THE STANDARD-TIMES,
New Bedford, Mass.

Owned by the Ottaway Newspaper group, The Standard-Times in New Bedford, Mass., has a long, rich history. So we spent a lot of time researching its past. The town was once the whaling capital of the world and one of the wealthiest communities in the country. New Bedford is also the site of the opening scene in Melville’s Moby Dick. We discovered that the predecessors to The Standard-Times ran some of the first coupons, which explained in detail how to cut them out and use them! And in the early 1800s they ran great page one headlines such as “Cat saves family from fire.” We found a newspaper with an amazing history, and this later became a cornerstone of our redesign.

The impetus for the redesign project in New Bedford was a 50-inch web conversion. The need to save space and reorganize content more efficiently were top priorities. In addition, we identified three key areas as critical changes for the paper.

THE NAMEPLATE, to top management, represented tradition and continuity (and it was on the company’s new building and trucks and was even sewn into the carpeting in the lobby). Initially we were told it couldn’t be changed. However, it lacked the weight and authority we thought the nameplate should have. The original had been drawn by a former advertising staff artist many years ago and featured an odd mix of three styles of typography. The whale icon was an important part of the nameplate and newspaper. Their old icon was flat and lacked impact.

Solution: Despite company-wide apprehension, we pushed pretty hard on the nameplate. We commissioned a redrawing of the logo that was subtle but effective. The redrawn version thickened and strengthened the letters and featured a darker color to add impact and strength. But it was close enough to the original that the sign on the building and the version sewn into the carpet in the front entry wouldn’t look out of place. After some research at the local whaling museum, we discovered a whale stamp icon in a late 19th century whaling log. This more animated and historic icon became the centerpiece of the new nameplate.

THE PAGE ONE RAIL, anchored on the left-hand side, helped achieve a higher and more diverse range of topics on page one. But the newsroom staff disliked the rigidity of the format, limiting A1 layout and photo play, especially with a narrower page. The rail was just too inflexible, limiting the number of layouts available. Page one looked the same virtually every day.

Solution: We built a rail that came in several horizontal and vertical sizes. This allowed editors to respond to the content of the day and design a page that reflected that content. The result is a more dynamic front page that is as varied as the news.

A CHANGING DEMOGRAPHIC and re-orientation of their market forced a rethinking of their coverage. New Bedford – once the focal point of a sea-faring community – was increasingly taking on the look and feel of an urban environment, with more minorities and immigrants. News in New Bedford focused on crime, declining city revenue and schools. Meanwhile, the growth in the market was in the region’s suburban area. But the suburban communities outside New Bedford were not oriented to New Bedford at all. People in those communities increasingly worked in Boston, Providence or other suburban or urban areas. As often happens in urban markets, news about crime, fires and economic problems in the city dominated the A1 and local section fronts – the very urban problems people in the suburbs seek to avoid.

Solution: We provided a simple, structured way to rezone the local section to include more suburban coverage. B1 or the lead local page was built with the same zoned ad stack as an interior page. In New Bedford the color page was labeled New Bedford and was all city news. Inside was a page of suburban coverage. These pages are simply switched in the suburban edition, with the suburban page going color and running on the section front. This gave a much higher profile and consistency to suburban coverage and didn’t substantially increase the workload on the news desk.

Strengths at this paper included an experienced management team, strong local content, a growing suburban ring and a strong sense of place. Training and improving photo content were other key goals for the project.

The redesign proved very popular with readers with virtually no complaints. Type was more legible, the paper was more organized, there was a stronger emphasis on suburban news, but it all looked and felt very familiar and consistent.

Bill Ostendorf served as project manager and lead designer for this project. The design team also included Kevin Dilley, Carolyn Flynn and two other designers. Bill and Kevin handled the training and Jennifer Boucher assisted in the launch. The type for the nameplate was redrawn by Jim Parkinson.

SEE BEFORE AND AFTER PAGES