The Wall Street Journal is about to get a new look, one that will bring more color to the traditionally staid business paper, and that could help it attract advertisers.
This is one more in a series of changes to the feel of the look and paper since Rupert Murdoch bought it and bulked up its sports, opinion, political, and culture coverage to prepare it to do battle with the New York Times.
The current changes, being made by Tomaso Capuano, creative director at the Journal, are more cosmetic in nature. Capuano was responsible for launching the WSJ’s Greater New York section and relaunching its Saturday edition as the WSJ Weekend section. He came to the Journal in 2008 when he worked on the début of WSJ., the Journal’s glossy magazine.
Capuano has given a presentation on the changes to the newspaper's staff. A source with knowledge of the changes said that in addition to changes to elements such as symbols and callouts, there will be more color inside the paper. Section headers will be assigned colors, in the same way the Friday Journal section is blue. (Money & Investing will be green, for instance.)
The addition of color has been a consistent theme over the years at the Journal. The paper charges a premium for color ads, making them more lucrative than black-and-white. It's also gradually added more lifestyle news to strengthen its appeal to women and younger readers.
In 2007, in a revamp by famed newspaper designer Mario Garcia, the Journal narrowed its width, added more color, and went to shorter stories and fewer inside jumps.
Journal representatives and Capuano didn't respond to requests for comment on the changes.