We’ve changed!

I realize you’ve probably noticed that by now, but I thought I’d take a minute to explain why we decided to redesign the six weekly newspapers published by Canstar Community News — The Headliner, The Herald, The Lance, The Metro, The Sou’wester and The Times.

The last time our newspapers were given a makeover was five years ago. In that time we have moved our offices, added a sports section to our five city papers, added a whole new paper in The Sou’wester, and upgraded our content to include crime statistics, an Autos section, a Careers section and Neighbourhood Forum and Community Correspondent columns, just to name a few.

When new Canstar publisher and sales manager Michelle Pereira — a branding and marketing expert with many years of advertising sales experience — joined us last October, she quickly realized that she wanted to bring a fresh, clean look to our papers. To do so, she enlisted the help of typography and design veteran Kelvin Henderson from our Creative Services department.

Together, Michelle and Kelvin came up with a crisp, vibrant approach to the layout of our six community newspapers — one which simplifies our colour palette and makes better use of colour photographs and advertisements.

Using these principles, our editorial and production staff have reorganized and refocused the look of the Canstar Community News papers from back to front.

Today’s the day these papers make their public debut in their new forms, and we’re eager to hear what you think.

Please email me at the address above or call me at (204) 697-7093 if you’d like to share your feedback.

As always, thanks for reading us. We hope you enjoy the new look.

john.kendle@canstarnews.com