By Ed Henninger

Unless it’s a special package -- with photos, graphics, info-boxes and sidebars -- the most difficult item to design is a long story. Actually, it can’t be designed so much as just shoehorned into a page.

Overly long stories are not only difficult to design, they’re a turn-off to readers, who feel they just don’t have the time to spend on a long article. When confronted with a sea of gray text, readers often will bypass the story.

By Ed Henninger

You’ve decided. You’re going to redesign your newspaper. Its look is becoming dated, content needs reorganization, and you want to make it more visually compelling. Good.

But who’s going to be a part of the effort?

By Ed Henninger

Let’s take a break. Instead of another column on design issues this month, I thought you would enjoy a look at what some of the brightest and wittiest figures in America have had to say about newspapers.

You’ll recognize the names, but you may be a bit surprised at what they say.

Designers have several ways to blunt the effect of a Page One ad rail, including a rule and a tint block.

By Ed Henninger

Me and my big mouth. Some time ago, I asked readers to submit ideas for columns. Some did, and that was good. Some of the topics were ideas I could easily write about, in part because I had touched on those subjects in the past.

But then comes Lauri Shillings, a dedicated column reader and frequent contributor to my blog, with this one: “How do you go about making your front page look ‘great’ with an entire column of 1x1 ads running down the left side of 1A?"

By Ed Henninger

There is one immutable law in nature - change.

Like it or not, things change. And like it or not, the design of your newspaper is going to change.

Despite that 50-page design style guide, despite all those InDesign style sheets, despite those carefully constructed templates, your design is going to change.

And it should!