The Independent newspaper has been in circulation for 27 years and on November 1st, the title refreshed its appearance with a new look.
The paper has returned its masthead to black from red and it runs vertically up its front cover. There’s also a return fir serif font and stripped back colour aims for a more elegant modern look.
The redesign hopes to allow for high-impact stories on the front pages, while inside provides a new platform for the paper’s international perspective alongside more integrated commentary and analysis.
The redesign also includes a new segment, ‘Section 2’, which features generalist and specialist features in addition to Arts coverage. Obituaries, Business and Sports pages remain in their current positions but incorporate the new design and style.
Amol Rajan, editor of The Independent, said: “We wanted to go back to the future and embrace the maxim of our first editor Andreas Whittam Smith to develop a design that is ‘classic, with a twist’. The new-look paper highlights our best elements; it is true to our heritage, but also radical and innovative – as The Independent has always been – and also incorporates a strong dose of mischief.”
MEC Opinion
The new look Independent is a bold move to modernise and refresh a title within a market suffering circulation declines. The new look is cleaner and easier to read, which may help to extend popularity with a younger audience. The masthead moving from the top of the title to a vertical strip leaves a big space at the top of the front page which could potentially be utilised for advertising opportunities. Whether or not this is going to be on offer is yet to be seen, but it would be an interesting move. With The Independent’s circulation down just under 14 per cent year-on-year to just under 70,000 copies, the re-brand could be a commercial push to help steady these declines. The next ABCs will reveal initial results on any circulation uplifts