The South Florida Sun-Sentinel launched its redesign today. Charles Apple’s got every detail you’ll ever want to know.

And over at SportsJournalists.com, everyone’s got an opinion.

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The Orlando Sentinel debuted its redesign this morning. Charles Apple’s got images and thoughts.

The Wall Street Journal weighs in with a piece in Monday’s edition. (Tip: if you’re not a WSJ subscriber, go through Digg).

Past experience shows newspaper makeovers don’t necessarily translate into financial success. After the Bakersfield Californian underwent a drastic redesign two years ago, the 60,000-circulation paper in California’s Central Valley saw a small initial jolt to circulation and revenue, sparked by the brighter look and expanded coverage of hot topics like immigration. But the gains have been erased as the area economy struggles. Bakersfield Californian Chief Executive Richard Beene says the steps were necessary to keep the paper relevant, but he has advice for others considering a similar redesign: “Don’t expect it to turn around circulation or revenue overnight. It’s not a magic bullet.”

Consultant Alan Jacobson launched a broadside against the redesign Friday, saying it needed to “concentrate on content rather than cosmetics.”

In these troubled times for newspapers, it’s important to note that “readership” and “revenue” are conspicuous by their absence from virtually all the words that have been published about Orlando’s redesign. Instead, much has been made of the cosmetic changes to come.

And, of course, it wouldn’t be a redesign if somebody didn’t compare it to USA Today.

Update: And Mario Garcia writes about the black reverse nameplate.

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The Chicago Tribune will launch a redesign in mid-September, Editor Ann Marie Lipinski told the staff today.

"We are committed to determining the basic architecture and sectioning of the paper within 30 days; deciding on paging (how many and where) within 45 days; understanding our staffing levels throughout the paper in 60 days; and being ready to launch a rethought and redesigned Tribune within 90 days in mid-September."

Romenesko’s got the full memo.

Charles Apple has the definitive post on the upcoming Orlando redesign, including a Q&A with Bo Burton, images, the works. So go there.

The schedule for SND Vegas has been posted. Check it out.

Newspaper design legend Mario Garcia has entered the world of blog. It’s “about storytelling, design, the projects we work on, the things we learn along the way.”

OK, here’s a passel of additional before-and-after Orlando prototype pages for the upcoming redesign, again thanks to Bo Burton. More pages after the jump.

There’s suddenly a lot of talk on the interwebs today about the June 22 Orlando Sentinel redesign. Seems an anonymous blogger (purportedly an LA Times employee) posted an image of a prototype Page One on Sunday. Newsosaur Allan Mutter wrote a post, and then both were linked on Romenesko this morning. So, of course, since a poor-resolution GIF is all you need to make sweeping generalizations, the commenters were off.

That’s not to say there aren’t not good comments happening (Steve Yelvington’s, for example), but in fine internet tradition, a lot of conclusions are being leapt to without benefit of actual information beyond an unreadable image.

By the way, contrary to what E&P says, this isn’t so much of a “leak”. The inimitable Charles Apple posted the above image from Sentinel about 10 days ago, after a post on the impending Tribune Co. redesigns, of which the Sentinel is the first.

And to those gasping about the front-page ad on the prototype, those have been around awhile.

Update: Courtesy of Sentinel AME/Visuals Bonita Burton, here’s a look at the Sunday A1 prototype:

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Kevin Wendt, assistant managing editor for Sports, the Copy and Design desks at the San Jose Mercury News, is leaving the paper to become the editor of The Huntsville Times in Huntsville, Ala.

Wendt, 30, has filled numerous roles at the Merc, from Page One designer to assistant business editor, and spent two weeks helping the Sun Herald, a Knight-Ridder sister paper in Biloxi, Miss., with its Hurricane Katrina coverage, which won a Public Service Pulitzer. (Wendt was kind enough to share his Sun Herald experiences with this blog back in 2005.)

Good news for Kevin, but it’s another big loss for the Merc, which has seen a steady stream of talented folks leave in the past few years.

» Merc memo

» Huntsville Times memo