Weekly Newspaper Masthead / Logo Fine Tuning

[Skyler]

Wanted some fine tuning of this weekly newspaper masthead that I created. I'm sure that this is the final concept if not the final draft. Constructive criticism of the masthead and the logo are welcome but at this stage I'm looking at spacing/kerning issues for this specific draft so, if it is not too difficult, please focus on that.

The font is Warnock Pro, Light Display. Images saved from Illustrator CS2 into 150dpi PNG format.

First the masthead:



Now the logo:



Right click, save as or view image to see the full size.

[urstwile]

I'd adjust the tracking, make it much tighter, and the wordspacing as well. I'm not sure I'm fond of the way the Th meshes together, I realize you're trying to ligaturize it, but I'm not fond of the way that's working. If the font has a bolder weight, I think you might want to look at trying that.

The issue specific stuff underneath looks much too large to me in proportion to the masthead title.

Nice typeface choice, what's that one called?

[Skyler]

Originally Posted by urstwile

I'd adjust the tracking, make it much tighter, and the wordspacing as well. I'm not sure I'm fond of the way the Th meshes together, I realize you're trying to ligaturize it, but I'm not fond of the way that's working. If the font has a bolder weight, I think you might want to look at trying that.

Regarding the ligature 'Th'--that is just a standard ligature in the set. Illustrator automatically replaces 'T' and 'h' with the ligature when they're in a word together if standard ligatures are enabled in the OpenType panel. Here's the word 'The' with both options:



I'm not quite sure which one looks better. I'll make up a number of bold samples of the full masthead just for comparison. Also, for the tracking, is that an overall adjustment or just specific parts of the words?

The issue specific stuff underneath looks much too large to me in proportion to the masthead title.

I'll see if I can't correct that. I stuck it in there so people would see it as a masthead instead of an insurance company logo.

Nice typeface choice, what's that one called?

Warnock Pro (Display).

[tZ]

I don't know if you seen this but, some inspiration being its for a newspaper and all:

http://www.researchstudios.com/home/home.php

[urstwile]

Maybe it's just a screen preview thing then, if that's the ligature off the font, it should be okay, it's just got an odd join on the preview. Plus, maybe the size isn't great for the ligature. Ligatures are usually used in text sized fonts. Anyway, don't sweat it.

Tracking would adjust the overall words, and then you'd individually kern certain pairs from there. It just feels too open to me. You might want to wait for some other opinions, though (it's slow here on weekends), before you make a decision.

The general feel I get is that the weight of the type is not masthead strength, it feels a little too delicate for that usage. Hopefully Warnock has additional heavier weights you can play around with. It might also help if you tracked it tighter on this weight, to give it a denser feel.

[Skyler]

Here's four bold types. They are, in order, "Warnock Pro Light Display," "Warnock Pro Display," "Warnock Pro Regular," and "Warnock Pro Semibold Display."



Of the four I like the first two, light display and display, the best. I think that the latter two are much too 'fat' for my taste.

[Skyler]

Originally Posted by tZ

I don't know if you seen this but, some inspiration being its for a newspaper and all:

http://www.researchstudios.com/home/home.php

Awesome, thanks! I've been looking at newspaper websites all day but haven't seen anything like that in my research. Great tip, thank you.

[urstwile]

Is this a newspaper as in reporting news, or a community weekly, or what? I should have asked that first, because the feel of the masthead should reflect that.

Your lighter weight font will probably be fine, it's going to spread when it's printed anyway and look heavier. I would still make the overall letterspacing tighter. But that could just be me.

[Buda]

Masthead: Try different dates and issues - Work with the longest date and also the shortest date to be sure that both will look ok on the space provided.

[Skyler]

Originally Posted by urstwile

Is this a newspaper as in reporting news, or a community weekly, or what? I should have asked that first, because the feel of the masthead should reflect that.

It will be a free community arts and entertainment weekly based in the Pacific Northwest. The regional competition is the Eugene Weekly (www.eugeneweekly.com), Willamette Week (www.willametteweek.com), and the Portland Mercury (www.portlandmercury.com). However, it's going to have a much smaller readership and won't be a 'shock' paper like the others--funny enough, it takes a lot of money to have all that stuff in your paper not to mention the legal fees. So the logo is reflecting that quieter side of the area.

Your lighter weight font will probably be fine, it's going to spread when it's printed anyway and look heavier. I would still make the overall letterspacing tighter. But that could just be me.

Agreed. I'm working on the letterspacing right now. I'll post a sample in a bit.

I'm not sure what to do about the dates and issues. I think that it might be in a line on its own seperate from the masthead due to the extra serif-limbs coming from the characters.