TAKEAWAY: There is a hint from Mr. Murdoch that he might change the name of The Wall Street Journal to just WSJ. Why not? As I recall it, we hinted at that with the WSJ Europe and Asia in 2005.
This change may be more of an evolution
These sketches from around May 2005 show my initial thinking for changing the Wall Street Journal from broadsheet to tabloid. My first idea was to use a sort of shadow WSJ, in a light sand or champagne hue, behind the well known logo of the newspaper. But notice in the second sketch, that I played it safe by having an option without any changes in the logo. I admit that the team and I were quite happily surprised that the WSJ was approved. It had a good run, then disappeared. But, who knows? Maybe Murdoch brings it back, and not as a shadow, but as the real thing.
The Weekend edition in the US already uses WSJ as its name
Online and for app, it is WSJ that identifies the publication
Fascinating to
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%0A" title="read">read that Murdoch is thinking of giving The Wall Street Journal a new, streamlined name: WSJ.
Well, Mr. Murdoch, I am happy to say that we had the same thing in mind in 2005 when we collaborated with the teams of the Wall Street Journal Europe and Asia, under the leadership of then publisher, Karen House, and, indeed, “shadowed” the WSJ behind the traditional Wall Street Journal, something that was not so well received by die hard conservative Wall Street Journal editors at the time, but with the forward thinking Ms. House’s approval.
AS time went by, and as usually happens with new editors and managers coming in and out, the WSJ faded from behind the logo, only to appear in the weekend edition of the weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal in the US, where it still appears.
David Pybas, an associate art director at The Wall Street Journal, and with whom I worked closely on a variety of project, still remembers the fun we had incorporating the WSJ behind the logo. “We did a lot of interesting things, and could have done even more,“ he writes me from New York, where his present job has him designing special projects and working with the WSJ app.
So I see the potential change of name as more of an evolution, since we already see WSJ online as well, or in the iTunes Store if we wish to download the WSJ app. Even today, the change of name creates debate about people inside and outside the Wall Street Journal. Those who oppose the change believe that the name of the newspaper is such a giant brand, representing an icon of financial journalism, and it should not be tampered with. Others believe that in the era of Twitter, Facebook, and instant communication, the short, three-letter logo is quite effective.
Karen House , the former publisher of the newspaper, still thinks that the WSJ logo is a good idea. She writes me an email from Paris where she is at the moment, after a trip to China.
“I do think it looks good on Weekend Journal and in a web world brief brands like WSJ work—- I think.”
In fact, Karen has just completed her new book, Saudi Arabia: Its People, Past, Religion, Fault Lines—and Future, to be published by Knopf Sept 18.
“I examine through anecdote and analysis Saudi society and culture with an eye toward explaining the stresses on future stability. I spent 5 years traveling all over the kingdom talking to all kinds of people to write the book,” Karen writes me.
Of related interest
This article was published when it was announced that the WSJ would convert to tabloid format in Europe and Asia:
Abroad, The Wall Street Journal Will Be a Tabloid
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/09/business/media/09journal.html