Redesign at the Chicago Sun-Times p. 53

By: Mark Fitzgerald

AFTER MORE THAN a year of introducing incremental changes in its look, the Chicago Sun-Times recently unveiled a sweeping redesign.
"We wanted to clean it up," editor and executive vice president Dennis Britton said. "We were looking to see how you can make it more attractive. . . and easier for the reader to handle. The headline type, for example, is far easier to read."
In some ways, the redesign takes a back-to-the-future approach. It revives, for instance, the labeling of news pages that characterized the paper in the early 1980s ? before it began a series of ownership changes that started with Rupert Murdoch and brought Conrad Black's American Publishing Co. in last year.
Besides adding extensive labeling, the paper introduced a full-page index and news digest on Page 2. The page also includes previews of opinions from the day's columnists.
Gossip columnist Michael Sneed was moved from her Page 2 perch to Page 4. She shares the page with a new daily feature, "Quick Takes," a series of offbeat news items compiled by staff writer Zay Smith.
Britton said the redesign is largely the work of Rick Jaffe, the paper's deputy managing editor for sports, graphics and photos.
"He's one of the real design geniuses in American journalism," editor Britton said.
The paper introduced a new typeface that is the same size as the previous typeface, "but looks smaller," Britton said.
"It's the same size . . . but condensed," he added.
"We're actively looking at ways to bump it up. The problem is, if you bump it up a point, you face horrendous consequences in terms of newsprint."
Some readers, too, have noticed a tendency for the new typeface ? which is printed on the paper's aging letterpress presses ? to "fill" with ink on some days.
"There have been production problems, but the real joy of having American Publishing as owners is that we are going to get new equipment sooner rather than later," Britton said. "In the next couple of years, we will have new presses."