ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Jacek Utko - Newspaper designer
Could good design save the newspaper -- at least for now? Jacek Utko thinks so -- and his lively, engaging designs for European papers prove that it works.

Why you should listen

Newspaper designer Jacek Utko suggests that it's time for a fresh, top-to-bottom rethink of the newspaper. (At this point, why not try it?) In his work, he's proved that good design can help readers reconnect with newspapers. A former architect, Utko took on the job of redesigning several newspapers in former Soviet Bloc nations, starting from basic principles. He worked closely with newspaper executives to figure out the business goals of their papers, and then radically reformatted the product to fit those goals. (And he wasn't afraid to break a few grids in the process.)

As the art director at Warsaw's Puls Biznesu in 2004, he redesigned this small business-focused newspaper and immediately won the SND award for world's best-designed newspaper. Readers responded, and circulation went up. He's now art director for the Bonnier Business Press, overseeing papers in Eastern Europe and the Baltic states, and the work he oversees consistently wins major prizes (including another SND world's-best in 2007 for Estonia's Äripäev), despite their small teams and limited resources.

More profile about the speaker
Jacek Utko | Speaker | TED.com
TED2009

Jacek Utko: Can design save newspapers?

Jacek Utko 提出的大哉问 : 好的设计能挽救濒危的报业吗?

