The Suburban: Evolving and responding

By Beryl Wajsman, Editor

Newspapers, particularly community ones, thrive by listening and changing. Evolution and response. That is the reason for the new look of The Suburban that begins with today’s issue.
Many of you wrote us that you wanted a crisper, sharper and more readable layout. We responded. Others suggested that the cover tell you more of what’s inside. We responded. Younger readers suggested a fresher look and feel in the section heads, titles and fonts. We responded. Evolving and responding together is what community newspapers are all about.

Working for some time on this with our graphic and technical directors Karen Cross and Oliver Sutton, I can tell you they did more than tweak. They conceived of a bold new look. The design speaks to our confidence in meeting the challenges of today and tomorrow. Our belief that newspapers are neither just a business nor a lost cause in the new world of the internet.
We will always want color and pictures and the texture of words. The internet cannot provide that. More than anything, we all want to feel the comfort and solidity of a trusted friend between our fingers telling us what we need to know. The physicality of a newspaper realizes and informs the sense of community spirit in a way that the ether of computers never can. When you touch The Suburban you are touching the pictures, descriptions and colors of the friends and neighbours around you.

The newspaper is some 450 years old. The Suburban is just over 45 years old. And newspapers remain important because of the way they present ideas as well as presenting those ideas. It’s about context and contour. So dear readers, welcome to the new look of The Suburban. It is bold and resolute and we’ll be together for a long time to come.