14 months for 14 newspapers
Sunday saw the publication of "Zentralschweiz am Sonntag," the 14th redesigned newspaper of the NZZ regional media. This marks the completion of the biggest and most complex redesign in Swiss newspaper history.
Two different layouts in two different regions, Eastern and Central Switzerland, different histories and mentalities made the project challenging. Bodara, an agency specializing in editorial design, was responsible for the entire redesign of the NZZ regional media. Tobias Peier, owner of Bodara : "On the one hand, it was a matter of bringing the layout of the newspapers together, as a basis for the exchange of content. On the other hand, they wanted newspapers that look serious, credible and of high value."
The redesign of the NZZ regional media is the largest and most complex editorial design project in Swiss newspaper history. The NZZ regional media section comprises 14 weekly and Sunday titles with over 250,000 printed copies and around 565,000 readers.
The project started in July 2015, and after four months of preparation leading up to the pitch and ten months of implementation, it has now been completed with a two-stage rollout in eastern and central Switzerland. Bodara has standardized the design elements of the 14 titles. A functional column system, the use of new fonts, a color and information graphics concept, and a specially designed logo/title font are the core elements of the new layout. In addition, Bodara is responsible for the production of sample pages and templates as well as the design of templates for publishing pages and newspaper inserts. The journalistic director of the NZZ regional media, Pascal Hollenstein is very pleased with the result: "A beautiful layout, tidy and calm."
Responsible at NZZ Regional Media: Jürg Weber (Head of Regional Media); Pascal Hollenstein (Head of Journalism Regional Media); Sven Gallinelli (Visual Page Maker, Project Manager); Christine Bolt (Deputy Head of St. Galler Tagblatt); Ueli Kaltenrieder (Head of Publishing and Marketing LZ Medien): Stefan Bogner (Head of Layout and Infographics St. Gallen), Bettina Schibli (Head of Strategic Projects). Responsible at Bodara: Tobias Peier (Managing Director, Project Manager), Dominique Schmitz (Deputy Project Manager), Bahar Büyükkavir and Mark Ruoss. Photography: Daniel Sutter and Dominique Schmitz.