Filmed:
1,144,795 views

Jacek Utko 是一位杰出的波兰报纸设计师,他为东欧发行的报纸所进行的重新设计工作,不仅赢得大奖,更百分之百提升了报纸的发行量。所以,好的设计能挽救濒危的报业吗? 答案是「或许能」。
- Newspaper designer
Could good design save the newspaper -- at least for now? Jacek Utko thinks so -- and his lively, engaging designs for European papers prove that it works. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
Newspapers报纸 are dying垂死 for a few少数 reasons原因.
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报业面临空前濒危的状况有几个原因,
00:15
Readers读者 don't want to pay工资 for yesterday's昨天的 news新闻, and advertisers广告商 follow跟随 them.
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读者不愿意付费来阅读昨天发生的新闻,没有读者,广告商当然也不愿意买广告。
00:19
Your iPhone苹果手机, your laptop笔记本电脑,
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你的iPhone,笔记本电脑,
00:21
is much more handy便利 than New York纽约 Times on Sunday星期日.
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都远比拿着一份纽约时报周末版来读更为方便。
00:24
And we should save保存 trees树木 in the end结束.
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还有别忘了,如果我们不读报纸的话,还能拯救树木免于被砍伐,
00:27
So it's enough足够 to bury埋葬 any industry行业.
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这些已经足以将任何产业推向绝路了。
00:30
So, should we rather ask, "Can anything save保存 newspapers报纸?"
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那么我们不禁要问,「有任何能拯救报业于水火之外的方法吗?」
00:34
There are several一些 scenarios场景 for the future未来 newspaper报纸.
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对于报业的未来,我们听过一些说法。
00:36
Some people say it should be free自由;
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有些人会说,报纸应该要是免费的,
00:39
it should be tabloid小报, or even smaller: A4;
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或者是更摘要的,像是小于A4大小的小报式刋物。
00:42
it should be local本地, run by communities社区,
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报纸应该朝在地化发展,以社区为主体来经营发行。
00:45
or niche壁龛, for some smaller groups like business商业 --
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又或者,未来的报纸应当主攻像商业族群这样的缝隙市场。
00:47
but then it's not free自由; it's very expensive昂贵.
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然而这样一来报纸就无法免费,而是非常昂贵的。
00:50
It should be opinion-driven舆论驱动;
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一份报纸应当有自己的观点导向,
00:52
less news新闻, more views意见.
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少点新闻,多点对新闻的评论。
00:55
And we'd星期三 rather read it during breakfast早餐,
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我们更希望报纸适于早餐时阅读,
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because later后来 we listen to radio无线电 in a car汽车,
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因为之后我们就开始听车里的广播了,
01:00
check your mail邮件 at work and in the evening晚间 you watch TV电视.
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然后在工作时你会检查你的电子邮件,下班之后你会看电视。
01:03
Sounds声音 nice不错, but this can only buy购买 time.
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听起来很不错,但这些只是权宜之计。
01:06
Because in the long run,
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因为就长远来看,
01:08
I think there is no reason原因, no practical实际的 reason原因
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我看不出有什么实际的原因,
01:10
for newspapers报纸 to survive生存.
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报纸在未来还能够继续生存。
01:13
So what can we do?
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所以,我们还能怎么办呢?
01:15
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
01:16
Let me tell you my story故事.
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让我来说说我的故事吧!
01:18
20 years年份 ago, Bonnier邦尼尔, Swedish瑞典 publisher出版者,
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20年前,一位名叫Bonnier的瑞典出版商,
01:21
started开始 to set newspapers报纸 in the former前任的 Soviet苏联 Bloc集团.
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在前苏联地区办报。
01:25
After a few少数 years年份, they had several一些 newspapers报纸 in central中央 and eastern Europe欧洲.
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几年之后,他们在中欧和东欧都发行了几份报纸。
01:28
They were run by an inexperienced没经验 staff员工,
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这些报纸都由一位没什么经验的人来经营,
01:31
with no visual视觉 culture文化, no budgets预算 for visuals视觉效果 --
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当时还没有所谓的视觉文化,当然也没有与视觉艺术相关的预算,
01:36
in many许多 places地方 there were not even art艺术 directors董事.
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在许多地方甚至连美编指导都没有。
01:38
I decided决定 to be -- to work for them as an art艺术 director导向器.
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当时我决定为他们工作,担任美编指导的工作。
01:42
Before, I was an architect建筑师, and my grandmother祖母 asked me once一旦,
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在这份工作之前,我是一名建筑师,我的祖母有次曾这么问我,
01:45
"What are you doing for a living活的?"
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「你要靠什么生活呢?」
01:47
I said, "I'm designing设计 newspapers报纸."
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我回答我祖母说,「我设计报纸啊。」
01:49
"What? There's nothing to design设计 there. It's just boring无聊 letters"
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我祖母说,「什么? 那只不过是一堆无聊的字母,哪有什么东西好设计的?」
01:52
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
01:53
And she was right. I was very frustrated受挫, until直到 one day.
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不幸的是,我祖母的确是对的。当时我非常沮丧,直到有一天,
01:57
I came来了 to London伦敦, and I've seen看到 performance性能 by Cirque太阳 du Soleil马戏团.
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我去了伦敦,欣赏到太阳马戏团的表演。
02:01
And I had a revelation启示. I thought,
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我受到了启迪。我想,
02:03
"These guys took some creepy爬行,
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「这些家伙把一些诡异的,
02:05
run-down撞倒 entertainment娱乐,
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老旧的娱乐表演,
02:07
and put it to the highest最高 possible可能 level水平 of performance性能 art艺术."
