Yet, on today’s front page we have: a Will Smith pop up picture, a story about an 8 year old adoption law, a giant side graphic about taxes, and a syndicated story from the Chicago Tribune. What news is being uncovered, there?

Newspapers are supposed to be about news, not graphics. By supporting the Orlando Sentinel’s redesign you are supporting Sam Zell’s belief that all people want from city’s paper is CNN on paper. And by supporting that belief, you make it that much easier to for the Tribune to continue remove all employees who care about reporting the news. And by supporting those layoffs and buyouts, you are a foe of journalism.

Revolt against the redesign, show your support for real journalism:
http://amazingshrinkingsentinel.blogspot.com/

I really dislike the fangs below the header banners. They’re obviously meant to reflect the negative space left with the kind of rounded corners used on the boxes on the top, but they will really get in the way of the page layout. Either you’ll have to live with trapped white space, right-justify headlines, et cetera, or shift the content in somehow to avoid hitting them.

My minor exception is the placement of the UPC code. It wastes a lot of space. If it were me, I’d do something interesting like turn the UPC on its side and use it like motion lines on the right side of the flag header on the front page. (Where the coupon thing is now). Either that, or I’d make it part of one of the large rule-boxes that go across the page. (For example, in the 12-point-high-looking box between the weather and editorial cartoon, put the UPC code, 12 points high.)

Also, I think the editorial comic on the front page will come back to bite them. It’s not always going to work with the design.