THE TELEGRAPH, Nashua N.H.

This was a redesign and training program for a 27,000 (d), 33,000 (s) newspaper in Nashua, N.H., owned by Independent Publications Inc., a family-owned company.

Nashua is a growing suburban market north of Boston. Like many small cities, Nashua was becoming less of a focal point and more of a suburb. While it is a fairly diverse market, it is becoming more upscale and housing prices in the area have risen sharply. There is a small but growing tech industry in the area.

The paper had previously gone to a 50-inch web by shrinking and squeezing its typography. This resulted in significant legibility problems and awkward-looking, squeezed headlines. While they were fairly happy with their content, top management wanted to give the paper a more contemporary and upscale look and feel without abandoning its traditions and long history. The staff also wanted to integrate much more internal promotion on page flags and page one directing readers to stories inside or in upcoming issues. Training and better integration of words and visuals were also high priorities. Strengths of the paper included a strong local news report, a strong copydesk and a management team that understood the market and knew what it wanted.

Working with an energetic, talented staff, we developed a design that was as friendly to the readers as it was to the staff. The use of much more legible typography throughout the design – in body copy, stocks and sports agate – was a big benefit for readers. The news desk benefited from a design that streamlined the number of styles and fonts while providing more useful tools for type, color and layout. This allowed them to produce the paper efficiently, give the paper a consistent look and allowed for varied and creative layouts.

This redesign, which was launched in May, 2002, with a four-page informational section we helped produce, was done on an accelerated schedule and premiered to a very positive response from readers.

Kevin Dilley served as lead designer for the project. The design team included Kristen Powell, Carolyn Flynn, Bill Ostendorf and one other designer. Bill served as project manager. Bill and Kevin handled training and feedback.

After the redesign, The Telegraph retained Creative Circle under a two-year contract extension for continuing training and design work, including a classified redesign, Web redesign assistance and new products.

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