Recently in News Design Category

August 19, 2008

Switching Direction

I started this blog for several reasons -- one was to have something professionally related to my portfolio (still under construction), another was to keep track of my own progress as a developer, and another reason I started was to make connection with like-minded people who were in the same or similar profession as me.

I'm falling short on actually getting into it though, because of the first reason, having something related to my portfolio showing that I care enough to do research on what I do for a living.

I do care, but the fact is that there is only so much that can be said about designing for news sites without complaining and being critical. I hate bloggers who write entries like, "the top ten things websites should never do" or "what makes me hate your website." In trying to think of topics related to news design, that's what immediately comes to mind...critical thought on what's wrong with the websites now.

Granted, that's part of the job of making better and more efficient ways to deliver the news online, but since this is my personal blog and I want to not think critically about what news sites are doing wrong in my spare time, I'm going to start posting about stuff that I like and that's probably not even close to being news related.

It will be much happier, much more fun for me, and maybe even informative if only in the most shallow sort of way.

So here goes...no more news design talk unless it's discussing something particularly revolutionary or cool.


By kim | | Comments (0)



June 24, 2008

I like the design of Sydney Morning Herald

Sydney Morning Herald has a great site. It's clean, readable, and it has enough color throughout to draw the eye down and encourage scrolling. I like the use of images even on the typically neglected lower "below the fold" portion of the page, but if there is one complaint I have it's that the images almost overwhelm the extra text links listed below each section lead. On the whole, though, it is a beautiful, well designed, well organized site.

screenshot of the sydney morning herald newspaper site


By kim | | Comments (0)



June 12, 2008

News Blogs

There has been a lot of discussion, over the past few years, about why a lot of people get their news from Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. Of course, we know that people don't get their news there, but they appreciate the delivery of the news much better. In fact, unless you keep up with the "real" news, you won't get the jokes in either Comedy Central show. wxyz dot com, the station you can count on for the most web 2 point oh content, we now have blogs!

That is where a lot of news organizations are running astray. People still get their news from their local newspapers/stations and from the national news outlets, but they laugh about it with Stewart and Colbert. They see it in a different light that way.

I think that a lot of it is the personal tone of each of those shows. They pose as news anchors, but they're really just us -- if we were all witty and smart, that is -- commenting on current events. They aren't the untouchable anchor with the perfect hair and teeth and commanding voice, but that's what makes them more appealing. We like feeling close to and sharing a joke with someone who is intelligently commenting on current events or even on every day life.

How can the conventional news outlet respond? With blogs. It seems simple enough, and these days seems like common sense even. But there are too many news outlets who either don't have blogs, or who don't promote them. It's amazing, really.

When my company updated all of our blogs to the latest version of Movable Type -- a huge effort, for an upgrade -- we took the opportunity to also update the designs. We took them from looking like a hodge-podge of old-fashioned and messy design to something professional that fit in with the main site without looking like just another news story. As a result of that, we have seen more and more people get excited about blogging, and there is a great reader response to that.

I assumed that we would be taking cues from some of the major news outlets, like CNN and MSNBC, but I was surprised at the lack of marketing from the homepage that they had for their blogs.

Although MSNBC was my favorite as far as look and feel go, I had to Google "MSNBC blogs" just to find them. There isn't a link off of the home page to any blog listing page or even to the blogs themselves. I do like their look though...looks like the main MSNBC site but each blog has a personal touch of the blogger, so it isn't just another part of the site. And, their blogs are cross-browser compatible, unlike their main site.

ABC actually has a "Blog Roundup" section of their homepage to link to their individual blogs. But the others, CBS and CNN, only had links from the bottom of the page.

As for local newspapers and stations, I looked in some of the major markets and found a few, but they were mostly wordpress templates squeezed into the main news wrapper...not attractive.

News blogs are important to have, these days. People want to see their favorite reporters doing something different than just reporting the news on camera. Even if it's hearing that the Anchor is moving to a new apartment or that the weather guy buys the same thing from Starbuck's every morning that the reader does, it means something. Think about Oprah's "after the show" program. People want to know more, and in a more personal, "behind the scenes" way.

So where are the blogs? They're out there, and a lot are good. The potential, though, is being ignored by most media sites, and not just the major ones.

It is important to get your reporters blogging about anything. Promote it, because it is increasingly the most comfortable way for people to get their news. Have a more personal tone and give a "behind-the-scenes" look. That doesn't mean that a blogger needs to be as funny or snide as Stewart and Colbert, or even funny at all. In fact, sometimes it's annoying when the one we actually get news from tries to be a comedian. People want to connect though, and blogs are an easy way to achieve that, while adding more updated content to your site.


By kim | | Comments (2)



May 29, 2008

Great News Design

One of the best designed online news sites is The Guardian. The use of white space is perfect, making the site is easy to read and navigate. I love the way their use of color breaks up the blocks of text without being over-bearing or amateurish. I also like the two-level top navigation, which allows for easy access to all sections without using drop-downs.


screenshot of the Guardian site

Another wonderful thing about the Guardian is that they keep their advertising tamed to primarily text ads and small graphic partnership images. They have a couple of spots where they are running flash ads for their own site, but they are fairly simple and don't suck all the bandwidth or compete for attention with the content. And, I didn't come across a single pop-up.


By kim | | Comments (0)



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