A July 4 front page to celebrate

As someone who has always banged on that the front page needs to be eye-catching and different, I was really pleased to find this celebration of July 4 from the Virginian Pilot. Fantastic execution ... and first rate typography too. There's a typically great analysis of how it came about by Charles Apple here.

The Times they are a changed ...

Here's a curate's egg of a page from today's Times. The picture of Rebekah is stunning, sharp, nicely cropped and positioned. She was yesterday's main player and there she is, in full flow, staring out of the page. It will undoubtedly be the first thing the reader sees. The headline above her is spectacular. I have never seen a front page headline (or in fact any headline) with five abbreviations before. Talk about cryptic. You need to know the story to understand it but that's OK. Making AB readers work a little for their headlines isn't really a problem. But it isn't Mrs Brooks and the crossword puzzle clue of a headline that will drive sales today. The paper is working hard to ensure its blurbs will encourage the casual readers to slip a copy into their shopping trolleys. They work too, at least to a point. The Engelbert pictures are intriguing - who could resist the Eurovision oldie as Liam Gallagher or Sid Vicious? But why two headlines? Engelbert as you've never seen him before is enough.The second blurb is just what readers need in these straitened times - money off vouchers for a day out with the kids. But the headline, Inside today, is one of my biggest bugbears. 

Inside: Where else would it be? In our rival's publication? Behind the bacon counter?

Today: When else would it be appearing? Yesterday? Next Thursday? 

The same applies to Free inside on the gardening blurb. The words Inside, Today, Also, Plus and Free are regularly used in blurbs  - and are just a waste of ink and newsprint. The Times blurbs are good on content but too cluttered. Why bury the message?

The celebrity blurbs down the right are effective teasers (notice that they don't need to explain to the readers that these particular stories are inside). I would buy the paper for any of these, especially Caitlin Moran who is essential reading. Finally we come to the splash. Once upon a time newspapers used to sell themselves on their lead story. Now, tucked away at the bottom of the page, this is by far the least interesting element of the page (except for the bar code of course). So there's the Times as it is today -  seven pictures, six teasers, five abbreviations, four-column lead, three-word splash headline, two news-items and one bar code. 

Then there is the back page ... a stunning sky blue piece of artwork, which takes in the titlepiece, and sets the mood for tomorrow's Premier League finale. Bold, and innovative. The story underneath is presumably to add a bit of balance ... but I might have been tempted to wipe out the whole of the back. It's certainly all a far cry from The Thunderer of yesteryear ... and hard to believe that it's only eight years ago that the crusty old broadsheet turned compact.

Thanks as ever to @suttonnick

Who's that girl?

Good splash in the Scunthorpe Telegraph on Thursday ... but it was the plainly designed advert that caught the eye. Who is Amanda? Is she pregnant? We need to know! One thing is certain about her though, she knows how effective advertising in your local paper can be. Good for her. The Scunthorpe Telegraph reporters are, of course, on the case. Outgoing editor Mel Cook tells me Amanda met the man of her dreams after the Huddersfield v Scunthorpe game last Saturday but he 'did a Cinderella on her'. Apparently it's Amanda's last chance for love. This one could run and run. I suggest you all subscribe to the Telegraph to find out what happens next.

Father Jack leaves Scotland in the grit ...

Personality politics and ridiculing public figures purely because of their appearance. Disgraceful. That said, the front page of the Daily Record today is really quite funny. Thanks to Mike Lowe for alerting me to this one.

Poignant page from the Examiner

The Irish Examiner always manages to respond to major Irish stories with spectacular front pages - and it certainly didn't disappoint yesterday over the EU bailout. In the middle of this page is a replica of the country's Proclamation of Independence from 1916. 

The original begins: 

IRISHMEN AND IRISHWOMEN: In the name of God and of the dead generations from which she receives her old tradition of nationhood, Ireland, through us, summons her children to her flag and strikes for her freedom.

The Examiner's version begins:

IRISHMEN AND IRISHWOMEN: In the name of God how have we come to this? And in the name of the dead generations from which she received her old tradition of nationhood,Ireland, through our new masters at the European Central Bank summons her children to her financial sovereign funeral.

The original concludes: 

We place the cause of the Irish Republic under the protection of the Most High God, Whose blessing we invoke upon our arms, and we pray that no one who serves that cause will dishonour it by cowardice, inhumanity, or rapine. In this supreme hour the Irish nation must, by its valour and discipline and by the readiness of its children to sacrifice themselves for the common good, prove itself worthy of the august destiny to which it is called.

The Examiner's versions concludes:

We place the cause of the Irish Republic under the protection of the Most High God - Mammon. Whose blessing we invoke upon our debts, and we pray that no one who serves that cause will dishonour it by casino cowardice, insolvency, or economic rapine. In this supreme hour of failure the Irish nation must, by its memories of valour and discipline and by the readiness of its children to sacrifice their financial futures for the common good of the international money markets, prove itself somehow worthy of the august destiny to which it has now called time on.

Poignant stuff. Some of you might remember the Examiner's front page from September 2005 when the IRA put its weapons out of commission. The page was made up of the names of the 3,530 people who lost their lives in the Troubles. They ran from side to side in 18pt, with the text changing from light to bold to form the silhouette of an IRA  gunman.

Great ideas, great journalism, great layout - and a reminder how effective print journalism can be.

Josie finds time to rattle off a front page story

Telegraph trainee Josie Ensor finished our course on Thursday and spent the weekend packing and travelling to start her regional placement in Cardiff today. But that didn't stop her getting a byline on a front page story in today's Telegraph. Josie had a contact with the family and graciously said she had a couple of good trainers along the way - but news instinct, determination and hard work are qualities that can't be taught. Very impressive.

Great picture - 12 different layouts

One picture dominated the American front pages this week - Lindsey Vonn's look of elation as she crossed the line to collect Gold in the women's Olympic downhill. Most of the papers used it ... but at different sizes, in different positions and with different crops. In our Training tips we look at 12 front pages and their different approaches.