Design of the times called 'evolution, not revolution'.

THE Los Angeles Times kicked off its latest redesign last week--but in a piecemeal fashion that will leave parts of the paper with their current layout until early next year.

The Times implemented the first step of a visual redesign on Oct. 22 by modernizing its main news section while the rest of the paper retains its familiar serif-type, up-style appearance.

The new look adds a style of major headlines in all-cap sans serif fonts, other headlines in down-style (few capitalized letters), colored type and a prominent index" on the front page. On the Sunday front page, "sky boxes," a collection of photos or illustrations above the nameplate, direct readers to stories inside the paper.

Also, the Times will now use more information graphics, sidebars, maps and diagrams. "It's part of an evolution, not a revolution, in how we make the paper more useful and accessible to our readers," said John Montorio, associate editor at the Times.

But experience and common sense hold that readers find redesigns jarring, so publishers usually implement them comprehensively.

"A redesign is best done all at once, with much editorial thunder," John Brady, the Massachusetts-based partner of design firm Brady & Paul Communications, wrote in a editorial in Folio magazine earlier this year. "The notion that piecemeal is easier doesn't hold up. Problems abound when you are implementing the old along with the new, not to mention the schizoid effect it can have on readers."

"The L.A. Times newsroom has had a fair number of convulsions in the last 10 years, so however much you want to change dramatically, internally you want to make sure everyone's on board," he said. "Ten years from now, technology will deliver a newspaper-like product digitally, and it will make all this look odd in retrospect. But how you get from here to there, I don't know."

Meanwhile, the Calendar section was scheduled for redesign starting Oct. 29, making a clear appeal to the new media crowd, with regular items about entertainment on the Web and excerpts from blogs. The section will feature lists of movies, a party photo page and behind-the-scenes Hollywood snippets.

According to Times spokesman David Garcia, other sections of the newspaper, including business and sports, will get the new treatment in early 2007.

M for Merger

Channel M, the Los Angeles-based pioneer of in-store video advertising, has merged with the In-Store division of ScreenPlay Inc., a producer of sales-oriented video. The deal brings together Channel M's expertise in designing shows for retail settings with ScreenPlay's production assets.

On the distribution side, Channel M has a large portfolio of video-wired venues including amusement parks, GameStop stores, sports bars, arcades, gyms and Minor League Baseball parks. The company also has a track record with advertisers such as VH1, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Walt Disney, Atari and Dodge.

Seattle-based ScreenPlay already provides video to 25,000 business locations throughout North America. Under the deal, ScreenPlay will become Channel M's exclusive content provider and produce in-store networks for clients such as Payless Shoes and Kamp-grounds of America. The merger will double the number of Channel M employees.

Mark Vrieling, ScreenPlay's chief executive, said the marriage is a happy one. "It enables both companies to focus on our core competencies. For ScreenPlay, that means content. And for Channel M, that means our customers will reap the benefits of a company with significant marketing expertise."

New 'Urban Latino'

Juan Maya's hiring by Urban Marketing Corp. of America marks more than a career move. It demonstrates a shift of meaning for the word "urban" in the marketing lexicon.

Maya will take a new position as president of UMCA's Latino division--a contradiction by conventional marketing standards.

"Over the past 10 years, the word 'urban' had become synonymous with 'African-American' in most marketing circles, and most corporate attempts to reach the 'urban' market had centered on the African-American community," said Damon Haley, chief executive of Los Angeles-based UMCA. But "instead of focusing just on the color of the target segment, UMCA concentrates on the environments that nurture urban cultures and trends."

By defining the market geographically, UMCA has developed what it calls the "Urban Latino market." By analyzing and interpreting how different Latino and non-Latino cultures interact, the agency looks for the cultural commonalities and incorporates them into advertising messages.

"Bringing in Juan to run our Latino division reflects our commitment to a fully integrated multicultural approach," said Haley. Maya will begin by launching a U.S.-Latina second-generation grassroots program for the cable channel Soapnet and identifying partners for Nickelodeon's Go Diego Go! 2007 Live Tour.

UMCA has carved out space for itself as a multicultural agency with clients like Nike, PepsiCo and Brand Jordan.

Staff reporter Joel Russell can be reached at [e-mail] or [phone], ext. 237