No. 12: New(s Design School) Year’s Resolutions
Sorry, but I couldn’t resist the opportunity to toss in my own $0.02 as to what you should be doing to improve your design work in 2009.
First, Happy New Year!
Here are my top five resolutions for you:
1. Improve your appreciation for newspaper design by looking at other newspapers for 30 minutes per week. You will be inspired by the different approaches you see — even the ones you don’t like. The easiest way to do this is by going to the Newseum site or newspagedesigner site. The links are available at the News Design School links page: http://newsdesignschool.com/links.htm
2. Review how you plan each issue to assure that you are working onideas about the presentation of the information from the very beginning. No more adding on “design” as you are paginating! Good design is PLANNED.
3. Be positive about your print product, even as the doomsayers are telling you that print is dead and the web is your salvation. You can’t beat the paper product for portability or for cutting out names and faces to mail to relatives or post to the refrigerator door. Your question for the year: How can you maximize the advantages of print?
4. On the other hand, DO pay attention to your web site, making it the go-to portal to the web for people living in your area. Can you imagine your web home page being used as the browser start-up page by your local residents? Wouldn’t that be great if they did? What should be on such a page? Tell your readers — and give them a link — how to make your page their browser’s start-up page.
5. Finally, and perhaps most important, resolve to ask questions and get answers to some of these important issues by taking advantage of the News Design School Forum and blogs. If we all chime in and become more active, I am certain we can solve many problems and help one another in many ways. I will add some of the above questions or topics to the Forum. (BTW, it’s at http://newsdesignschool.com/ndscampus/forum/)
Best wishes for a successful 2009.