The first time the Red&Black used a teaser in its masthead - it caught my attention. That is, after all, what it's supposed to do. The second, third, fourth, and twentieth time, however, it began to get off-putting.
Teasers can be particularly effective at getting someone to pick up a newspaper - get some interesting image high up on the front page that makes a passerby stop and say, "why are there Mardi Gras masks around the Red&Black's name?" and they're pretty likely to pick it up and flip through to the story that inspired it.
A masthead teaser can be a fun way to recognize the holidays or pay tribute to a particularly compelling event as well as lead the reader further into the paper. The day after it snowed here for example - the Red&Black displayed a relatively tasteful use of icicles across the nameplate.
However, when something as visually dominating as a masthead teaser is used every single day - it gets old. Not only does it stop grabbing readers' attention, depending on the quality of the imagery used, it can drastically cheapen the overall look of a paper. The Red&Black's logo is a very well-designed one. Because of it, the paper as whole appears to be very professional and well-crafted. But stick a couple clipart pictures on either side of it, and the effect is ruined.
This newspaper's teasers, at least, are nicely done:
The Red&Black's problem is simply one of over-indulgence. Google is guilty of the same thing.
Google went from changing up their name in recognition of holidays, to changing it for every vaguely interesting anniversary almost every other day. It can be very informative (clicking the logo will take you directly to a list of searches for the theme of their logo that day), but it does get old - the surprise wears off.
Teasers can be useful and entertaining for both the creators of media and the readers of it, just don't overdo it, keep it fresh, or keep it out of the nameplate.
When I started reading your post I wondered if you were going to relate it to Google! I thought of the same thing when I wrote my post about teasers. It's a really good comparison!
ReplyDeleteBut I do agree. Sometimes teasers in the Red and Black make me cringe. They definitely need to calm down a little.
Well said. So many design elements are only effective in small doses. For instance, pull quotes or drop caps are wonderful design tools, but they are meant for highlighting stories. As you note, when you highlight every story or every paper, the element loses its intended effect.
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