The Red & Black got a little fancy today with a Friday the 13th themed edition, complete with a bloody masthead.
It’s not every day that you come across a newspaper with blood dripping down from its masthead, an image of a Jason mask and a wolf howling at a full moon. But I think the independent student newspaper did it well.
The cherry on top of the gory cake: the bloody scrawled date at the top, Friday, February 13, 2009!
I really enjoyed The Red & Black’s design choices here. I think the front page designer was really creative, something I think some newspapers lack … or forget.
The art on the page is all really strong. At the top, you’ve got a picture of a screaming old man with a picket sign at a rally. It’s a great shot by Beth Cooper. I think it really captures the whole event.
I’m not sure I quite follow the designer’s choice of the heart-shaped headline for the Gym Dogs story. I am assuming that it is intended to be the main headline, though I think it could be a little more well defined. I really like the picture and story idea though.
And here is where I start improving everything around me. In the cutline for the story about the shortstop at the bottom of the page, Kristin Schnake’s name is misspelled. In the story it’s spelled “Kristin,” while in the cutline it is spelled “Kristen.” Someone should have caught this. It’s on the front page!
Again, the art for the shortstop story is amazing. Is that the real background though? I kind of wonder if it was altered in Photoshop. If that is the case, it’s fine, but I think it should be labeled a photo illustration. Perhaps though, it’s fine the way it is.
Overall, I think the Red & Black did a terrific front for Friday the 13th. Its masthead is colorful and different. All the art on the page is really strong. Really the only mistake here was the softball player’s name in the cutline. I think today’s front page is really striking.
Tahni,
ReplyDeleteI think you're right about the visual effect of the Friday the 13th nameplate. It's striking and pretty cool looking. But I wonder if it was the right choice.
The mood of that nameplate is spooky and gory -- it's Halloween-esque. Maybe that's appropriate for a Friday the 13th in February, as we head toward spring, but then what happens next month on Friday, March 13? More to the point, this weekend is also Valentine's Day, which explains the cool concept of the heart with the gymnastics design, and I wonder if more people aren't thinking about that. In either case, the gory nameplate and the sweet heart design cast discordant themes on the page.
Also, is there any content to go with the nameplate theme? Is there a list of good movies to watch on Friday the 13th (like "Friday the 13th")? Or an explanation of where the superstition came from? Or comments from students on whether they behave any differently on that day? If the theme is significant enough to dress up the top of the front page, it seems worth fleshing out with some reporting or information.
By the way, I love the lead on Mimi Ensley's physical plant story on that page. It takes a very arcane and technical subject and explains why it's important to all of us. I'd really like to see more of that kind of writing in the paper.