Rupert Murdoch’s News International on Monday launched The London Paper, a free afternoon tab, joining Associated Newspapers’ London Lite, which debuted Aug. 25. Both have press runs of 400,000.

Kerry Capell writes in Business Week:

In addition to 11 daily British paid newspapers, there are now four free titles. Observers are already predicting a shakeout. “There are too many papers around for anyone to make a decent amount of money,” says Jim Wessenden, managing director of Wessenden Marketing, an independent media consultancy in London. “This will be a bloodbath.”

The Guardian’s Steven Brooks says of The London Paper:

London’s newest paper is an easy on the eye, judiciously compiled package of news, views and data giftwrapped in a well-designed, modernist package that is admirable in its restraint.

And Editor’s Weblog reports:

Media buyers were happier with the color-coded Murdoch publication, one saying “thelondonpaper looks cleaner and somehow more modern than Lite.”

Al Trivino, News International’s art director for new projects, said in an e-mail to NewsDesigner.com:

The challenge was to do something very British, very into the London culture but more European at the same time. Fresher. Bearing in mind the red-top tabloid culture it had to be younger, cleaner, more modern. I am very happy to see how the market is answering to that. ...

With regards of the fonts families used for this project, I tried to combine the look and feel of the classic and modern London with its multicultural tone. That’s why the combination of the sans serif Monitor with the zine slab and the Capitolium’s serif.

We are using Fred Smeijers’ Monitor and Monitor Condensed family (2002) for the masthead, headlines, and an alternative body copy font for facts, figures. For text, we are using a customised version of Capitolium (2006), from Gerard Unger. For headers, flashes and numbers we are using FF Zine Slab Display, from Ole Schäfer (2001)

More London Paper images, thanks to Al, after the jump.

>It’s war: thelondonpaper launches [Press Gazette]
>User-generated content in new London Lite [Fleet Street 2.0]
>London Paper hits the streets [The Guardian]
>A Newspaper Free-for-all Looms in London [Business Week]

(Thanks to Al, tball and Martin!)