When I started working at The Easterner in September of 2014, I realized there was something special about the newsroom. Our writers told some compelling stories, illustrators created some beautiful pieces and the staff showed some great teamwork — something I grew to miss when I graduated at the end of the school year. There was one thing, however, that always bugged me as a Visual Communication Design major: Why was not the paper in a tabloid format?

I asked my editor-in-chief this question on my first day of training as a page designer, more out of curiosity than anything else. To me, the broadsheet format just seemed like a cumbersome approach to delivering information to the readers. In reality, no one wants to have a two-and-a-half foot, square sheet of paper that crinkles anytime you want to shift your eyes or turn the page. After leaving the topic alone for almost a year, it came as a shock to me when, in early September, the new editor-in-chief, Eric Long, asked to contract me for a redesign of the paper.
Ecstasy filled my mind as the opportunity arose, and I pounced on it without a moment’s notice. This was the opportunity I was hoping for all year; it was a chance to scrap the odd type choices and hundreds of strokes that plague the standard newspaper. So, without further ado, I’m proud to say The Easterner has entered a new era of its life.

So what’s new besides the overall redesign? Well to start, the type of articles being printed are changing in some interesting ways. Sports is going to feature more informative “hard recaps” where we break down what’s really important to you, the reader. News will be experiencing a change in how stories are written as well, focusing more on the major events taking place in the area with longer, more indepth articles. Lastly, Community will no longer be the dumping ground for jumped articles. We want the section to mean something more personal, so we are giving Police Beat its own dedicated location, as well as tweaking some of the other items in the section.

The Easterner is going through a big change; it’s growing up into what it needs to be to better serve its readers. Huge stories are on the rise, and this new format will be just what the paper needs to be to deliver the best stories it can. Enjoy the new redesign, and let us know what you think of our new, grown-up paper.