« Older Entries  |  Front page

Charles Apple: The Visual Side of Journalism

 

‘Fargo (N.D.) Forum’ archive

Number of comments in parentheses

Feb. 7: Fargo TV station (apparently) digitally erases newspaper’s downtown sign (2)

We’ve all seen the dreaded Photoshop scandals in newspapers and magazines. But today, we bring you the story of what appears to be the first TV new Photoshop incident. And it’s not the news they’re enhancing or unpleasant parts of the story or even a “wardrobe malfunction.” It’s the name of the TV station’s competitor. Here’s a screen cap of [...]

Feb. 4: Fargo Forum seeking a designer

Presentation editor Bill Wambeke of the Forum of Fargo, N.D., and Moorhead, Minn., tells us his paper seeks a top-notch designer. A quality paper of this caliber hardly needs my help. But when Bill asked if I’d post a little something about it, I was delighted to agree. First, the official want ad, quoted directly from JournalismJobs.com: The Forum of [...]

Jan. 6: Fargo (N.D.) Forum prints special section for football fans who traveled to championship game in Texas

You know all about zoned editions. But what about when your local team plays for a national national title 1,000 miles from home? That’s the problem the Forum of Fargo, N.D. faced — and solved — this weekend when North Dakota State University defended its NCAA Division I Football title in Frisco, Texas. The Forum printed a 14-page special section [...]

Nov. 15, 2012: Five features treatments for the new ‘Breaking Dawn, Part 2′ movie (3)

I’m not a fan — at all — of the Twilight movie series. But then again, you’d expect that: I’m not a teenaged girl. At whom the entire Twilight franchise seems aimed. But young people are a demographic we should be reaching out to. So papers are wise to play up the new Twilight movie — Breaking Dawn, Part 2 [...]

Oct. 4, 2012: A look at the first presidential debate… in headlines (1)

As I mentioned earlier today, I was awfully disappointed in today’s debate front pages. Mostly, I thought the headlines were, at best, less than helpful to readers. At worst, I thought many of them were laughable. I’m going to run through these pretty quickly. I won’t identify most of these papers. If you’re curious, place your cursor atop the headline [...]

Oct. 2, 2012: An amazing photo and other notable Tuesday A1 presentations

Let’s take a quick look at a few notable front-page presentations… ___________________________________ THERE’S NO WAY THAT’S NOT PHOTOSHOPPED — CHICAGO TRIBUNE Chicago, Ill. Circulation: 414,590 That’s what I thought the first time I laid eyes on this amazing image by Chris Walker of the Chicago Tribune. But, sure enough, that is not a computer rendering. That is Sunday’s “harvest moon” [...]

Aug. 26, 2012: A look at today’s Neil Armstrong front pages (4)

Most folks did pretty well on page one today. There were relatively few mistakes and flubs. I’ve love to take credit for helping that happen — with my post yesterday afternoon — but, most likely, all the folks out there in newspaper design land have simply become more aware of the common pitfalls. My hat is off to you all. [...]

July 14, 2012: Eight interesting Saturday front-page visuals

A look at today’s most interesting front-page displays… — FAYETTEVILLE OBSERVER Fayetteville, N.C. Circulation: 49,163 The best visual paper in North Carolina today took a soft approach with a story about whitewater kayaking. Played large across the top of the front was this great overhead shot by staffer Andrew Craft. — THE FORUM Fargo, N.D. Circulation: 45,298 From whitewater in [...]

July 12, 2012: Six great front-page photos, played nice and large

Our theme this week seems to have been: Use your picture big and get the hell out of its way. On Sunday, we saw an awesome photo that wasn’t used large enough. Yesterday, we saw sports pictures that were indeed played well. Today, we’ll see six more front pages in which nice pictures were indeed played nice and large. — [...]

June 10, 2012: Twelve notable Sunday front-page visuals

Today was a huge day for spectacular visuals on page one. Especially infographics. Let’s take a look at the day’s 12 best front pages, shall we? — STAR-LEDGER Newark, N.J. Circulation: 278,940 The big story today in Newark: How AT&T is using the GPS tracking data in your cell phone. Staffer Eric Sagara writes: You probably don’t know this, but [...]

