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Chicago, Ill. —
The new Knox County Neighbors publication launched Aug. 18 with new content and a new design.
Formerly called The Paper, the new name reflects people and area it serves. A sister publicatiion to The Register-Mail, the paper originally was founded to compete with the Galesburg paper.
The sage green color palette wide rail helps differentiates KCN from The Register-Mail. The structured front page allows for a standardized profile package of a local newsmaker.
Reader reaction has been positive. "The feedback has been spectacular after the first two issues," said Jeff Holt, Knox County Neighbors editor.
Holt generated a number of local stories presented as alternative story formats. "I've put some serious hours in the last three weeks, Holt said.
One of the new features is a veteran profile that features a local person who has served in one of the branches of the U.S. military. A goal with the feature is to conduct Q&As with local servicemen and women who are serving overseas.
Tom Martin, editor of The Register-Mail who oversaw the transformation of Knox County Neighbors, answered a few questions about the redesign:
Q: Why did you decide to redesign your newspaper?
The Paper was losing advertising and needed a new direction. We needed a new philosophy and a new look to go with it.
Q: What can you tell us about your community?
The Paper is a free publication that has total market coverage in Knox County. Galesburg is the county's largest city at 30,000 people. The largest employer is the railroad, followed by two hospitals and a private college with an enrollment of about 1,200. The population is mostly elderly.
Q: What changes did you make as part of your redesign?
We completely reconstructed the newspaper to focus on people and profiles as opposed to news. It's more of a local version of Parade magazine. It uses alternative story formats and submitted content. Overhead is low.
Q: How have readers reacted to the redesign?
People have had good things to say. It's much more readable and interesting.
Q: What advice do you have for papers considering a redesign?
A rethinking and reformatting of content are keys to making a redesign effective.
Joe Greco is corporate design director for GateHouse Media.
Contact him at jgreco@gatehousemedia.com.
Check out his blog at http://joegreco.ghnewsroom.com.
The new Knox County Neighbors publication launched Aug. 18 with new content and a new design.
Formerly called The Paper, the new name reflects people and area it serves. A sister publicatiion to The Register-Mail, the paper originally was founded to compete with the Galesburg paper.
The sage green color palette wide rail helps differentiates KCN from The Register-Mail. The structured front page allows for a standardized profile package of a local newsmaker.
Reader reaction has been positive. "The feedback has been spectacular after the first two issues," said Jeff Holt, Knox County Neighbors editor.
Holt generated a number of local stories presented as alternative story formats. "I've put some serious hours in the last three weeks, Holt said.
One of the new features is a veteran profile that features a local person who has served in one of the branches of the U.S. military. A goal with the feature is to conduct Q&As with local servicemen and women who are serving overseas.
Tom Martin, editor of The Register-Mail who oversaw the transformation of Knox County Neighbors, answered a few questions about the redesign:
Q: Why did you decide to redesign your newspaper?
The Paper was losing advertising and needed a new direction. We needed a new philosophy and a new look to go with it.
Q: What can you tell us about your community?
The Paper is a free publication that has total market coverage in Knox County. Galesburg is the county's largest city at 30,000 people. The largest employer is the railroad, followed by two hospitals and a private college with an enrollment of about 1,200. The population is mostly elderly.
Q: What changes did you make as part of your redesign?
We completely reconstructed the newspaper to focus on people and profiles as opposed to news. It's more of a local version of Parade magazine. It uses alternative story formats and submitted content. Overhead is low.
Q: How have readers reacted to the redesign?
People have had good things to say. It's much more readable and interesting.
Q: What advice do you have for papers considering a redesign?
A rethinking and reformatting of content are keys to making a redesign effective.
Joe Greco is corporate design director for GateHouse Media.
Contact him at jgreco@gatehousemedia.com.
Check out his blog at http://joegreco.ghnewsroom.com.
