Redesigning print classifieds: Should you bump up type size?

Let’s talk printed classifieds for a bit, and specifically design. Here’s an issue worth pondering:

Given that newspaper print-edition readers are aging (average age is now north of 50), is it time to increase the type size of classified liners to accommodate the deteriorating vision that we all get as we grow older?

Bad: narrow columns, centered text = hard to read   Improved: good font choice, wider column, good use of bold headings = readable

And if the answer is yes, will financially strapped publishers approve an extra point in type size, knowing that it will take up more newsprint?

My guess is that most newspaper publishers will not be willing to pay for that extra newsprint at a time when the business is struggling mightily. So I consulted with typography guru Jim Parkinson, who has worked for newspapers and magazines for several decades (you’ve seen plenty of his work but may not realize it; Parkinson designed such famous nameplates as Rolling Stone, Newsweek, Esquire, the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, etc.), and asked him how to deal with this issue of aging readers and hard-to-read classifieds type.

Actually, Parkinson, who is 66 himself, doesn’t think it’s necessary to increase liner point size for most papers. Rather, he says, select the proper type with good readability characteristics, and implement some smart design changes, and you should be able to produce a classifieds section that works well even for aging newspaper print-edition readers.

Jim Parkinson

Among Parkinson’s recommendations:

• Select a font with a large “x-height” and smaller ascenders and descenders. X-height is the height of, for example, the letter “x”. Ascenders are the parts of a letter that go above the x-height, such as the upper part of the letter “d”. Descenders go below, such as the bottom part of the letter “y”. This can make small type size fairly readable. Ergo, no additional costs for newsprint.
• Redesign the classifieds section with design in mind; get past the historical industry practice of figuring out how to fit more and more ads into smaller amounts of space. Now that printed classifieds sections are smaller, it’s time to do some serious design work. They’ve got to look good now. In the past you could get away with poor (or no) design. Because more and more people are abandoning print classifieds in favor of online alternatives, an effort must be made to make print classifieds more appealing and useful.
• Look to other sections of the paper and carry over some of the design elements, look and feel to classifieds. Get serious about design, readability and usability.
• Widen column width for liner sections. The most common newspaper classifieds layout is 10 columns, which presents as a hard-to-read mess of a page. Wider columns (say, 6-column format) are easier for the eye to absorb efficiently.
• Be smart about using section headers that are easy to scan, and use bold headings intelligently to help readers scan a page for what they’re seeking.

I’ll have more detailed advice from Parkinson (and other designers) in a white paper I’m currently working on about How to Redesign Your Print Classifieds section. Watch for an announcement here soon.