Redesign in Spanish print media in the 21st century

Abstract

Thirteen redesigns of the top five Spanish daily newspapers (general information) during the 21st century (ABC, El paí­s, El mundo del siglo XXI, La vanguardia, and 20 minutos) are analyzed. We try to establish the possible relationship between the crisis of print journalism and changes in design. Trends found are classified into 17 categories of changes. The results are surprising: One redesign occurs every 15 months; some newspapers only wait two years to introduce modifications; elements as sensitive as the header are affected in 62% of the cases; and redesigns of other newspapers do not seem to influence each other. Unlike what one might expect, design is not always used as a sales promotion strategy. Starting in 2008, redesigns did not boost sales. The highest frequency of changes has occurred since 2008, the year the global economic crisis began. The research is of a descriptive type (non-experimental, case study, longitudinal, and comparative design), although it suggests possible relationships among variables that should be checked with combined techniques.