Shaken… not stirred: The Washington Post's Redesigned Print Edition

So it’s been a little while since The Washington Post rolled out it’s redesigned print edition, shaking things up a bit. From the big to the small these tweaks in format and staffing seem like an attempt to retool and adjust to the new ways most people are getting their news. Even though they did a good job of keep readers aware of changes, even providing a "Redesign Owner's Manual," many aren’t happy.

From typeface to weather maps the complaints are endless. Some will be addressed and changed (ie: the weather maps should be back to their old selves next week). And others will eventually become what we are used to and happy with.

The three changes drawing the most attention are:

1.     The new WP Magazine  – The magazine got a makeover and some new columns including: Unspun (a short interview with a politician), Trend Report (a weekly fashion update that used to be in the Sunday Source), and picks from the Going Out Guide. Complaints here are that it’s gotten too complicated and has too many ads, but attracting more ads was a goal of the redesign for the paper.

2.     The redesign of the print edition – Not much design work was needed here as The Post already boasts an extremely clean layout. However, The Post’s in house design team made the font lager and clearer and introduced stacked headlines. Even though the font is actually larger the most complaints coming in are about the typeface being hard to read.

The big news here is that not only has the look of the paper changed, behind the redesign was a reorganization effort (announced in a memo  back in March) to streamline editing desks in anticipation of an impending integration of print and digital formats. This reorg changed up the usual sections, moving some familiar columns around and created some new daily feature sections (Tuesday= Health&Science and Thursday= Local Living).

3.     The addition of local sections online – This new area excludes national and international news to give locals a look at what’s going on here. Sports, weather, breaking news, restaurant guides and maps to dog parks – it can all be on your homepage.

It seems this is a perfect place for one of Elizabeth’s favorite quotes: “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.”– Charles Darwin

Personally, I like the changes. The print version more closely resembles the online edition which I read more often and I like the idea of the new local pages online – including snippets of info from around the paper – but it could be a bit more “hyper-local.” If I have to sign in to The Post it could at least give me news that pertains more to VA rather than DC as a whole.

What are your thoughts? Tell us here in the comments or let them know directly at ideas@washpost.com.

-Ali Smith