Can your town claim fame to a native Major League Baseball Hall of Famer who played the game in the 1880s? The city of Hannibal, Mo., can. And a revamped monutment to the athlete, Jake Beckley, is being planned to be more like other monuments in town that pay homage to the likes of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. Hannibal is, after all, the hometown of Samuel Clemons, beter known as Mark Twain.

Here an illustration made by staffer Donnely Oppy is comprised of an old photo of Beckly and an image of what appears to be the current monument. (Don't forget the caption, folks.) The images are displayed nicely agains a gradient blue background that evokes a cloudless summer sky.

The headlines and story are are presented on the blue background as well. The story is revers for greater legibility. I'd argue that the type size and leading should have been enlarged to ensure positively that no error in reproduction would impede readers.

The headline decks are black with a white shadow. I think white type would have worked better here, without the shadowy glow. The secondary headline mentions a preliminary sketch of the monument has been released. If the sketch is newsworthy, and I'm guessing it is if it's getting a centerpiece story, running it on the front could have been a good idea — that is only if the sketch is of high quality. Because an illustrtion is used here, and a nice one at that, perhaps the sketch didn't pass muster.

Love that ASF at the bottom of the page, too!

Nice work.

Joe Greco is corporate design director for GateHouse Media.
Contact him at jgreco@gatehousemedia.com.

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