I’ve had such a great time visiting publishers, editors, designers and ad reps at conventions over the past few months. At most conventions, I’ve sat at tables pulled together to accommodate 20 or more publishers and editors as I critiqued their newspapers.

My most recent stop was at the North Dakota Newspaper Association convention. Having spoken for this group many times in the past, I dutifully planned my trip to Bismarck, only to learn I was heading to the wrong city. One rental car and three hours later, I was in Fargo – in plenty of time for the convention.

I was especially impressed by one young man who had bought his local newspaper when he heard it was about to close. With a full-time job requiring a lot of travel, he assembled the necessary support to publish the weekly paper. As if that weren’t enough, he also published a neighbouring paper for a few weeks, when the publisher there became too ill to work. His dedication is inspiring, and his newspaper is filled with local stories that read like those of a seasoned veteran.

We spent some time after the convention sessions discussing possible improvements. I’m looking forward to seeing his redesigned pages soon.

Since returning from Fargo, I’ve received several front pages from publishers who wanted me to see what they had done following my critique. It amazes me to see the improvement in these papers after such a short time together. Just yesterday, I opened my inbox to find the front page of the Walsh County Record. Jackie Thompson, publisher, reminded me I had visited their newspaper more than 20 years ago in Grafton, North Dakota. I felt like a proud parent after seeing her new front page.

Here are a few of the changes she had made to the page:

• The Walsh County Record now has a brand-new flag across the top of the front page. There is one critique I have of the new design. It’s much better than the previous flag, but I would find a way to spread out the letters in ‘Record’ or possibly use ‘County Record’ with ‘The Walsh County’ above. Still, it’s so much better than the old flag.
• I like the way the newspaper uses teasers above the top of the front page. They are designed in such a way that they grab attention and make the reader want to go to pages A4 and B1 to read the stories. I also appreciate that the baseball pitcher is facing toward the middle of the page, not off the page.
• There is a consistency to the page that draws the reader in. The fonts used for the headlines are visually appealing. I tend to use the same font, a serif, for headlines, but it’s perfectly acceptable to have one serif and one sans serif.
• The body font is large enough. I’m surprised how often newspapers use body text that is too small. People won’t read small body text. They might read a paragraph or two, but not more. I advise clients to shorten stories to make room for larger text if necessary.
• The bylines and subheads stand out and draw the readers to the stories. I tend to prefer light sans serif fonts for bylines, but Jackie has found a way to make these work.
• The rules between packages make it more likely readers will read a story rather than be overwhelmed by text.
• The page is balanced. Sure, there are always things I might do differently. A line across the bottom of the page would help create a more balanced look, but the design is already very balanced; people in the photos are facing the right direction, and there’s no fear that the page will tilt in one direction or another.
• The red kickers are effective. I’d probably not use more than two on a page, but this is the first issue of the new design. Things like that will work out in time.

This was one of several front pages I’ve received from publishers in North Dakota over the past two weeks. All were significant improvements over the previous designs. I can always find something I’d do differently (I wouldn’t have used the bus artwork on this page), but these suggestions are sometimes a matter of personal preference.

While looking over newspapers spread out over the registration table at the Wyoming Press Association convention in January, I commented that I’d never seen so many attractive front pages in one state before. I loved the person's response at the table. “It’s because you were here last year and showed everyone how to improve their newspapers. Everyone went home and redesigned their papers.”

Yes, I’m a proud parent.