Colorado State University's daily student-run newspaper, The Rocky Mountain Collegian, is dedicated to serving and covering the CSU and Fort Collins communities.
This is the Collegian's design blog. In each post we will feature some of the paper's best design elements, other non-design work done by the staff and new or exciting happenings in the design world.
Thursday, January 20, 2011. The Rocky Mountain Collegian entertainment review page. The Verve section runs weekly, Thursdays. This is the final piece of the paper’s 2011 redesign *Notice the new design for the brand of the page. We decided to stray away from Verve Vibes due to the fact that it is no longer only a music review page. It now will include music, books, movies and other Collegian reviews. So now the page is called Alternative Voice. It uses the space much more efficiently, and also utilizes a design that is more common today.
The comparison of the Collegian bugs.
The comparison of the Collegian breakout boxes.
The comparison of the Collegian internal teases.
A New Semester, A New Look
After an inspiring trip to SND, Greg and I realized the great many improvements the Collegian could use to spice things up and add new elements that, as you’ll see, appeal a bit more to our college audience. Amid the comments about our teases and front packages, we realized a minor redesign was in order, and over these past few weeks, that’s exactly what we worked to create.
When I became Design Editor, I knew there were things I wanted to change, especially after my time at the Reporter-Herald. The Collegian was headed in the right direction, but wasn’t quite what I wanted to see. So after a semester of experimentation, pushing the limits with cutouts and new headline formats, I found a style I liked and thought fit the existing Collegian appearance. A lot was inspired by older years, bringing back elements that for some reason were taken away. In this new image for the Collegian, the goal is to look more professional and more organized, working with grids and boxes that complement the pre-existing image.
I’ve come to love what I came up with, and I feel like the changes are all a step in the right direction. The Strip Club, a new front page element, is the most exciting. This rail, inspired by Tim Harrower’s “The Edge” at The Oregonian, has become a daily element, one that will hold jokes, facts and random thoughts from this paper’s editorial board as a way to add a little college humor to the Collegian. The other changes include:
- New, bolder teases with an emphasis on catchier phrases and larger photos.
- Altered breakout boxes, adding a clean, simple style and removing color that ultimately isn’t needed. These will also include internal teases and media bugs, all of which will remain nearly consistent in size.
- A shift on opinion pages, creating a smoother layout with proper emphasis on unique elements (including an exciting addition of a student editorial cartoonist).
- A complete change for Verve Vibes - still in the works - that will complement the new focus on reviews and an edgier, more hipster style.
- A change in fonts for breakout, cutlines and other box elements. A subtle change from Arial to Arial Narrow has been established.
I hope you enjoy the changes we’ve made, and find the Collegian as attractive as ever (we certainly like it!)
