TAKEAWAY: It is another launch for an American City Business Journal newspaper as Project Pinstripe continues. This time it is the Washington Business Journal that introduces changes in storytelling, brand unification and look & feel.
Here is the new front page of the Washington Business Journal
Here is the front page before the rethinking that was introduced this past week
*Before and after versions of the Washington Business Journal front pages
*
The cover centerpiece story develops over two pages inside
Profiles: emphasis on people and in-depth interviews
Breaking ground: stories about innovations and the people behind them
People: one of the best read sections
All of the ACBJ newspapers are well known for their all inclusive lists, which received a new visual treatment making them easier to navigate.
It is the first day introducing all the changes, so here is the readers’ user guide.
It is another launch for an American City Business Journal newspaper as Project Pinstripe continues.
Readers of TheMarioBlog may recall that we at Garcia Media have been involved for a year now on a total rethink of how 40 business weeklies of ACBJ present economic/financial news that is very local, timely, but that also adapts to the new digital era.
The first of the 40 newspapers to roll out its new look and rethinking was the Silicon Valley Business Journal, of San Jose, California.
This week, the second of the weeklies has premiered the new thinking, based on what the Project Pinstripe (referred to as that because of the print stripes that are part of the new logo) is all about: each platform doing what it can do first (digital first philosophy for publishing), with the printed edition emphasizing a centerpiece that is more analytical and takes the top news of the week beyond the headline and the 5Ws.
Reed Reibstein and I at Garcia Media have worked closely with the ACBJ team, including Emory Thomas, chief content officer for American City Business Journal and creative director Jon Wile. Over the course of a year, and half a dozen workshops we have discussed and experimented with how to implement the digital first concept.
“We have totally re-imagined how we deliver local business news. Our newspaper, website, mobile and tablet editions work in concert to give you news you want, when you want it, how you want it. We like to call it “Intelligence for Washington’s Capitalists,“ says publisher Alex Orfinger. “It’s no longer about just telling a business story. It’s about having a conversation face-to-face and over social media. We’re giving you unparalleled access to our reporters and editors, so you can tell us what stories matter to you and we can stay ahead of the competition together.“
One remarkable element of these projects is that it is part of a strategy to unify the brand, offer a common journalistic/storytelling perspective, as well as a look & feel that, while allowing for the uniqueness that each title has brought to the publication through its history and geographic location, also imparts a sense of continuity for all the titles.
“Throughout the country, our newsrooms are putting the model to work with success. Now we have two markets — Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C. that have tied the concept together with our full new branding and design, with other markets to follow soon,“ says Emory Thomas, chief content officer for ACBJ.
Essential, common principles apply to all the newspapers in the group
Based on this philosophy, our work with the ACBJ and the Washington Business Journal, has applied strategies that will make readers navigate through the content easier, starting on Page One. While this is a major visual rethinking of the newspaper, including new typography, page architecture and color palette, the real changes are in the ways storytelling is approached, especially in the use of graphics that will facilitate understanding of major stories.
To hear Emory Thomas explain it:
At ACBJ, we have put together a comprehensive model for publishing across today’s many platforms. A key part of our model is about emphasizing and prioritizing digital excellence, even as we, perhaps counter-intuitively, reinvest in our print product at the same time. What we’ve put together is very detailed, and quite company-specific — and it positions us for graceful and flexible transitions as our audience needs rapidly evolve.
And publisher Alex Orfinger expands on the thought:
Our transformation began with a simple question from our parent company, American City Business Journals: If we were to create a Business Journal today, how would it look? We started with our readers — and our nonreaders and former readers. We held focus groups in Washington and other cities. What we found: Our audience wants more news, more often and in more places. You want more perspective and analysis.
It’s also about brand continuity
Brand continuity as shown thru the front pages of the Silicon Valley Business Journal and the Washington Business Journal: publishers have the option of using the pinstripe logo in either blue or burgundy.
Jon Wile, creative director for the ACBJ group, works closely with the editors and design team for each of the titles. Here are some of his thoughts:
The key to this whole project is to become better story-tellers, regardless of platform. We’ve been training all our papers at ACBJ on content changes for more than six months, therefore the redesign has become the ‘bow on top of the package,’ as I’ve often called it. It’s much easier to flip the design into our new model if the content is where we want it to be.
The beauty of Washington’s centerpiece is the planning and thought they put into it ahead of time. The headline, illustration and story work in unison because the reporter, editors and art director brainstormed the story together before the reporting process was too far along. Our papers will always react to news when it happens, but it’s nice to work on these larger packages ahead of time to fill in the gaps between big news events.”
It’s worth noting that the Washington Business Journal upgraded its paper stock to a thicker, whiter paper (35 pound, 80 bright).
“I think this is a nice dovetail to show that we aren’t abandoning print as we shift toward becoming a digital-first media company,“ Jon Wile added.
Douglas Fruehling is Editor-in-Chief; Alex Orfinger is publisher of the Washington Business Journal.
What next for ACBJ launches of Pinstripe Project?
Next week (June 17-21) the Cincinnati Business Courier will be the third of the ACBJ titles to launch with the new design, followed by the Philadelphia Business Journal the week after (June 24-28).
Previously about American City Business Journal:
The design of the Silicon Valley Business Journal, from prototype to reality
Silicon Valley Business Journal: Creating the ultimate multi-platform operation
Lessons learned from Silicon Valley, and a look at some details of SVBJ http://garciamedia.com/blog/articles/lessons_learned_from_silicon_valley_and_a_look_at_some_details_of_svbj
Reporting from South Africa this week
I am in Johannesburg this week as we continue to work with the team of The Citizen in the rethinking of their entire operation, learning to a media quartet of smartphone, online, print and tablet, all with a new way of storytelling, look & feel. Stay tuned this week for more reports from South Africa.
TheMarioBlog post #1272
