Subtle changes will continue to characterize redesign of times.

In 1999, the year before Tribune Co. acquired Times Mirror Co., then parent of the Los Angeles Times, publisher Mark Willes trumpeted a redesign effort he said would perhaps push circulation at the flagship daily above 2 million--a prospect many in the industry considered preposterous.

The paper's look has indeed changed in the last five years, with feature sections added and many typographic, graphic and illustration changes applied. Even more changes are on the way, according to Joseph Hutchinson, deputy managing editor in charge of design and graphics, including more sections and a new look for the news, business and sports pages.

But the efforts so far have had a minimal effect on circulation, which remains stalled at just below 1 million, and they're unlikely to in the future.

"For someplace like the Los Angeles Times, that is big and entrenched, the changes are very good changes but not necessarily earth-shattering," said Stephen Cavendish, director for art and presentation at the St. Petersburg Times.

"By and large, in a redesign process, you can pick up circulation when you go from awful to good, not necessarily go from good to very good," he said.

Redesign alone can't boost circulation, agreed Roger Black, one of the nation's most noted newspaper designers and currently a consultant to the Times. "You can do promotions, pricing and delivery strategies that can bring circulation up, with improvements in content and redesign helping," he said.

If anything, said Bryce Nelson, a journalism professor at the University of Southern California's Annenberg, School of Communication, design changes risk alienating readers. "Redesign probably attracts some readers, but they also can turn away some readers. It's always a mixed bag," he said.

Redesigning staff

Cavendish is familiar with what's happening in Los Angeles. His features design director, Christian Potter Drury, will assume a position at the Times with the same title, replacing Lisa Clausen, who left several months ago.

The appointment of Drury leaves open another key position, graphics editor. That job is being filled on an interim basis by one of Hutchinson's design directors, Les Dunseith.

Hutchinson would not comment on personnel moves.

For now, the changes planned for the paper's front, business and sports sections will involve "subtle" tinkering the paper has been doing for years. "It's probably been so subtle you did not even notice," he said. "We don't want to shock our readers and have them say, 'Where is my Los Angeles Times?'"

Drawn by the volume and quality of readership, advertisers may be even less concerned with the look of a paper than subscribers.

Redesigns typically don't affect advertisers unless the paper changes to a tabloid from a broadsheet. Advertisers adhere to standard formats for their ads, and as long as those units stay consistent, Cavendish said, they are generally not concerned.

When the Times became part of Tribune, one of the first big design changes was replacing the old Metro section and replacing it with a larger California section that includes local, regional and state news.

In October 2002, the Times launched a two-year program to revitalize its Features pages, beginning with the revamped daily and Sunday Calendar sections (the first since 1960), as well as the Food and Health sections. The Southern California Living section was eliminated, with many of its features incorporated into Calendar. The once-a-week Food and Health sections were overhauled and Sunday Calendar was changed from its tabloid format to a broadsheet.

Home, a weekly section examining home life in Southern California, was the first of three new sections launched last year. Sections on the outdoors and on fashion and beauty were also were introduced.

In the coming months, Hutchinson said he would be meeting with editors in charge of news, sports and business to develop a "wish list" on changes. "New sections are being planned," said Hutchinson, who declined to elaborate. "I have no timetable to give you. I just want to make sure it's right. We'll launch (changes) when we're ready. I would hope it's well before the end of 2005."

The redesign process has moved ahead fitfully. The initiative started before the Tribune acquisition and included bringing in Black, as well as San Francisco-based Landor Associates, a brand identity firm, and Nissan Design International, the design arm of Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.

Only Black has maintained a relationship with the paper. He had been involved with Hutchinson and current Times Editor John S. Carroll in the redesign of the Baltimore Sun in the mid- 1990s.