"Welcome to the sharper FT." That's the slogan on the wraparound, featuring a colourful cityscape montage, gracing this morning's Financial Times. It introduces readers - and, of course, non-readers - to the redesigned paper. They will find a new typeface, new configuration, new layout gimmicks and new labelling.
Editor Lionel Barber argues that the revamp is "evolutionary rather than revolutionary", but it does add up to the most dramatic change in a generation. On the other hand, it is discreet enough not to alienate the core readership. That's why Barber referred to it in my interview with him as "a refresh".
Of course, when I visited him at his office last week, I was only able to see dummies. So what is one to make of the real thing today?
It certainly has more pace than the previous version. The news pages are altogether busier. There appears to be more to read and the use of panels (not unlike those pioneered by Times editor - and former FT executive - Robert Thomson) act as "stoppers" for readers who scan pages quickly. The features pages, which have moved forward, look much more modern. Doubtless, Barber was delighted to get an interview with his old friend, Condoleeza Rice, to blurb on the front.
There are small changes to note: the reintroduction of the paper's original 1888 slogan, "without fear and without favour" above the leaders; the more prominent placing of columns by Lucy Kellaway and Tony Jackson; white-on-black labelling in the second section; larger blurbs pointing to the contents of FT.com.
The changes are the result of more than six months' work, overseen by an experienced FT sub-editor, Andy Davis, who brought in a young American designer, Ryan Bowman, to look at the problem with fresh eyes. Barber also consulted Harry Evans, his former editor and mentor from his days at the Sunday Times, who said: "What you need are some more verticals". Barber says: "He was right. We were very oblong, very blocky. So we set out to cure that problem."
He explains to readers today that "the new-look FT will improve navigation... The changes... are designed to enhance our traditional strengths. This is not a new FT, but it is sharper." And the paper's owners, Pearson, clearly agree because they are making the most of the revamp by spending a a substantial sum on marketing to win more subscribers.
I have to say that I find the changes more than acceptable. I think they fulfil Barber's desire to make the paper "sharper". I'm uncertain about the intrusive use of pica rules on the news pages, though there are fewer than in the dummies I saw, so I'd guess that they may well eventually disappear. Now we await the Saturday issue which, if the dummies are any guide, has undergone an even more radical "refresh".
