New York Observer to emphasize long-form, scoops with new web design

Change has been perhaps the most reliable constant at the New York Observer in recent years. In the past two years alone, the Manhattan weekly blew through three top editors and about as many redesigns in print and online.

But Elizabeth Spiers, the paper's newest editor-in-chief, says the publication is "going back in the direction that it probably should have stayed on," and she's now ready to unveil the latest changes at the salmon-colored weekly.

Redesigns will debut both for the paper and its website Wednesday. On the print side, the face-lift isn't all that drastic. "The former design had several elements that work well in magazines on white glossy paper, but not so much on salmon newsprint--aggressive use of white space, heavy fonts, large photo illustrations," Spiers told The Cutline. "So we basically went back to treating it like a newspaper, tabloid format or not. ... We didn't rip the whole thing up and start over, but I think this version's a lot cleaner and more readable." (Disclosure: I worked at The Observer until about a year before Spiers came on board.)

The online tinkering was more aggressive. The paper has ditched its former content-management system, Drupal, in favor of a lighter WordPress CMS. Meanwhile, buzzy design firm Hard Candy Shell handled the user experience and aesthetic elements, "which focused on cleaner presentation that would accommodate more breaking news and higher volume posting," said Spiers. "The new design does little to distinguish between long form features that appear in the paper and long-form web exclusives, which we'll be doing far more of--meaning more long-form altogether, and no assuming that if something runs longer than 500 words, it can only run affixed to a slice of dead tree. But we do also expect that the biggest change will be an emphasis on breaking news and smaller scoops throughout the day."

The redesign won't be live until the paper hits stands Wednesday morning, but you can check out a preview of the new homepage below.