Netbooks, cell phones, media players have joined radio and television in the last years in a continuous battle against newspapers. Why read news on paper when we can get them faster online? Upcoming generations of e-books (fully connected, easier to read, foldable, readable under sunlight) will probably say goodbye to newspapers faster that we imagine.

However, there is still hope for one our oldest publications. Designer Jacek Utko started redesigning newspapers a couple of years ago. According to him, there is “no practical reasons for newspapers to survive” and they need a complete update in both content and design.

Jacek studied the business and the goals of the newspapers before he went to the creation phase. This is a very solid approach for a designer. He believes that the new role of the designer is to change the process from the beginning to the end. With a good knowledge of the publication he started experimenting with types, illustrations, graphics and colors. He says he treats newspapers as posters, where the front page is his signature.

Want to know the result?

Not only his work won the award for  Worlds Best Designed Newspaper but sales increased substantially. The complete redesign influenced readers to connect with newspapers again. This a great example of how design is supposed to establish a link between form and function.

Watch his talk at TED:

Sources: 

Jacek Utko’s website

TED

Tags: classic, design, form, function, newspaper, redesign