The Society for News Design has got themselves one of them interweb-log deals. Many updates about society doings and other things of interest. So hop into one of those internet tubes and head over there.

>SND Update: The Blog [SND.org]

The San Antonio Express-News has changed up its front page, saying it needs to reflect the reality of readers being "more informed, more wired &emdash; and yes, much more busy taking it all in."

There's an "interactive" graphic online that briefly explains the changes.

"Change comes today with a new format designed around two key goals. First, we are providing readers with a larger menu of items, allowing the front page to be a better window into the rest of the paper. Second, we're doing more to emphasize and develop our best story of the day, focusing as much as possible on local news you won't find anywhere else."

And here, from Paul Wallen of the San Diego Union-Tribune, is a Q&A with Dean Lockwood, design director at the Express-News:

From the home office in San Diego, the Top 5 questions about the new San Antonio Express-News front page:

5.) There seem to be three central ideas in the new Express-News front page format: A pair of rails that you're calling "zippers," a "tab on broadsheet" emphasis above the fold and a promo at the top that focuses on selling one inside story in a big way, rather than a variety of inside content. Can you provide some background on each of these changes and the goals behind them?

Those are the key themes. The promos were an easy call -- our promos the last few years have been weak mainly because too much junk was being shoved into them -- too many topics and too many words. The more stuff in there, the busier they got and they less effective they were. Really, the promo should be viewed as a kind of advertisement. So our new promos will feature a single item, strong. They also won't follow any kind of template. Other than general font choices, it will be a different approach every day. Adrian Alvarez, who joined the paper midway into the front-page development process, took the lead on the new promo looks. He's really brought a fresh energy to them.

The zippers (these things just gotta have goofy catch names, I think) were a challenge. We've never been a "rail paper" but with the new emphasis on the web and multiple "hits," we knew we'd have to get on board with this in some form. Honestly, I started playing with two narrow rails just for the novelty -- I don't think anyone else is doing it. (Hmm … perhaps there's a reason for that?) At first it was just to see if I could make it work visually. But as I played with it, it started making more sense. We gave each zipper it's own mission. The left one is basically our hard news briefing while the right one is a bit of a catch-all. A home for the "fun" news stuff, utility info like sports scores and, of course, online promotion. That all worked itself out pretty easily. Designing the news between the zippers was a bit more of an adventure, and it produced an unexpected benefit.

The whole "tab on broadsheet" thing was an unexpected result of flanking both sides of the page with the zippers. I found I couldn't design the 1A lineup the same way -- with semi-strips, "muted" lead stories and all those other compromise things we do to parse the play of the news each day. The zipper format started forcing me into making a commitment to one or maybe two items up top. A bit like a tabloid makes a choice on its story of the day. The more I thought about that, the more I thought that was a good thing. We're a broadsheet, of course, so we have room for a few more stories. But in general, we're going to try to emphasize our best local story strong up top each day. Adrian Alvarez really gave me the confidence to really push this.

4.) You have been prototyping published lineups in preparation for launching the new format. What kind of challenges did you face as you went through that process?

Between myself and Adrian, there was a good bit of prototyping. And you know what? It was HARD. Much harder than I thought it would be. All the "rules" for designing a broadsheet front just didn't seem to work. It really is like desiging in a different page format. The biggest thing we noted was the need to go relatively simple and clean on the down-page stories. There's just so much "stuff" on this page that we're really cognizant of the junk factor. We'll have to watch that a lot.

3.) What kind of flexibility has been built into the new format to handle different types of news days or breaking news?

Well, our flexibilty was tested on the very first night -- got live, very vertical art -- naturally, something we hadn't prototyped! Maybe not quite the package I would have liked to have wrestled with on the first night, but I think we pulled it off. Beyond that, the whole idea of "zippers" was for flexibility. One or both can zip down to accommodate big news play. Other papers have similar policies for their rails. My best, unintentionally funny quote came while trying to explain what sorts of news would warrant lowering the zippers: "Castro dies -- zippers go down." Yes, I said it. In a room full of editors. Took me a good 10 seconds to figure out what all the smirking and snickering was about.

2.) Does the new format represent any changes in content and editing, or is it strictly a change in how the front page is being packaged for readers?

It calls for a lot of changes in thinking, mostly. Especially about our 1A lineup -- and about what constitutes a "lead story." A traditional broadsheet format provides lots of compromise possibilities for editors. This format (as with a tabloid) forces us to make a commitment. That's very different thinking. The zippers provide a logistical challenge for our copy desk. They've reorganized to have a page one editor dedicated each night to focus on the lead package and the zippers info.

1.) And the number one question is … The opening statement in your users guide describes this as "the most fundamental format change in modern Express-News history – way bigger than Wingo." What is Wingo, and what kind of impact has it made on the Express-News?

Hah! That's an inside joke. In fact, I'm not sure if some of our younger designers will even have a clue about that. Years back, when this was a two-paper town, the Express-News was locked in a death match with the San Antonio Light. Wingo was a bingo-like game that was promoted brazenly on the front page. Tacky as all get-out -- but apparently it worked, as the Light eventually went down for the count.

