TED: Jacek Utko | Can design save the newspaper?

Interesting post on a new blog called merge about Jacek Utko, a Polish designer who reenergized newspapers in countries throughout eastern and central Europe with his bold, dynamic graphic design. The question is: Can design save the newspaper?

5 Comments leave a comment below

  1. “Can design save the newspaper?” – Nope.

    Printed news is coming to an end. Deep down we all know this.
    In the UK, The Guardian took these steps too, changing to the berlinner format, new typefaces, new page layout. All beautiful, but still a -8% drop, year on year.

  2. I agree, design won’t save the printed newspaper.

    If you Google a bit you’ll find some recent comments from Google’s CEO that he made in a keynote speech at the Newspaper Association of America’s annual convention recently. Online subscriptions, micropayments, and advertising – that’s what he thinks will save them.

    But some local newspaper just won’t survive, and we’re going to lose a lot of independent voices and discussions. And what about the 25% or so of Americans who don’t have Internet access at home? And there’s nothing on most TV news that can really compare with a good written article. Luckily places like NPR still seem to be strong and thriving.

  3. Inspiring speaker and designer!

    Designers are capable of changing companies, workflow, market, outlook. This is often overlooked, and design then just becomes the last step in a process. An afterthought. A pair of hands to put other people’s ideas together for presentation. But design is so much more than that!

    We (designers) are not just here to make things LOOK nice. And it’s refreshing to be reminded of that too! Using clarity of mind, dedication, vision, design is an agent for change.

    And what WILL happen to the newspapers? I will subscribe again if that’s what needs to keep the Guardian going.

  4. Design alone won’t save newspapers – creating desirable content will.
    Was interesting to see at MIX in Vegas this year that Rolling Stone are planning to launch a full archive (and Playboy already have at – NSFW – http://playboyarchive.com)
    By creating a cross-over platform between slice-tree delivery that you can read on the bus (or in the sauna) but maintain a searchable (referencable) digital archive they start to deliver long tail value and can maybe help improve their relevance…