Newsdesigner.com | A Thumbs Down for The Guardian

A Thumbs Down for The Guardian

3:31 AM, January 26, 2006

Four months after The Guardian's relaunch as a Berliner, Business Week weighs in. They are not fans.

The entire newspaper is set in a new font called "Guardian Egyptian." Not quite modern, not quite traditional, it strikes a middle ground between the quaint "Comic Sans" and the uninspiring "Clarendon." The previous graphic incarnation, developed in 1988, was much preferred, it had a certain cutting-edge look and the use of fonts, dividing lines, and pictures made almost any page in the newspaper a well-considered exercise in composition and typography. For the masthead, the italic Garamond font had a human quality and flair, and the extra bold Helvetica was a solid, modern, significant addition. This combination gave the paper and the brand authority, modernity, and a sense of place in the crowded British market.

The Guardian looked like no other newspaper. The traditional serifs and gothic fonts of papers such as the Times and the Telegraph were all remnants of the era of Victorian London, when they began. The Guardian broke this tradition; it made waves in society and gave us beautiful pages to look at. Now, with the uninspiring layouts and dull fonts, the Guardian seems to be saying "I give up, I can't keep up anymore. I need to sit down for a while."

>The Guardian's Shades of Gray [Business Week]

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 think the new branding looks pretty strong. The masthead took a while to get used to, but it stands out pretty well against the competition. Only The Indy grabs the eye as much. It does rely on colour to get its various messages and sections heard, but that's no bad thing.

Not being an officianado on typefaces, I can only say it is legible, modern and clean with a traditional edge.

Yours, a biased Guardian reader (on and offline)

Posted by: Richard Kendall at January 26, 2006 5:11 AM

I actually couldn't agree more... How can a newspaper without a single sans-serif ever be designed without ANYONE saying stop somewhere along the line?!

I wasn't a fan of the Independent's redesign, ether, but at least that one has managed to keep looking somewhat decent...

Posted by: Jørgen Arnor Gårdsø Lom at January 26, 2006 5:21 AM

I'm still mourning the old header.

Posted by: Ben Eastaugh at January 26, 2006 7:04 AM

Pity it took Business Week four months to come up with their opinions.

Posted by: neuro at January 26, 2006 7:43 AM

I am still thinking The Guardian is the best redesign of 2005.

Posted by: zork at January 26, 2006 9:01 AM

I read the Guardian online and, when in London, in print. I thought the new size and design was excellent. More like a magazine but very clean, easy to navigate and fun to look at.
The most important thing is that readers seem to like it.

Posted by: Prospero at January 26, 2006 10:20 PM

As someone who picks up a few newspapers everyday on my travels to work, the new guardian is easily the best designed of all uk newspapers. Distinctive, easy to read, modern, thoughtful without hectoring and the berliner size really does set it apart. And it is a great size to read on the tube! And while the indie's original move to have dramatic front pages on their new compact sized paper seemed great at the time, it's starting to wear thin. Their front page starts to feel like a university newspaper or worse, an upmarket version of the red-tops.

Posted by: ricardo at January 27, 2006 1:47 AM

Lord, save me from people who talk about newspapers in the way the Business week writer does.

Posted by: David Putney at January 27, 2006 9:35 AM

"... a middle ground between the quaint 'Comic Sans' and the uninspiring 'Clarendon.'"

oh snap!

Posted by: martin gee at January 27, 2006 4:25 PM

What font does Business Week use for it's body text?

Posted by: Jae at September 13, 2006 1:28 PM

What font does Business Week use for its body text?

Posted by: Jae at September 13, 2006 1:29 PM

Business Week (as of April 2007) is using Matthew Carter's 'Fenway' as the body text. This was originally designed for Sports Illustrated and still used there.

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