The Argus in Brighton moved to the final stage of its new look this week, giving it a sleeker and cleaner format that is easier to read. And, in the paper’s first masthead change since 1969, it will no longer be branded the Evening Argus, although "evening" will not disappear from the masthead altogether.
The revamp has been achieved in two stages, with fresher news, sport and features pages introduced earlier this month followed by Wednesday’s addition of the new titlepiece and restyled sections, including Business, Jobs and Motoring.
Assistant editor Pat Lewis has spent much of the past few months working on the redesign, which began with advice on typefaces from Peter Sands, director of the Editorial Training Centre in Hastings, on The Argus’s patch.
Editor Simon Bradshaw said: "It is a cleaner, brighter look without being radically different so we don’t alienate our established readers.
"The design changes have been evolutionary rather than revolutionary because it was vital the content was right first and, by and large, it is. The new look reflects this content, which is consistently high-quality, issue-
driven and with thought-provoking news and well-written features – all of it local.
"The launch of the first stage took place on 7 May and coincided with coverage of the victory parade of Division Three football champions Brighton and Hove Albion and the start of the Brighton Festival.
"The final stage completes a new look that I hope readers will like and that will serve The Argus well for years to come."
Sales and promotions manager Stephen Lowe said: "We decided to make the change in two stages, close together, so that we didn’t shock readers.
"The new masthead rebrands us as simply The Argus, as opposed to the Evening Argus, and reflects the fact that we are on sale from 6am each morning with five further updated editions, making us virtually a 24-hour newspaper."
The new masthead includes seals which clearly identify each of the six editions: Morning, Latest, Evening, Mid Sussex, Worthing and Eastbourne.
The Sports Argus, published on pink paper, also gets the new look.
A campaign to introduce the redesign, with the slogan "If it’s happening… it’s in The Argus", is supported by both readers and Sussex celebrities, including Norman Cook, Sir Patrick Moore, Alexandra Bastedo and Simon Mayo.
Lowe added: "We already have the highest number of readers per copy of any daily regional paper and we are on course to record an improvement in our base circulation, which is also very encouraging."
by Jean Morgan
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