The Guardian rebrand: our thoughts
The Guardian has unveiled it’s new branding for it’s newspaper, website and app. The rebrand includes a typeface, Guardian Headline, by London and New York based studio Commercial Type. It also features as the logo, replacing the signature blue banner. The newspaper itself will now be printed in a smaller tabloid size, and the online formats have also been streamlined. Editor-in-chief Katharine Viner said in a Guardian article earlier today that the redesign reflects a period of “creativity, imagination and focus, and we’re thrilled with the result.”
Here in the office we gave our opinions on the website, while Fran played the roving reporter and went to investigate the app and newspaper.
Michelle:
[on the website] I do like the shorter category bar at the top, with the option of a dropdown menu of ‘More’. It makes navigation much simpler compared to the old bar, which was very narrow and crammed. Having the categories colour coded is useful and functional too, although I’d like the colours to be a bit less arbitrary. The old blue used to unite the page, and without that I’m missing the sense of a strong Guardian identity. Picking a less disparate palette for the categories could help solve this. (Also they’ve made ‘Culture’ beige).
Dale:
[on the website] I think it always feels a little strange when the dimensions of a layout are the same but the colours and fonts are changed; it looks like it’s just been re-skinned rather than fully redesigned. It would look better without the thin lines, in my opinion. I’m really into the new logo and Guardian Headline font.
[on the newspaper] The paper might stand out less on the news-stand without the blue header, and I wonder if that will impact sales. Interesting that it’s smaller now. The newspaper claims that the move to tabloid-size printing will save several million pounds.
Fran:
[on the newspaper]
The entire paper feels more ‘designed’ in terms of layout, especially the internal pages. There’s a lot more variety within the layout – each story is typeset in a way that suits it. It feels ‘content first’ which I think is a good move, although I have yet to delve into any of the stories, so may change my mind! The photographs seem to ‘pop’ more – perhaps this is due to the padding around?
I popped out to buy the paper in my lunch break – in the Loughborough Students Union shop – it was laid out amongst the others, and it actually took me a while longer to notice. Having said that, the brand feels like it stands out more on the front sheet now – although I’m not currently convinced this is a positive – I’d much rather the main headline be the text that grabs my attention.
[on the app] The burger menu feels too prominent in a large black circle! I don’t notice as much change as the printed version, although I have an aversion to the same font (and colour!) being used for the logo and header – I didn’t know where to look!
[on the website] It was the smaller details that I enjoyed on the site – I like the use of speech boxes and how they integrate into the page, and prominence of the most viewed numbers. Although I wonder if the four thin lines that have been used throughout the site might feel old quite quickly. It wouldn’t surprise me if they disappeared in time – they feel overly designed at the moment.
Beth:
[on branding] The Guardian’s capital letter makes sense; they are a newspaper, they use capital letters! I also love those horizontal lines and off-white background colour that make the site feel like a physical paper. I’m glad that through their process of simplifying navigation, and developing an ‘easy to read’ font, the result is still impactful and interesting rather than bland and unimaginative.
Jo:
[on branding] To me the lower case ‘g’ of the guardian was very recognisable. I’m sad to see it go but I do like the new logo typeface and move away from lower case. It feels strong and sturdy – makes an impact. The loss of the blue feels a real shame though. Already the favicon is lost up there on my search bar among all the other tiny icons.
As a first impression the online update feels a bit insipid and washed out without the blocks of colour. However, navigation and ease of use are still clearly a focus and there’s nothing offputting. Shame all the news stories are red now – they all feel like bad news!