The Financial Times print edition today debuts its most dramatic revamp in a generation, featuring a new typeface, bolder design, and new labeling.

FT editor Lionel Barber says that the changes are “evolutionary rather than revolutionary,” and has spent much of his editorship concentrating on integrating print and online content, finally starting the redesign six months ago. He says the aim is to make the paper easier to scan and more modern without alienating readers.

So what’s different in the new FT?

-News pages are busier, using more panels to attract readers that scan pages.

-Change of pace in the back half of the paper - Features pages have a new, modern look, and are now placed adjacent to extra foreign news pages.

- “Companies and Markets” section now has feature content on the first page, with a half-page column devoted to business personalities. "The FT has never been that good at writing about people," says Barber, "and it's time we cracked it."

- The weekend edition will have a bright front page with bold blurbs leading to stories on the inside.

- Sports content will be squeezed, but not eliminated, to accommodate an extra foreign news page.

Barber says this change will lead to changes later this year for the FT website. The FT currently operates a paywall system, but they’re “looking at the business model,” says Barber. "We realize that our material has value, and that we want to make money from it. But how the model breaks down is still being decided."

Source: Greenslade at Media Guardian, Media Guardian