While browsing the Newseum's featured front pages, this one jumped out of my computer monitor. In my personal opinion, this centerpiece is fantastic. Not only does it loosely follow the format of a good package bestowed upon us by Professor Keith, it does it very well.
First off, the story is very timely, novel and relevant. A few days before Christmas is a great time to explain to the public why wires of lights get tangled. The article is based on a study conducted by two University of California at San Diego students that explores the physics behind entanglements. A larger version of this front page can be seen here.
Furthermore, I love the picture of the lights. It shows them tangled up just as they story explains. Also, the picture is naturally very colorful; the variety of lights catches your eye immediately and reminds you of Christmas. The headline is good too. The San Diego Union-Tribune took the popular physics "String Theory" and softened it up a little.
Although this was probably a light news day for the SDUT, I think they picked a perfect "feel-good" story for the holidays with this package. What do you think about this centerpiece? Is there anything you would have done differently?
4 comments:
I definitely agree with you on this centerpiece. It's colorful, intriguing, and well-positioned.
In trying to be real critical (for the sake of discussion) with this front page, I found nothing to dislike. I enjoy (probably cause I did it on my own centerpiece project) the box that separates the story from the others on the front page. It is just dark enough to create space and still have the reader realize there are other stories to read about. And I also think the subhead has enough space to breathe as well as interest the reader again with the play on words with "untangling". Sweet find!
I agree that the colors and brightness of the christmas lights definetely catches the reader's eye. I think the headline works well also, its short and catchy. The headline also uses a wonderful rhyme scheme. The only thing I didnt like about the centerpiece is the way the smaller photo was cropped. The two scientists should be given more head room in my opinion. I also love how the story is boxed, which gives a nice illusion of it popping out from the page, drawing the reader's eye to this story.
To continue to trend- I really like this centerpiece. The photo is very eye-catching, but not in an overt way. The colors are soft and muted but still draw in your attention when tangled in with black wiring. The headline is creative and relevant to the research done in the article, but in a reader-friendly fashion. Normally I wouldn't be a fan of the picture of the scientists being included with the story. I would think it takes away from the dominant photo, but I don't hate it here. And not just exclusively the centerpiece, but I think the whole front page looks great. While the tangled lights story probably would generate the most interest for this time of year, the San Diego Union Tribune still understands that it's not breaking news. And so they appropriately lead the front page with the article on the Federal Reserve. Also, all the photos on the page are well dispersed and there's a nice sprinkling of the color blue on various elements of of the page.
I found myself reading through your post before I looked over at the picture, and for a second wasn't that impressed. That was until I read the headline. It was just so clever, I chuckled. I was surprised that even before reading the story, it was able to draw a reaction out of me. Excellent center piece choice.
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