Business of Design: New look caters to business savvy readers

You are looking at the compilation of months of work by myself and the rest of the editorial staff at Springfield Business Journal.

This new design has been completed in order to give you, the reader, a modern, easy-to-read business journal. And by easy to read, I don't mean dumbed down. Too often, when a publication undergoes a redesign, the end result is less news and more graphics.

The staff at the Business Journal sees you, our reader, as an above-average member of the general public. Our redesign caters to people who crave what SBJ is known for in-depth reporting of business news in southwest Missouri.

The new format is designed to update our look as well as give you more of what you need. Charts and graphs are used to support facts in news stories, not to replace news coverage.

Now that we have reached our 21st year in business, it's time to step out of an outdated, bulky and space-consuming look and into a cleaner, classic look that reflects our news-gathering personality.

Newspaper design is more than just throwing a few stories on a page, adding a lead photo and one or two smaller photos.

During the redesign process, we looked at each page of SBJ and whether it best serves our readers.

We discussed how the headlines can best deliver the main point of stories and lead you into the text of a story.

Typefaces have changed all except the one that appears in the body of stories. The typefaces in headlines and photo cutlines have been changed both to improve readability and, in the case of cutlines, to allow them to stand out from the body of the story.

During the redesign process, we changed several things in the layout of SBJ in an effort to create a smooth flow of information and organize items throughout the paper.

One of the first things you will notice is all stories that begin on the front page and Page 3 continue to the same group of pages. Instead of continuing one story from the front page to Page 5, another to 7 and yet another to 36, they are all grouped together. Mark these jump pages with your thumb while you read front page and Page 3, and you will have saved some time when you follow the story to another page. Stories in the special section, now known as Inside Business, continue on immediately following pages.

Page 3 has, for several years, acted as a second front page. It gives full reports of breaking news, mirroring the front page. Now Page 3 keeps the same theme and is called On the Inside.

In addition to news stories, you can now find the week's review of stock numbers of local interest and mortgage rates. An index on Page 3 makes it easy for you to quickly locate your favorite parts of SBJ. And a contact box tells you how to reach us with your news tips and comments.

The text size in On the Record may be a little smaller, but this gives us a better chance of fitting all the records into a single edition of SBJ, while giving us room for more news coverage.

Items that have been changed include, Ozarks Profile, From the Ground Up and Airfares. Ozarks Profile now appears in the Inside Business section. The industry featured in the section coincides with the occupation of the person profiled. Also, profile questions have been personalized. From the Ground Up logically appears with the listing of building permits in On the Record. And the airfares box is now more space-efficient.

The Opinion page is now restricted to opinions. City Beat, which is a news story, no longer belongs on this page. It belongs on a news page. On the Opinion page, we welcome your opinions. We want your take on business issues in the Ozarks. What do you think about Jordan Valley Park and the civic center? What about roads and city infrastructure and how they affect your business? What about our redesign? We want your letters to the editor.

The end result to all of this work is a new, updated look to Springfield Business Journal, while keeping our focus clear. You'll find very few changes in content. The changes are only in the way that content is delivered. Our new design takes the lessons learned over the past 20 years and uses them to step ahead.