In an interview with Mario R. Garcia, Richard Curtis described USA Today's current use of color and white space as improved having a more "upscale" feel, compared to the color scheme of its launch 25 years ago.

He said that when the newspaper was launched in 1982, it used so much color in a somewhat reckless manner because it "could" - and because it seemed like a good marketing strategy.



Initially the fronts of the Money, Life and Sports sections were cyan, because the newspaper was printed in multiple location and it was hard to have print sites with identical color capabilities and press configurations.

Over twenty years ago, USA Today was a maximum 48 pages long, with 16 pages in color. Today it is 60 pages long with 20 pages in color.

To achieve this, the paper has adopted the "less ink" scheme, which Curtis said "meant less black but also less color and certainly less gratuitous color." The palette itself is more "subdued" than in the 1980's.

Curtis also pointed out that they seldom add color tints to boxed text and that they decreased the black horizontal rules.

Although this metamorphosis might have decreased the amount of "impulse buys" of the paper, it did give the paper a "more upscale appearance with a more serious approach to displaying the news."

USA Today remains the most-widely circulated daily newspaper in the US.

Source: garciamedia.com through IFRA Executive News Service