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提升成了表演艺术所可能达到的最高层次了。」
02:11
I thought "Oh my God, maybe I can do the same相同 with these boring无聊 newspapers报纸."
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于是我灵光一闪,「喔,天啊,或许我能在这些无聊至极的报纸上做相同的事呢!」
02:14
And I did. We started开始 to redesign重新设计 them, one by one.
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于是我就开始了,一份一份的重新设计他们。
02:18
The front面前 page became成为 our signature签名.
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我们报纸的头版变成了我们的特色。
02:21
It was my personal个人 intimate亲密 channel渠道 to talk to the readers读者.
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而这也成了我个人和读者之间亲密对话的管道。
02:25
I'm not going to tell you stories故事 about teamwork团队合作 or cooperation合作.
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我不会跟你们说什么团队合作之类的故事,
02:29
My approach途径 was very egotistic利己主义.
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我的手法是非常自我的,
02:31
I wanted my artistic艺术的 statement声明,
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我想要将自己的设计概念表达出来,
02:34
my interpretation解释 of reality现实.
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想要传达我对于真实世界的诠释,
02:36
I wanted to make posters海报, not newspapers报纸.
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我想设计的是海报,不是报纸,
02:38
Not even magazines杂志: posters海报.
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甚至也不是杂志,就是海报。
02:40
We were experimenting试验 with type类型,
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我们试过使用不同的字体、
02:43
with illustration插图, with photos相片. And we had fun开玩笑.
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插画和照片等等,从中获得许多乐趣。
02:46
Soon不久 it started开始 to bring带来 results结果.
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不久我们就看到了具体的成果。
02:49
In Poland波兰, our pages网页 were named命名
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在波兰,我们的报纸荣获
02:53
"Covers盖子 of the Year" three times in a row.
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「年度最佳头版」连续三次之多。
02:57
Other examples例子 you can see here are from
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在这里大家也可以看到来自
02:59
Latvia拉脱维亚, Lithuania立陶宛, Estonia爱沙尼亚 --
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拉脱维亚、立陶宛、爱沙尼亚等
03:01
the central中央 European欧洲的 countries国家.
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这些中欧地区国家的例子。
03:05
But it's not only about the front面前 page.
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但是,这绝不只有「头版」这么简单。
03:08
The secret秘密 is that we were treating治疗
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秘诀是我们
03:10
the whole整个 newspaper报纸 as one piece,
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将一份报纸视为一个整体,
03:12
as one composition组成 -- like music音乐.
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如同音乐的交响乐章一般,
03:16
And music音乐 has a rhythm韵律, has upsUPS and downs起伏.
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是有节奏的,有高低起伏的。
03:20
And design设计 is responsible主管 for this experience经验.
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而一个好的报纸设设计就是要带给读者这些体验。
03:24
Flipping翻转 through通过 pages网页 is readers读者 experience经验,
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翻阅报纸就是读者的体验,
03:26
and I'm responsible主管 for this experience经验.
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而我就是负责美化这个感官经验的人。
03:29
We treated治疗 two pages网页, both spreads利差, as a one page,
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我们将展开的两个版面,视为一整个页面,
03:32
because that's how readers读者 perceive感知 it.
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因为读者看到的就是这样。
03:35
You can see some Russian俄语 pages网页 here which哪一个 got many许多 awards奖项
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大家现在看到的这些俄罗斯报纸的页面,
03:37
on biggest最大 infographic资料图 competition竞争 in Spain西班牙.
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就曾在西班牙获得很多信息图像类最大的奖项。
03:41
But the real真实 award came来了 from Society社会 for Newspaper报纸 Design设计.
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而真正的大奖还是来自于国际专业报纸版面设计学会SND的奖项。
03:46
Just a year after redesigning重新设计 this newspaper报纸 in Poland波兰,
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仅仅是在波兰重新设计的一年之后,
03:49
they name名称 it the World's世界 Best-Designed最佳设计 Newspaper报纸.
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就被他们评为「世界最佳报纸设计」。
03:51
And two years年份 later后来,
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再隔两年,
03:53
the same相同 award came来了 to Estonia爱沙尼亚.
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同样的奖项由爱沙尼亚获得。
03:56
Isn't amazing惊人?
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是不是很神奇呢?
03:59
What really makes品牌 it amazing惊人: that the circulation循环 of these newspapers报纸
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不过真正令人惊讶的是,这些获奖的报纸的发行量
04:01
were growing生长 too.
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也增加了。
04:03
Just some examples例子:
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这里举一些实例和大家分享:
04:05
in Russia俄国, plus 11 after one year,
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在俄罗斯,这份报纸经过重新设计的一年后,发行量提升了百分之11,
04:07
plus 29 after three years年份 of the redesign重新设计.
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三年之后更增加到百分之29。
04:10
Same相同 in Poland波兰: plus 13, up to 35 percent百分
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在波兰也相同,发行量增加了百分之13,
04:13
raise提高 of circulation循环 after three years年份.
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三年之后更增加百分之35的发行量。
04:16
You can see on a graph图形,
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可以看这个图,
04:18
after years年份 of stagnation停滞, the paper started开始 to grow增长,
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经过长久的停滞之后,报纸的销量在
04:21
just after redesign重新设计.
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经过重新设计之后开始增长。
04:24
But the real真实 hit击中 was in Bulgaria保加利亚.
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但最大的爆冲是在保加利亚。
