Vox pop

The Mirror has reinvented itself, reintroducing ‘Daily’ to its masthead and redesigning the whole front page, getting rid of its red tabloid banner. What do you think of its attempt to change its profile and broaden its audience, and what else, if anything, could it have done?

‘I feel saddened that this huge opportunity – the first real overhaul of a tabloid in a long time, with an allegedly enormous budget – has resulted in such an incredibly weak solution. The red banner might have gone, but the overall visual attitude to masthead, type, imagery, everything, is still precisely that of a ‘red-top’, and not of the left wing, accessible intelligence for which The Daily Mirror was originally renowned, and which great journalists such as John Pilger deserve.’

David Hillman, Partner, Pentagram

‘The idea of turning the cover of The Mirror into direct hit posters, daily icons, is great. Calling it The Daily Mirror again is great too. However, having to produce daily covers without the talent of a George Lois or Bob Gill is daunting. And if the dismal, inept quality of the new Daily Mirror logotype is an indication of the graphic design quality to come, they may have been better off not starting in this direction. It’s not too late to get it right, appoint a great art director and make it a triumph.’

Michael Wolff, Founding partner, Fourth Room

‘Almost all the national newspapers do their design in-house and it’s always crude and clumsy. The new Daily Mirror is no exception – it’s a very low grade piece of work. The treatment is yet another step in bringing newspapers closer to the world of magazines. Both use the same layout formulas, both use colour, the same packeting of stories, and have very similar approaches to content. The Daily Mirror wants to be a daily magazine.’

Quentin Newark, Director, Atelier Works

‘I grew up with The Daily Mirror. My dad would read Cassandra (pen name for William Connor), I would read John Pilger writing about Vietnam – at the time it seemed relevant, campaigning and caring. Then The Sun rose and it all changed. So I’m pleased about this redesign, but the logo looks ropey and the insides are still pretty frantic. And the new-look M supplement works well.’

Colin McHenry, Group art director, Centaur

Communications

‘I think it might take just a little bit more than colour change and new masthead to raise editorial standards at The Daily Mirror.’

Jonathan Ellery, Partner, Browns Design

Start the discussionStart the discussion
  • Post a comment

Latest articles