A regional daily has unveiled a “radically redesigned” masthead with a nod to its own history as well as its local football team.
The Ipswich Star has unveiled the new masthead, which features a star initially used on the front page of its first edition in 1885.
The Archant-owned Star has also dropped red from its front page, instead using what it terms ‘Ipswich Town blue’ in honour of the football club whose home ground is a stone’s throw from the newspaper’s new office.
The paper’s relaunch, unveiled on Thursday, also coincided with the launch of its new campaign to get a northern bypass for the town it serves.
In a piece about the relaunch, editor Brad Jones described the changes as a “statement of intent” and “modernisation” of the Star.
He added: “The deliberate move to drop the red is simply because we want to reflect a modern, progressive Ipswich.
“The new masthead also contains a nod to the past. When we were first published in 1885 – then called the Star of the East – there was a bold star at the centre of the design.
“We’ve reinstated that star, and we’re affectionately calling the colour ‘Ipswich Town blue’ – we are now next door neighbours with the football club, after all.”
Brad said the Star had made many changes over the past few months to ensure it was “more relevant than ever” in Ipswich.
He continued: “Our ambition is for the Star to inform, surprise, entertain and connect with the town’s many different communities every day. We can do this better than ever before with the endless opportunities of our print and digital platforms.
“And we want to continue to help our advertisers – our fantastic business community – reach a big local audience.”
The paper’s cover price remains 75p.
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If using the star symbol from 1885 is ‘modernising’ the paper the well of original 21st century creativity must have run dry, and how sad that the paper,all 75p a days worth of it,is actually sponsored and has branding above the Masthead,is there nothing sacred and beyond the reach of the desperate money grabbing to make ends meet?
As for editor Brads plea of
“… to help our advertisers – our fantastic business community – reach a big local audience”
With so few copies sold these days and businesses advertising elsewhere it will take more than a fresh coat of paint and new clothes to regain the thousands of lost readers and advertisers of the star I’m afraid, far better to have improved the quality of the news gathering,to have kept the best staff and to have this grown circulation thus delivering a ‘big local audience” but when a quick buck is needed desperate measures need to be taken however it seems like shutting the door after the horse has bolted.
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Modernising our paper, but using a naff looking bit of clip art from 1885 – mixed messages here.
Such commitment to the brand new look that the next day’s paper was dropped in price to just 10p.
And there’s not even any actual news on the front page. Is this a sign of things to come?
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