HERE ARE THREE PAGES from an auto preview section prepared by Lauri Shillings. Lauri’s note follows.
“Ed,
Attached are 2 pages from our recent auto preview guide.
This advertising piece comes out annually. We get the editorial content from a service, but it is up to me to package it and make it pop.
Front page ties in the auto dealer sponsor ad (and their car of choice) with the editorial content for that car.
Back page mimics the feel of the unusual ad on the front in color and type style.
Yes, I know there are color blocks on the front page… This time it is actually my doing instead of the newsroom’s. I tried working the page both ways (with and without color) and I really liked how the slate blue anchored the text on the right…. and it tied in better with the ad on the bottom.
I’ve sent the examples of both color versions.
Comments? Always willing to listen to good feedback from your readership.”
FROM ED: Given the far superior level of press work we’re getting these days—compared with only a few years ago—my objection to tint blocks and gradient screens is softening. I still have a strong problem, though, with the gratuitous use of color and tint blocks placed over stories without good design reasoning (a la your newsroom).
So, I really don’t object to the use of the gradient screen over the story at the right. And I think that the use of the reverse in the lead package is very effective—if it came off the press OK.
I think I’d not have used the slate blue, though. Instead, I’d have mimicked the gray in the ad at the bottom of the page. You’ll note that the gray in the ad takes on a warmer, tannish tone as it nears the bottom of the page. I think that clashes a bit with the coolness in the slate blue.
Otherwise, I think this is really nice!
How about the rest of you. What do you think?
Ed Henninger’s Blog 
I do agree with Ed. I wondered also about the use of the slate blue. Maybe a light gray or warm tan color could have been used. The blue doesn’t match the color scheme of your page. But overall, love the pages.
These pages are super sharp! The designer in me says bravo! Great use of photos here.
The editor in me wonders where the news ends and the advertising begins. Not sure if I understand the goal of the section here. As a reader I can’t tell if these are car reviews by paid staffers or advertorials. If all the content came from car companies it should have been labeled that way.
Beautiful work though!
I love the contrasts of size in these pages, and how everything hangs together. I agree with Ed on the reverse in the primary block: if the type held up on the press, great, but it’s risky, especially if the color consists of more than one ink.
My only discomfort with the primary page is the wrapped text overlapping the speedometer image. I would have liked to see the text standing off from the image just a little, to let the actual roundness of the speedometer support the faux roundness of the wrapped text.
Personally, I like the coolness of the slate blue, fading toward the warmth of the ad at the bottom. Broadsheet is a whole lot of vertical space to fill, and too much sameness from top to bottom would, I believe, reduce the impact and flow.
Nice work, Lauri!
On the main page, I’m not crazy about the text run around on the speedometer; actually, I like it a great deal, but it seems too close, like it wants room to breathe a bit. I love, love, love the ad — fonts, photo placement, text all seamlessly worked for me. Very nicely done.