First off the bat, you’ve stretched the text for the Newspaper’s name (Copperplate Gothic?) by 227%, which looks obvious and doesn’t look great IMO. I think it’s best to find a font that fits the space better, with any stretching of the font kept to a minimum. You applied stretching to other areas too, so I’d say try and apply the same discipline by finding a condensed font that fits better.

Using a serif font for body text won’t necessarily make the newspaper look old fashioned. There are some really forward looking serif fonts out there that’ll make it look great. Sans Serif fonts are harder to read for lengthy passages, although this being a two page newsletter, I don’t think that’ll be an issue in this case.

Hope this helps, and please post subsequent versions when you’ve taken enough advice on board - I’d like to see it develop.

JH

my 2 cents

I think you got a bit carried away with the different fonts you used
(count about 18 including the weights). I would decide on 2-3 font families
and stick with them...

a few points:
- listen to jazzhustler (try some serifs...you will be surprised)
- dont use the reflection on the top
(works for apple i know...but it doesnt suite your newspaper)
- try the boxes and dividers without the double lines
- the captions and some of the titles have to much space between the letters
(makes it hard to read)
- check the dots on the “inside box”

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/02/11/award-winning-newspaper-desig...
for your inspiration

hope this helps...keep us posted

PS: tried to download an older version of the newspaper (baronbanner.com)
but the download was 40mb...wow...a bit too big...smile

I was the high school newspaper editor in high school, and got to design the layout too — that’s how I got into graphic design. I wanted to be a journalist before that.

I would agree with all the comments above. Part of the issue, as I remember it, was the fact that the paper’s budget is a few thousand dollars, so you’re limited to some not so great fonts and some not so new software. Definitely choose a couple fonts, like a serif font for copy and a sans serif for headlines, and simplify the boxes for callout info — a simple thin dividing line would look much cleaner than a black box.

I would say you should speak with your other editors and your adviser about what the goal of the paper for the year is. Do you want to win awards and send your senior editors off to journalism school on scholarships? Or do you want to be something that connects with the students at your school and is fun for the newspaper staff? A lot of people are going to say “that’s not mutually exclusive,” but in my experience they were.

I went with the latter my senior year — it had a zine-like feel, different fonts on every page, everyone got to design their own story