Le Monde, hoping to regain its title as the most popular newspaper in France, relaunched this week with a new, more modern look (new pages on right, above).

The Guardian writes:

The paper has lost its austere look and unbroken columns of text, which were difficult to read, and adopted an appearance that is airier while still appearing serious.

The most obvious change is the addition of a large colour photograph on the front page. At two columns by six inches, it is still considerably smaller those used by British papers but is a radical step for a paper that did not put pictures on its front page at all until 1972.

The redesign is a Palmer and Watson job. They worked with Matthew Carter to overhaul the typography. He created new versions of his Rocky typeface for headlines. The body copy is Fenway, which Carter created for Sports Illustrated in the late '90s. From the Palmer and Watson press release:

Le Monde's relaunch is intended to widen its appeal among 30 to 40 year olds without undermining its reputation as a deeply serious and authoritative newspaper of record and its unique position within French society. It has long been required reading for French intellectuals and its position of power in French politics is such that ex prime minister Lionel Jospin said: "One cannot govern without Le Monde."

Jean-François Porchez approves, despite the fact they're no longer using the typeface he designed for them in 1994. (Although they did retain the nameplate he drew for them.)

The praise isn't unanimous, however.

Bertrand Pecquerie, director of the World Editors Forum for the World Association of Newspapers in Paris, said he noticed a weakness in the redesign. "Le Monde is totally focused on the print edition and it is not related to the online edition, a divide which is really surprising," he said. The paper had not tried systematically to drive readers from its pages to its Web site, he said.

The redesign comes as the daily attempts to halt a 4-year circulation slide that has seen it lose the top spot in France to rival Le Figaro, which redesigned last month. The Independent reports that sales of Le Figaro rose 4.9 percent between its Oct. 3 relaunch and Oct. 26.

From The Business Online:

In an editorial, Le Monde’s chairman, Jean-Marie Colombani, wrote that the paper’s makeover was a response to a news environment in full revolution, one in which information is fast, free, but confusing. Since its last redesign in 1995, competition had emerged on the net, mobile phones and urban freesheets, forcing Le Monde into transformation and a fresh look, he said.

The paper would have to focus on providing reliable news, Colombani said. It would have to be different, surprising and stimulating. A back-to-basics approach to accurate reporting was needed after the paper’s prestige was damaged a couple of years ago by the highly unflattering book, The Hidden Face of Le Monde. The paper had operating losses of E12m last year and Colombani hopes 2006 will be the recovery year – if it survives that long.

A PDF of the paper's eight-page guide to the new look can be found here. More new pages and the full Palmer and Watson press release after the jump.

UK DESIGN AGENCY GIVES NEW LOOK TO RELAUNCHED, REINVENTED LE MONDE

Le Monde, one of the world's most prestigious newspapers, this week relaunched with a new design and new editorial direction, in an attempt to regain its pre-eminent position in France and across Europe.

In one of the most significant overhauls in its history, the revered French daily emerged on Tuesday, November 8, bearing some radical departures from its austere tradition. The redesign was carried out by the UK media consultancy Palmer Watson, which has been responsible for many award-winning newspaper designs and launches throughout Europe, as well as in Russia, Africa and South America.

Le Monde hopes the relaunch will bring an end to a difficult five years. It has been buffeted by falling circulation (down from more than 400,000 to around 324,000 in France), an acute financial crisis which forced it to recapitalise in a €50 million agreement with Spanish publisher Prisa and French defence and media group Lagardere SA, and the aftershock of a 2003 best-selling book which argued that the paper had betrayed its soul and a history that had earned it a reputation as the world's finest newspaper.

Editor in chief Jean-Marie Colombani is confident the revamped Le Monde will reclaim its position as the best-selling daily in France from Le Figaro, which spent €5 million on a redesign and marketing campaign a month earlier. The right-wing daily cut its page size and modernised its look in an effort to shed its reactionary image, but there is widespread belief that its circulation boost has proved short-lived.

All of France's quality press has been struggling in recent years. Le Monde, Le Figaro and the leftwing Libération, the country's three leading dailes, have all cut jobs as they fought the combined challenge of an advertising downturn, the growth of free newspapers and an increasing reliance among readers on the internet for news.

Le Monde's relaunch is intended to widen its appeal among 30 to 40 year olds without undermining its reputation as a deeply serious and authoritative newspaper of record and its unique position within French society. It has long been required reading for French intellectuals and its position of power in French politics is such that ex prime minister Lionel Jospin said: "One cannot govern without Le Monde."

Eric Fottorino, the editor responsible for leading the year-long relaunch project, said: "The new paper is significantly different - but it is still Le Monde."

The key changes to the Berliner-format paper are a complete typographic overhaul, greater picture impact and a three-section structure of news, news features/analysis/comment and lifestyle. The has been combined with a rethink of the paper's reporting style to give the news pages more focus.

Ally Palmer, of Palmer Watson, said: "Le Monde is an iconic newspaper and it has been a thrilling challenge to help reinvent it."

Fellow director Terry Watson commented: "Le Monde will always be a very serious, content-heavy newspaper but where previously it could look dauntingly grey and impenetrable, we have tried to give the pages a sharp, modern and accessible feel."

Palmer Watson worked with Matthew Carter, one of the world's leading type designers, to create new versions of his Rocky typeface, for headlines. The new text face is Fenway, also by Carter, which was originally created for Sports Illustrated magazine.

In the past five years, Edinburgh-based Palmer Watson has worked on newspaper redesigns and launches in Spain, Switzerland, Holland, Norway, Denmark, Russia, Finland, Kenya, Uganda, Ireland and Brazil as well as the UK.