LA Observed notes today that over the weekend the LA Times has scaled back some of the front-page typography that was changed last fall, apparently eliminating the Titling Gothic Compressed and some of the stacked decks. He also says Times editor Jim O'Shea was seen escorting around Tony Majeri, design legend and former Chicago Tribune senior editor for innovation a couple weeks back.

So everybody’s linking to this cartoonist guy who’s harshing on the LA Times’ typography (scroll down).

Beginners who get their hands on a computer for the first time are usually fascinated by fonts, and produce documents that look like ransom notes. If your church newsletter looks like a ransom note, you can be sure that it was designed by the pastor's sister-in-law on her new Macintosh. So it is with the Times' front page.

Update: Robert Landry, design director of the Los Angeles Business Journal, steps to the defense of the Times at LA Observed, and you can read many opinions about the redesign in the comments of the posts I made after the new design launched last October here and here.

I’m still recovering from a tragic accident involving an exploding e-mail inbox. Doctors are confident I'll regain use of the toe. Meantime, here are various links to things you probably already know about. Actual blog “content” will be coming tomorrow.

• Jeff Schnick and Jenna Busey of the Abilene Reporter News leave to be, respectively, assistant news editor at the Dallas Morning News and sports designer at the Salt Lake Tribune, opening up assistant managing editor and A1 designer positions.
• Derek Simmons, design director for sports and features at the Minneapolis Star Tribune, joins the L.A. Times as a deputy design director for news (memo after the jump).
• “Most people believe online is the future of publishing. These same people see the newspaper (the core product) as the lifeboat to that future. Our lifeboat is a leaky one: as print circulation drops it approaches a tipping point where advertisers lose confidence in our ability to reach their customers. If newspaper companies want to remain as profitable as they have been historically, they must find a way to make much more money with their online products.” Alan Jacobson’s got some suggestions.
• SND prez Scott Goldman talks to CJR about “what the hell is wrong with American newspapers.” Scott sez: “There's no doubt though that in these economic times, it takes guts and it takes someone really stepping forward to be a leader. Unfortunately, that's not happening in this country right now.” Interesting stuff. But seriously, “SDN”? Dart to CJR.
• Time to get crackalackin, students, if you want a shot at The Intern at SND Boston this fall. Internships at the Boston Globe, Hartford Courant and New York Times (among others) are up for grabs. Deadline’s May 25. The Orlando edition was a hit.

We are pleased to announce that Derek Simmons, currently the design director for sports and features at the Minneapolis Star Tribune, will join the design staff as a deputy design director for news. Derek’s primary responsibilities will be Business and Sports, but he will help edit in all news departments.

Derek was at the Star Tribune for nine years, where he was a cornerstone of the design department. During his tenure he served as a sports designer, sports design director and business design director in addition to features design director. He led the prototyping effort on the Star Tribune's 2005 redesign and has worked with editors and reporters in every corner of the newsroom. He was previously a designer at the Wichita Eagle.

Derek is a native of Kansas and a graduate of Kansas State University. He is passionate about (and sometimes frustrated by) playing golf. Derek, his wife Sheri, and their two-year-old son Jackson are relocating to Los Angeles in April. His start date is still being worked out.

Please make him feel welcome when he arrives.

Michael Whitley
News Design Director

The Arizona Republic has retooled its Monday newspaper "for busy people," editor Ward Bushee says.

Luke Knox of the Republic says the new Monday edition features

... shorter stories, more short-form information and content to help readers kick-start their week. It's basically the antithesis of the usual Monday product you may find from a number of papers, filled with retread stories and no real news to sink your teeth into.

The new Monday Republic is compressed into three sections: an expanded A section that includes the Valley & State and Biz sections folded inside, an expanded Sports section, and an expanded Features section. Section fronts have one, (mostly) non-jumping story and a series of lists, refers and other devices to get the reader into the section.

Redesign work was done primarily by Tracy Collins and Bill Pliske, and executed by the design staff.

>Today's edition designed for busy people [Arizona Republic]

The SND competition’s winners database is up and running. And the annual post-contest what’s-the-point-of-the-whole-thing-anyway thread is raging on at Visual Editors.

Update: They’ve also updated the awards totals for the top winners:

• Los Angeles Times and its magazine, 107


• The New York Times and its magazine, 99


• Excelsior of Mexico City, 72


• Hartford Courant, 57


• San Jose Mercury News, 55


• The Boston Globe and its magazine, 52


• South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 47


• La Presse in Quebec, Canada, 43


• The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, 40


• El Mundo of Madrid, Spain, and its magazines, 40


• National Post in Toronto, 38


• The Guardian in London, 35


• The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, 35


• San Francisco Chronicle, 28


• Gazette in Montreal, 23


• Clarin in Buenos Aires, 22


• The Dallas Morning News, 22


• Politiken in Copenhagen, 22