May 2, 2012: I hate bubble charts. I hate ‘em, I hate ‘em, I hate ‘em… (3)

Earlier today, I wrote a glowing review of three front-page infographics, including this gorgeous one in the Forum of Fargo, N.D. What I said about that chart: As a rule, I don’t like bubble charts. Almost always, anything a bubble chart can do, a bar chart can do better. Including showing the difference in numerical values. But [artist's name here] [...]

May 2, 2012: Three papers… three front pages… three great infographics (6)

Today must have been infographics day or something. Three Midwestern newspapers led with huge infographics on page one. And I love it. Let’s check ‘em out, shall we? — POST-CRESCENT Appleton, Wis. Circulation: 38,421 The story today in Appleton: Cases of melanoma are on the rise. A bar chart shows the number of annual cases over 35 years. What I [...]

April 15, 2012: They might not have been ‘innovative.’ But today’s Titanic front pages were, in fact, effective. (3)

I was loathe to write about today’s Titanic front pages. Before I even thought out getting out of bed this morning, the Poynter Institute’s Julie Moos posted a large number of front pages from the Newseum. I changed my mind, though, when I saw this tweet from Ian Hill, currently of KQED News in San Francisco and formerly of the [...]

April 11, 2012: Page-one illustrations drawn on an iPad with a free app (1)

On the front of the Forum of Fargo, N.D. today: Diagrams that explain “tile” drainage systems to remove standing water from agricultural fields. The interesting part — interesting for those of us who do not operate farms, I mean — is that the illustrations for those graphics appear to be hand-drawn. Appear to be. But they’re not. Forum graphic artist [...]

April 8, 2012: More titanic displays commemorating the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic (1)

The 100th anniversary of the Titanic hitting a fatal iceberg will be next Saturday night. The 100th anniversary if the ship actually sinking will be Sunday. Yet, a number of papers got a bit of a head-start on their looks back at the tragedy, using the larger amounts of real estate they get for display on Sundays to good advantage. [...]

March 9, 2012: Today’s most interesting front page (7)

My daily stroll through the Newseum didn’t result in much to talk about today. I was captivated, however, by this front page: The Forum of Fargo and Moorhead, N.D., circulation 51,165. Seems to me that there’s an awful lot here to pull in even the most finicky of readers. For starters, there’s the lead story about a woman who was [...]

Jan. 8, 2012: Inside the Fargo, N.D., Forum’s football championship coverage (1)

While much of the nation is focused on the NFL playoffs and the BCS Championship game coming up on Monday, there are other football champions being crowned. Bill Wambeke — presentation editor of the Forum of Fargo/Moorhead, N.D., circulation 51,165 — reminds us of one of them. Bill writes: Saturday, we had one of the biggest single events in Fargo’s [...]

Nov. 18, 2011: Features treatments for the new Twilight movie (3)

As I write this, my daughter is at the early morning showing of Breaking Dawn, Part One, the new — and penultimate — movie in the Twilight series. I managed to talk her out of the midnight showing last night but couldn’t keep her away any longer. What did stay away were features treatments of this movie. Even after a [...]

Sept. 25, 2011: A sideways sports front in Fargo, N.D.

Bill Wambeke, presentation editor of the Forum of Fargo-Moorhead, N.D., writes: You seem to be a fan of sideways sports presentations, thought I’d show you what we did for Sunday’s paper. In honor of North Dakota State’s win over Minnesota (again), assistant sports editor Hayden Goethe turned the sports cover into a poster and put it on its side. The [...]

July 9, 2011: Thirty notable front pages showing the final space shuttle launch

Our mission today: To dig through today’s archive at the Newseum and look for 30 interesting front page treatments featuring Friday’s space shuttle launch — the last of the program — as a way of commemorating the 30 years (plus three months) since the first shuttle flight. That’s a lot of pages, so I’ve tried to organize them for you [...]

« Older Entries