Before the Observer-Dispatch launched its redesign last week, the folks in Utica had to navigate some major hurdles that would dictate the logistics of the process. These obstacles included a new press, a narrower page size, a new section added to the paper, a handful of new content, as well as a relatively new editor

Here's a look at one of the last front pages of the old design, below left, next to  the first edition of the redesign.

You'll immediately notice the big colorful change in the branding of the nameplate. A large "O-D" serves as main visual entrypoint to an expanded skybox offerings with more visual cues.

The newshole of the front page puts an emphasis on design, while keeping the content a main focus of the front page.

The new press allows for more color capability, as seen on the front page of the new B section, now called Community.

The added color gives immediate impact with photos of local people and places. The smaller story count alows for greater display space, maximizing the impact of the photography.

The Sports front contiues to have color, but a more modern color palette is in play.

Gone is the left rail, allowing for much larger centerpiece images and design detail. More space is given to content promotions at the top of the page.

The new section the new press allows shouts to readers that there's more in their new O-D.

The new Living section also relies on large, colorful photos to match the other new section fronts.

Managing Editor Ron Johns, still neck deep in follow-up with the redesign, was kind enough to answer a few questions for GHNewsroom.com:

What’s the biggest change in the newly redesigned Observer-Dispatch?

The biggest change was our main motivation — a new press. We had one month to prepare to be printed  off-site, so Editor Kris Worrell sped-up the process of a redesign she already was working on.

When did you begin planning the makeover and how many people were involved?

In one way or another, everyone in the newsrom played a part and it took cooperation and brainstorming in departments throughout the building to make it happen.

What were the goals for your redesign and why?

Speaking for Kris, I think the  main goal was to create an organized newspaper with visual  appeal that we could achieve  consistently. Kris had been working with reporters on style for months prior, so the writing end was well on its way before launch day. It also was a  chance to shed a tired design for a new way of thinking from story creation to page  design.
 
What new fonts are in use and how?

Given a set of families to choose from, I picked Minion for standard heads and Frutiger for ledes and info-box text. SInce choices were  limited, I was unable to find a body text font that stood up to the one we already were using (Corona). It has a heavy presence with tight ascenders and descenders. An unforeseen benefit of this was that we could announce to readers that the body copy (font, point size and leading) would not  change even though their page size would shrink dramatically. Did it work? Well, we are still being accused of shrinking the size. Sometimes you can't win.

What can you tell us about any  new features?

WIth the new press, we were able to add a fourth section to the paper. This gave us a new cover where we play up local centerpiece features: 

• School Zone
• Pitching In — local volunteers
• Your Town — highlighting one of the many towns, villages or hamlets in the three-county region.
• Age & Wisdom — profile of a standout local  senior
• I  Love the Mohawk Valley — A look at places, businesses or people that make the  region unique.
• Champs — Local athletes, both young and  old.
• Public Eye — A hold over from the old design, this feature is our main PSJ.

What advice do you have for other papers who wish  to go through a redesign?

The first thing I would recommend is NOT to do this in a month. The one thing I would recommend is to think of the end  result and work backwards. A redesign is not just new fonts and high expectations. By knowing what you're trying to accomplish through stories and imagery, then setting realistic goals to execute the plan each day, you'll end up with a motivated news team and satisfied readers (except for the whole point size issue).

For an archive of stories about redesigned GateHouse publications, go here.

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