CITYBEAT celebrates the 196th anniversary of the dueling death of Alexander Hamilton this week with a sleeker, more modern look and more news and information than ever.
On Nov. 17, 1994, CityBeat began serving readers in Cincinnati with a photo-filled, 32-page edition that hit the streets on a Thursday afternoon. Today, the CityBeat of the 21st century makes its debut with the same strong commitment to serving a proud community as it has over almost six years. That tradition continues with this week’s changes:
· For the first time, bold graphic elements will introduce every section front.
· A size that’s no slimmer or handier than before but is nonetheless easier to use.
· A new Contents page (page 2) for busy readers who need a quick read on the paper’s top stories.
· No new features designed to help children learn about current events.
These changes are among several that have been rolled out in the past few months. The paper’s size still is fairly handy, and all the news and features readers are accustomed to finding in CityBeat have been retained.
Readers in focus groups held at local bars who have previewed our changes say the new CityBeat is improved, more exciting to read and fits their busy lives better — especially when we’re buying the beer.
We hope it is a better fit than ever for you, too.
(Thanks to The Cincinnati Enquirer for the unauthorized use of its editor’s note from April 10, 2000.)
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But seriously, folks, this week does mark the final phase of CityBeat‘s makeover. If you arrived at this space via pages 2, 3, 4, etc., you’ve already seen our two biggest changes: new section openers and new/improved columns.
In an attempt to provide stronger delineation between sections of the paper, we’ve introduced section openers and mini contents boxes on right-hand pages (Voices, News, Music, Film, Dining, Arts and Classifieds). Flipping through the paper, you’ll have a clearer picture now of where certain sections and features begin — something readers told us they wanted.
The new Voices section packages some front-of-the-book favorites (Straight Dope, Pseudoquasiesque) with a brand new column (Your Negro Tour Guide) and ArtsBeat, which we’ve drafted from the back of the paper.
The new column gives us a chance to showcase Kathy Y. Wilson, who recently won a first place award for best lifestyle feature story in Greater Cincinnati in 1999 (“Black Women and Depression,” issue of Dec. 9-15, 1999). As she explains in her debut column, she’s ready to put a “head fake” on readers with a straight-on approach to racial, political, social and urban issues.
Steve Ramos’ ArtsBeat column has been a regular feature since CityBeat‘s early days, offering an insightful, opinionated and often critical take on Cincinnati’s vibrant arts scene. It’s helped us find our place as strong advocates for more and better public support for local artists of all stripes.
Over the years, the arts have become intertwined with just about everything we do at CityBeat — so it finally made sense to feature ArtsBeat in a more prominent place in the paper. Maybe its presence up front will open a few more eyes to the region’s growing arts scene.
Why are we opening the Voices section with Pseudo and This Modern World? Simply, they’re everything I want to be when I grow up: smart, funny, cynical, edgy. Tear out that page and put it in your personal time capsule — it’ll be the best reminder of right here right now you can find.
Sure, there’s more. Lots more: New typefaces, new headline treatments, blah, blah, blah.
What’s in it for you? At best, you’ll hardly notice the design tweaks. Good design work should facilitate instead of distract.
In the least, it’s different. And repeat after me: Different is good.
Now that we’ve given this “present” to you, let me ask you for a favor. Participate in the process a little more. Write a Letter to the Editor. Submit a photo for Squint. Send your event information to the calendar editor. Tell us where your band’s playing. Drop our columnists a line about something they should check out.
Come on. You scratch our back, we’ll scratch your’s.
If you get more involved, maybe we’ll even make CityBeat sleeker, slimmer and handier. Hey, we’re doing this all for you, after all.
You’re welcome. ©
This article appears in Jul 12-18, 2000.
