Ich Bin Ein Berliner

No, I’m not a jelly doughnut; my allusion to President Kennedy’s famous Cold War speech has to do with the new “Berliner” format for the Guardian Newspaper. I picked one up on Monday on Fulham Road and it passed the “cafe-test” at Bibendum with flying colours. Much easier to naviagte around coffee and crossaints. However, it really comes into its own on public transport and busy flights. I like it!

The Guardian is certainly trying to build some mystique around the change of format (more practical, but not tabloid), which I am willing to buy into. The fact is a number of opinion-oriented papers around the world have already been midsize for some time. The format does lend itself better to extended commentary and the clean new design makes it very easy to read what is actually a rather dense layout. Moreover, the centre-spread idea creates a great canvas for photojournalism. Moreover, I like the calm tone of the fonts and artwork; it sets a considered and calm tone that makes a nice contrast to the overagressive and hyped posture of too much of the contemporary media.

Very well done to the editors and staff of the Guardian!