about to fall out of style. The rounded font is also too mainstream ... go to a Tim Horton's today and you'll see it in use on their video displays.

LINES & DOTS & LINES - There's a mad mix of line styles that, combined with the font disaster, makes the pages look even more like Herb Tarlek's jacket. I thought we were past that mid-decade trend of intentional ugliness.

SUDDENLY FORMAL - So, once you've created a layout that's a wild and crazy mess, what's the next step? Throw in a traditional, formal element! Bylines now appear with a photo of the columnist in a neat, little box. It's a good idea and they're neat and nice but completely at odds with the tone of the pages.

DEATH TO COMIX - Once the cartoonist's friend, EYE's new issue doesn't have a single illustration except for o-che's zodiac characters from istock. NOW has has always been hostile to cartoons and EYE appears to be joining them, leaving Toronto as a city where only the mainstream dailies run cartoons ... how bizarre is that? When you consider the amazing range of comix (Tom the Dancing Bug, Maakies, This Modern World and twenty gazillion more ...) that the US "alt" weeklies nurture, it's ridiculous that neither EYE nor NOW are printing great local work like Dinosaur Comics.

CONTENT CRAP - Instead of some decent comics, we get the "Eyedentical Twins" on the letters page. It's a weak bit from Spy magazine they should have dropped in 1996. From DOSE, they're now giving us graphs and flowcharts which were fresh and funny when DOSE and the internet did them, but it's been done. The circle graph on page 6 doesn't even make sense as a graph. There's no big feature article. There doesn't appear to be a city column ... in fact, any weighty content appears to have been replaced with a navel-gazing column by Kate Carraway. Come on, even Leah MacLaren is tired of Leah MacLaren.

****

We've already been through this. Print suffered a crisis of purpose a couple of decades ago in response to the perceived threat of television. The result was the "USA Today" style of newspaper: more colour, more graphics and shorter, lighter articles. Newspapers are going through another crisis because of the internet and EYE's redesign is looks like contemporary "USA Today" syndrome.

But remember what happened last time ... newspapers didn't die and the USA Today approach turned out to be the wrong direction because people turned to tv for fluff but still turned to print for substance. You might argue that this time, with the internet, it's different. But look around and you'll see signs that it isn't. Over Xmas, my sister showed me a bound, printed version of her house renovation blog. Reading the blog on the computer is a fun way to keep up-to-date, but reading it in physical book form provided a completely different experience ... you can sit, spend time with it and go back to it. Newspapers need to change with the times, but shorter, shallower articles and silly graphics are repeating the mistakes of the past. People are going to still turn to print not just for substance and a more comfortable experience, but to distinguish themselves as people who prefer substance and comfort.

In his note on the redesign (which faces a page and a half of pointless junk that should be the most weighty bits), the editor mentions that "alt" weeklies need to find a new role. "Alt" weeklies are now better described as "culture" weeklies. When you think about it like that, a better recipe for the paper would be a combination of the best of Spacing (strong community connections & smart) and Sally MacKay's old Lola art mag (strong community connections, smart & fun). Lola was especially good at showing that fun and depth are not mutually exclusive. If EYE can crack that, they'll be on to something ... because NOW has never been able to do fun and with Josh Errett as their new "young person" ... they never will.

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