llf cgoilgT McD Qg

About Building
g ilk NEW HOUSE'

C

olleagues at The
Jewish News are tol-
erant of my
propensity to use
analogies. "There
he goes again," they
say under their
breath through strained smiles when I
uncork one. So, it shouldn't surprise
you that in explaining the reasons for
the redesigned Jewish News in your
hands, I am reminded of a house.
Over the past decade, this house has
expanded dramatically, with many
rooms added to accommodate a grow-
ing family. In the rush to build, the
overall floor plan lost its flow.
Similarly, The Jewish News has
grown significantly. It's doubled in size
in 10 years while adding several new
sections and features to accommodate
the needs and interests of our diverse
Jewish community. Though you con-
tinue to read the publication from
cover to cover, you lose your way,
occasionally, due to weak indexing or
uninviting design. At least you still
know where to find the obituaries!
Correcting an inadequate floor plan
requires more than a coat of paint,
carpeting and new fixtures. It needs
basic structural attention. Similarly,
improving the readability of The
Jewish News means more than addi-
tional splashes of color, white space
and a new typeface. It requires a dis-
tinctive, yet logical creative core that
marries a vision of the future with an
understanding of the past and present.
That's why we sought out Seymour
Chwast. Founder of the venerable
Pushpin Group with Milton Glaser,
Seymour is an international icon of
design. From kiosks in Times Square
to Mobil "Masterpiece Theatre"

9/1 2
1997

4

staff (who could resist telling an icon
a thing or two about design!).
But the impetus for change came
from you. You told us, through a
series of focus groups and other means
of communication, what you liked
about The Jewish News and what we
could do to improve its usefulness.
Yes, you wanted a better contents
page, more indexing, shorter stories
with better graphics, more white
space, wider columns, an editorial well
and more distinctive advertising.
Today's paper begins to achieve that.
But you also said you wanted a news-
paper that your children, and grand-
children, would read to connect them
with their Jewish community and
heritage.
Of all the creative elements con-
tained in today's Jewish News, our new
logo, designed by Seymour, may be
the most significant. It visually creates
the linkage between our past and pre-
sent with a big, optimistic eye on the
future. Pre-Seymour, we saw our logo
as nothing more than a klunky thing
we put on T-shirts and coffee mugs.
The Jewish News redesign is part of
an ongoing pledge to provide you, our
valued readers and advertisers, with a
publication that continues to meet
your changing needs ... to create a
sense of community where all can find
a home, or at least a favorite room or
two and a great floor plan.
We value your comments and sug-
gestions. Please call us on our special
message line at (248) 354-6060 ext.
307. Or, if you prefer, call me directly
at (248) 354-6060. Thank you for
giving us the opportunity to serve
you.

Photos by Dan iel Lipp itt

To our readers:

Above: Seymour Chwast goes over the
new design of The Jewish News with
Corporate Art Director Robyn Katz.

Right: Publisher Arthur M Horwitz:
`Meeting the changing needs of our
readers."

posters, Barbie doll packaging to
wrappers for new Hershey candy bars,
the New York Times Review of Books to
Atlantic Monthly, Seymour brings a
range of solutions to design chal-
lenges. Also an accomplished artist
(his work is part of the permanent
collections of the Museum of Modern
Art, the Smithsonian and the Library
of Congress), Seymour's work graced
the cover of our 1996 Rosh Hashanah
issue.

Truly yours,

Seymour worked closely with our
corporate art director, Robyn Katz,
and received ongoing feedback and
ideas from a very involved Jewish News

Arthur M. Horwitz
Publisher