Design is a bit of an unrequited love of mine. So when I saw this front page in the Guardian’s roll call of G20 front pages yesterday I couldn’t resist writing a quick post.
Two things really struck me about this layout. The first is the laudable use of white space. Look at it all! You could drive a lorry between those articles. The white space really breaks up the page and makes the articles easier to read.
Second was the inclusion of email addresses next to bylines. If you can’t make these out you can view the original pdf here. This is pretty unusual, more so in the UK. Among the nationals, only the Mirror puts a reporter’s email address under their byline. Some newspapers are actively hostile to letting their readers know email addresses. Ring up the Times and a recorded voice curtly tells you ‘not to ask’ for individual email addresses. (Not that these addresses are particularly hard to guess – firstname.surname@newspaper.co.uk seems pretty universal).
With the rise of social media it’s increasingly important for newspapers to show that they are making the effort to communicate with readers. In this the Baltimore Sun and Mirror are leading by example.
B-b-b-b-b-but they indent the first paragraph!
London’s commuter-bothering free rags have been doing the email address thing for a while too, although I think this is an attempt to convince us that the whole thing isn’t knocked up by one bloke watching BBC News.
Surely you don’t want to give out your email in a context like that. You’d have to set up two email addresses, one for your professional use, and one to put on your byline, because no doubt every article you wrote would elicit hundreds of responses from wacky attention seekers with nothing better to do.
@Alex I hadn’t noticed the indent… Strange. But apart from that…
@Kevinho Good point. I’m sure this is an issue. But it’s difficult to call without knowing the extent to which these papers are inundated with spam and abuse. Do you know that it is a big problem? Because otherwise you’re just being needlessly dismissive. I’ll try and find out and come back to you on this one.