See that up there? Go there!

SEE THAT HEADER…yah…the one right up there? At the top of the page.

You need to go there. Well, that is, if you’re looking for Ed Henninger’s Blog.

You see, the blog is now part of the web site. And so are the Henninger Helpful Hints. And Ed’s monthly design column.

All three, now combined with Ed’s web site, at www.henningerconsulting.com.

But, if you’re in a hurry to go right to the blog, then click here.

And…there ya go!

Oh…and get used to it. From now on, the blog, hints and column will continue to be a part of the web site. Right: www.henningerconsulting.com

Poll results: Impediments to good design at community newspapers

I’M DISAPPOINTED. I thought there would be more interest.

There wasn’t. Fifteen votes.

Here are the results.

I could go on a rant here about the real answer being “No one at community newspapers gives a damn about design.” But I think I would be wrong…to rant, that is. I’m beginning to think I’m right about no one at community newspapers giving a damn about design. OK, not “no one.” But too many of the editors, managers and publishers at community newspapers continue to demonstrate that they couldn’t care less about design.

How do I know that? I’ve seen their papers.

The correct answer to the poll questions options is: All of the above.

No one is trained.

No one has the time.

No one bothers to plan.

No one offers design leadership.

No one cares about design.

Disagree? Prove me wrong. For every feel-designed community newspaper out there, I can show you at least a dozen that are terrible.

And the sad part of it is that most of the staff and managers at community newspapers have no concept of design. They’re comfortable with what they have…even it it’s ugly, uninspired and uninviting. And they don’t seem to care about making it better.

That’s the disappointment.

PsW1

THIS IS THE FIRST, inaugural, original, beginning, initial, opening, introductory installment of Photos of the Week.

The Blue Ridge High School Chapter of Future Farmers of America hosted its 16th annual Farm Day celebration at Lindsey Plantation Saturday. Ian Stiles relaxes in combine tire. Mandy Ferguson | The Greer Citizen

Lily Mannenbach, 4, raises her pom-poms during a dance clinic sponsored by the St. Nicholas School Dance Team at Freedom High School April 28. The Catholic school dance team hosted the clinic for area children, age 3 to fourth grade, to teach dancing skills and teamwork. Sam Lucero | The Compass

A few Canada geese have a quiet morning at the Edisto Memorial Gardens in Orangeburg.  Christopher Huff | The Times & Democrat

 As mentioned last week, the rules for submission to PsW are simple…and there are only two of them:

1. The photo must have been taken by someone on the staff at your newspaper—or for your newspaper by a stringer or contributor. (OK, I expanded the pool a bit with that “stringer or contributor” thing. So…sue me!).

2. The photo must have been published in your newspaper or on your web site.

Please submit the photo as a jpg. Don’t forget to tell us name of the photographer and include a brief note as to when and where the photo was taken, for what purpose, etc.

Otherwise, no gimmicks, no geegaws, no prizes. Just a way to show off your pix and see what others are doing. Comments are welcome, as always.

I’ll continue to post submitted (though not necessarily all) photos here. You know how it works…no submissions, no posting.

New feature: Photos of the Week

HERE’S ANOTHER WAY you can be part of Ed Henninger’s Blog! Send in your photos for a Photos of the Week feature. No gimmicks, no geegaws, no prizes. Just a way to show off your pix and see what others are doing. Comments are welcome, as always.

Each week, I’ll post the submitted pix here.

Two rules:

1. The photo must have been taken by someone on the staff at your newspaper. Yes…even the publisher.

2. The photo must have been published in your newspaper or on your web site.

Please submit the photo as a jpg file. Don’t forget to tell us name of the photographer and his/her position at your paper. If you wish, you can include a brief note as to when and where the photo was taken, for what purpose, etc.

You’ve got great pix—share them with us!

This is sooooooo easy.

Ed likes easy.

The dreaded double do-over

A DOUBLE DO-OVER isn’t quite as severe as a “double-dog dare ya” or the dreaded “triple-dog dare ya” (see A Christmas Story).

Still, it’s pretty strong stuff.

Nonetheless, I’m forced to call a “double do-over” on this week’s next two entries (which were last week’s top two entries…and the same for the week before). Here’s why: I discovered midweek last week that the reason for a strong fall-off in blog views was a problem with my email reminders getting through to subscribers. My apologies for that, but I believe all is fixed now.

1. Please check out the new site at www.henningerconsulting.com. Your comments will help me to improve the site.

2. Take this chance to vote in the poll on impediments to good design at community newspapers. There are only a few votes on the issue now. Let’s know what you think.

New web site for Henninger Consulting!

AFTER MONTHS OF WORK on content and design, the new Henninger Consulting web site is  up and running!

Well…maybe walking. There are still some nits here and there,  but we expect those to be resolved in the next few days. And we’re still at work on one other page.

Still, it’s lookin’ good and there will be updates to the site as time goes by. One of those updates will be including this blog as part of the site.

If you have a moment, please visit the site at henningerconsulting.com and let us know what you think.

And…stay tuned for those updates!

Poll results: Impediments to good design

“NO ONE HAS THE TIME.” Forty-four percent of those who voted in the LinkedIn poll say that’s the greatest impediment to good design at community newspapers.

Next highest number was 20 percent of the vote: “No one is trained to do quality design.” At 17 percent, “No one offers design leadership” received 5 of the 29 total votes. “No one bothers to plan” was the choice of 3 voters and “No one cares about design” received 2 votes.

Clearly, the respondents on LinkedIn feel that lack of time is the major barrier to good design at community newspapers.

Now it’s your turn.

The same poll, the same questions—but here on the blog, where access isn’t quite so limited as it is on LinkedIn.

Here’s the poll. Vote now!

Page from: Amanda Greever | The Daily Times

DESIGNER/EDITOR AMANDA sends along a recent food page from The Daily Times in Maryville, TN.

FROM AMANDA: “Have a page.  I’m kind of pleased with how this one turned out so I thought I’d pass it along to you. Hope you’re doing well! Amanda”

FROM ED:

1. I like the use of the photos.

2. Looks like there’s some horizontal scaling going on in the “Little goes…” headline.

3. Thank you for keeping the recipe in a module! Your readers thank you, too.

4. I like the idea of the “NUTS” headline done with the nuts. But…I don’t like the vertical headline—mostly because we read from left-to-right and not up-to-down. Though the look is catchy, I just don’t like vertical heads.

5. Perhaps you could have used something with greater visual interest, like the closeup of the walnut below. I love the bumps and curls and curves and highlights in this photo. Use it big, as the lead photo, with the other photos smaller? Whaddaya think?

Grammar in a graphic

ME MYSELF IS UNEFFECTED by grammar mistakes—most of the time. But than, once in a while even a curmudgeon editor like I needs some help.

So, I’m grateful to the folks at copyblogger for coming up with this handy graphic. And some of you may went to share this with your editor colleagues. Better yet, post it on a newsroom wall!

Page from: Scott M. Brings Plenty | Cherokee One Feather

SCOTT HAS BEEN MAKING steady improvements to his “Best Bets” page. This is his latest effort.

FROM SCOTT: Hello Ed, hope all is well.  Here’s this month’s “Best Bets” page.  I redid the header and used your tips so hopefully this is an improvement.  Thanks, Scott

FROM ED: 

1. This page seems to have a better organization and structure than the previous version.

2. The header is improved, but have you considered screening it to gray so it’s not quite so heavy?

3. The drop caps seem a bit too large for me. Try something in a condensed sans serif face, perhaps only four lines deep.

It will be interesting to see what others say.