The Hull Daily Mail and East Riding Mail have today unveiled a new look as part of a huge re-branding exercise by their publisher.

The sister titles have been given new matching mastheads, which mean they look much more alike than they have previously.

The new look is also in line with the new design and corporate colours of black, white and cyan for parent company Hull Daily Mail Publications, which will now be known as Mail Publications – although the trading name remains the same.

This means all company stationery, letterheads, compliment slips, business cards, bill posters, vendor boxes, delivery vans and point of sale material have also been given a new look.

Editor John Meehan said: “This is a complete company re-branding exercise.

“Over time the visual materials we have to promote the company have been inconsistent. This will present an utterly coherent, very clear picture to readers and customers and give us a more powerful brand identity.

“It’s been an evolutionary process. The current Hull Daily Mail masthead was created in the 1980s and is looking more than a little dated.

“The East Riding Mail was introduced in earnest about a year ago with a different style, but now it is established we have taken the opportunity to bring the two titles back together.”

The design for the new company branding was created entirely in-house, and the work was primarily done by design development editor Alex Leys after discussions with editor John and managing director Phil Inman.

Inspiration was taken from a previous Hull Daily Mail masthead, which appeared prior to 1986 when the paper was still broadsheet and was known as The Daily Mail.

How The Daily Mail looked

The company also took advice on colour analysis and the emotional impact that colour can have, from Colour Affects.

John said: “The new look has a classic feel of authority and stature with a reassuring echo of the past.

“We were very keen to make black and white a big part as they are very clean and flexible.

“We also liked the cyan which gives it a fresh modern feel.”

Months of planning has meant that the new company branding across its circulation area is now in place in the most obvious areas, although it could take up to three years for the change to be completed.

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