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Have You Hugged Your Weather Page Today?

2:28 PM, September 15, 2005

I should not let the day pass without noting that USA Today rolled off the presses for the first time 23 years ago today, Sept. 15, 1982. As SND's Design magazine noted in naming USA Today the No. 1 most influential moment in news design:

"Mark down that date for future reference. It's a big one.

How big? There is newspaper design before USA Today and then there is everything after it.

Why? Because its birth forever altered what the fledging world of visual journalism would become. In fact, it changed the way Americans get their news in printed form. Period."

Comments

Heads up: After you hit "post" things may be slow and you may get an error. Most likely, your comment did post. Apologies. I'm looking for a fix.

I admit it: I am a daily USA Today reader. And I read The New York Times, also. No big deal, but I do feel that USA Today now needs a re-design.

This design is too retro, need something modern -- currently, even N.Y. Times (the gray lady) looks more modern than USA Today.

Please, USA Today, please. Re-design it.

Posted by: Complex3 Designs at September 15, 2005 8:15 PM

I ditto that. After a look at the Sun's redesign, USA Today is looking pretty dated and tired. Certainly was a groundbreaking moment in newspaper history (we actually discussed it today in the university Publication Design class I teach), but it could use a refreshing. It feels heavy and clumsy compared to the Sun.

Posted by: Malcolm at September 16, 2005 10:44 AM

The Sun's new design looks absolutely beautiful. USA Today looked "cool" when it first came out, now ... eh, nothing.

Posted by: Complex3 Designs at September 16, 2005 9:23 PM

The one paper on the planet that MOST needs to be converted to a tabloid! That said: there's lots of good content and packaging in USA Today these days (including, ahem, some pretty long gray stories on occasion). A lot of people don't realize that, and I think some people haven't truly read it in 20 years. Recently I asked the staff of one paper I'm redesigning, what they'd like to accomplish in the process. One said: "please don't turn us into that 'design whore' USA Today." And I thought, what decade is this??? Whore or gray lady in the making, you be the judge, I guess!

Posted by: Ron Reason at September 21, 2005 4:58 PM

Posted by: jyner_jq at April 27, 2009 1:49 PM

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