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Monday, July 20, 2009

HINDUSTAN TIMES... AB AUR BHI BEHTAR!

Hi Friends,

Now, this is what I call a Redesign!

Last week in Indian publishing world, a true makeover is happened to Hindustan Times. It can be referred as a great example of a sensible & well executed exercise of face lifting of a print product. Not in terms of design & look-n-feel only but in terms of over all content structure & positioning also. It is not limited up to typography or colors but it has changed the entire personality of the publication.

I must say that the whole exercise is turned out quite successful and it is well noticed in the market. The only reason I could see behind this kind of result is that HT has followed the correct approach of redesigning that any redesigning exercise must start from Editorial for the content first and then it should come to the Design for the support.

In the past recent months or years, we have seen many so called redesigned versions of even by big Indian publications but no one could do much beyond touch-ups. Generally publications while redesigning, change layout & typography only or may be their mast-head but the content structure, writing style, jargon, copy style remain same… and then they wonder why even after revamping their product is not picking up!

Publication houses spend lots of money & time on this redesigning exercise but most of the time, the results are not as great as they expect. Why?

Well, I feel just because of these basic mistakes-
- Jumping into the process of redesigning without the clear goals
- Not estimating the worthiness of redesigning
- Overlooking the content aspect
- Incorrect approach of redesigning
- Not measuring the longevity of redesign
- Controlled by inexperienced team
- Doing this exercise by in house team (in most cases)
- Limiting up to product only (360 degree communication inconsistency)
- Mismatch in execution or lack of training
- Improper marketing or communication etc.

And any of above said mistake can throw your entire efforts into drain.

HT, in its new avatar, looking even better, more connected & structured. I hope that the product will definitely see its positive results very soon.