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Readers' Reactions to Newspaper Design

Some newspapers don't look so good these days. They have an ashen gray complexion, with pictures that are blotchy or faded. Their type faces seem weary and worn. Many are starting to show signs of circulation decline." Apparently some editors see a connection between the drab look and the decline in readership. They've decided to perk up their products with modem headline faces, more pictures, modular packaging and touches of color. They've called in consultants or formed in-house committees and plunged headlong into completely new designs that have just one objective: attract the reader. Among the newspapers that went the redesign route was the Chicago Daily News, Like lots of other afternoon dailies, the Daily News was losing readers at an alarming rate and chose a complete graphic overhaul as part of its counterattack. The paper wanted to become more flashy, more vital and present a more accurate reflection of the living breathing world around it. And the resulting design was flashy and vital. But the designers made a critical mistake. They ignored the reader. The new Daily News was harder to read than the old one. Too much attention was paid to a fresh form— and too little to its readability. The new design looked as if nobody asked the subscriber what he wanted. That kind of oversight is understandable. Precious little research has been done in newspaper design. Most of what has been done is outdated.^ And because readership research is expensive, the consultants and the in-house designers tend to use the old research and their own judgments to concoct new graphic formats. In light of paucity of current studies, that may be defensible, but it's still a bit like a doit-yourself facelift. The four experiments that follow were devised to test reader reaction