04:26
And that is really amazing惊人.
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这真的很令人惊讶。
04:30
Did design设计 do this?
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是因为设计为这些报纸的销售带来这么大的转变吗?
04:32
Design设计 was just a part部分 of the process处理.
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设计只是过程中的一部份,
04:34
And the process处理 we made制作 was not about changing改变 the look,
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我们所做的不仅只是改变一份报纸的外观,
04:36
it was about improving提高 the product产品 completely全然.
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而是完全彻底的改善报纸本身的质感。
04:40
I took an architectural建筑的 rule规则 about function功能 and form形成
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我借用了建筑中的「功能」与「型式」原则,
04:43
and translated翻译 it into newspaper报纸 content内容 and design设计.
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把这些概念融入到报纸的内容与设计中,
04:46
And I put strategy战略 at the top最佳 of it.
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而在进行改造之前,拟定策略也很重要。
04:48
So first you ask a big question: why we do it? What is the goal目标?
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首先要问的大问题是,我们为什么要这么做,目标是什么?
04:51
Then we adjust调整 the content内容 accordingly于是.
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然后我们同步调整需相应改变的内容。
04:53
And then, usually平时 after two months个月, we start开始 designing设计.
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通常在两个月之后,我们会开始进行设计。
04:56
My bosses老板, in the beginning开始, were very surprised诧异.
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我的老板们在刚开始时都很惊讶,
04:58
Why am I asking all of these business商业 questions问题,
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为什么我会问所有这些报纸方方面面的问题,
05:00
instead代替 of just showing展示 them pages网页?
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因为他们以为我会直接将设计完的作品直接展示给他们看。
05:02
But soon不久 they realized实现 that this is the new role角色 of designer设计师:
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但很快地他们就了解到,这是设计师所扮演的新角色,
05:04
to be in this process处理 from the very beginning开始 to the very end结束.
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设计师从规划初始到最终的过程都要全程参与。
05:07
So what is the lesson behind背后 it?
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所以我们可以从中学到什么呢?
05:09
The first lesson is about that design设计 can change更改 not just your product产品.
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第一个课题就是了解到设计不仅只是能改变你的产品,
05:13
It can change更改 your workflow工作流程 -- actually其实, it can change更改 everything in your company公司;
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设计还能改变工作流程,事实上,设计能改变你公司中既有的任何东西。
05:17
it can turn your company公司 upside上边 down.
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设计能完全反转你的公司;
05:19
It can even change更改 you.
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甚至改变你本身。
05:21
And who's谁是 responsible主管? Designers设计师.
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而这些转变是谁的职责呢? 是设计师。
05:24
Give power功率 to designers设计师.
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所以,请给予设计这样的职权吧!
05:26
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
05:30
But the second第二 is even more important重要.
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而第二个我们学到的课题可以说更为重要,
05:33
You can live生活 in a small poor较差的 country国家, like me.
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就是你可以像我一样,活在一个小而贫穷的国家里;
05:36
You can work for a small company公司,
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你可以在一家小公司
05:39
in a boring无聊 branch.
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其中一间无聊的分公司上班。
05:41
You can have no budgets预算, no people --
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你可以在没有预算和人力的状况下,
05:43
but still can put your work to the highest最高 possible可能 level水平.
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仍然可以呈现出最高水平的工作表现。
05:47
And everybody每个人 can do it.
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每个人都能做到这点。
05:49
You just need inspiration灵感, vision视力 and determination决心.
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你只是需要启发、愿景和决心。
05:53
And you need to remember记得 that to be good
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还有你必需要记得,光只有「好」
05:55
is not enough足够.
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是不够的。
05:57
Thank you.
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謝謝大家。
Translated by Sabrina WANG
Reviewed by Yu Miao

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Jacek Utko - Newspaper designer
Could good design save the newspaper -- at least for now? Jacek Utko thinks so -- and his lively, engaging designs for European papers prove that it works.

Why you should listen

Newspaper designer Jacek Utko suggests that it's time for a fresh, top-to-bottom rethink of the newspaper. (At this point, why not try it?) In his work, he's proved that good design can help readers reconnect with newspapers. A former architect, Utko took on the job of redesigning several newspapers in former Soviet Bloc nations, starting from basic principles. He worked closely with newspaper executives to figure out the business goals of their papers, and then radically reformatted the product to fit those goals. (And he wasn't afraid to break a few grids in the process.)

As the art director at Warsaw's Puls Biznesu in 2004, he redesigned this small business-focused newspaper and immediately won the SND award for world's best-designed newspaper. Readers responded, and circulation went up. He's now art director for the Bonnier Business Press, overseeing papers in Eastern Europe and the Baltic states, and the work he oversees consistently wins major prizes (including another SND world's-best in 2007 for Estonia's Äripäev), despite their small teams and limited resources.

More profile about the speaker
Jacek Utko | Speaker | TED.com