Florida Catholic's six editions renewed with Creative Circle redesign

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With six editions covering six diocese across the state of Florida, a production hub in Orlando and five bureaus answering to six different Bishops, the Florida Catholic redesign was a little more complicated than most!

We worked with the staff to refocus all their coverage and upgrade their design and content. After more than 100 nameplate prototypes, including dozens of new branding slogans, the new brand was clean and modern and was focused on re-connecting with readers. The new slogan – "Your Faith. Your Life. Your Community."–  was very much a reflection of how we aimed to change the content and coverage of the papers.

"Did you ever have a friend get a hairstyle or a new outfit and it changed his or her whole outlook?" Christopher Gunty, associate publiser of the Florida Catholic in the first issue of the redesigned papers. "It’s as though it was an impetus for some interior transformations to take place at the same time as the outward appearances. That’s what’s been happening for the last six months at the Florida Catholic newspaper.

"We’ve been undergoing more than just a facelift," he said "You can see our new look on our front page and throughout our pages. But it’s more than just new typography and better photographs. As signified in our new slogan — “Your Faith. Your Life. Your Community.” — we hope to provide an even stronger connection between your Catholic faith and your everyday life."

We worked with the team to think of new ways of sharing resources and how to team up on bigger stories. We led training on headline writing, layout, writing, photography, picture editing and even how to hold better meetings, which were often done by phone.

One of the first issues after the redesign featured a centerpiece story on dress codes. The story was localized for each edition and much of the core of the story was shared. Most editions had local photos but there were images shared across the network of papers. The coverage was more informal and headlines took a light-hearted tone uncommon in the papers before the redesign: "What would Jesus wear?" and "Nose rings? Out! Tucked shirt tails? In!"

"Creative Circle helped the Florida Catholic newspaper recreate itself with more than just a new look," said Gunty. "They helped train our staff to look at better ways to find stories, do better interviews, take better pictures, lay out pages, all to better draw readers into the newspaper."

The redesign was led by staff designer Kevin Dilley and Bill Ostendorf, president and founder of Creative Circle Media Solutions, who plays a leading role in all Creative Circle's print redesign projects.

"The professional journalists at the Florida Catholic in our Orlando state headquarters and in diocesan bureaus throughout the state, aided by the resources of Catholic News Service throughout the nation and world, especially at the Vatican, offer our readers the best source for accurate information about the church," said Gunty. "We know the church and the issues that matter to Catholics."

The Florida Catholic, newspaper redesign, rebranding, branding, Catholic press