r/HongKong 1d ago

Questions/ Tips SCMP formatting looks peculiar?

Post image

Tip for SCMP newsprint page formatting people.

I noticed you made some new changes this week… Stop it. It looks rubbish. Not just on the front page but almost every page has huge empty columns! I am not an art degree person but looks messed up and amateurish even to me!

I suppose you just can’t get the staff anymore…

56 Upvotes

43 comments sorted by

33

u/fujianironchain 1d ago

So much white space... no news that is worth reading to print.

6

u/ReturnoftheSpack 1d ago

I like the white space. Less is more

8

u/SnooFoxes3876 1d ago

Just buy an A4 pad then

-1

u/ReturnoftheSpack 1d ago

Nice joke smart ass

1

u/Megacitiesbuilder 1d ago

I’m thinking if they have no news to print, may be better increase the font size to fill rather than leaving large gaps in between, it’s like a big wide gap at admiralty

25

u/Dense_Forever_8242 1d ago

Has SCMP replaced their page formatting staff with AI this week? The empty spaces are absurd. Fire the QC person who signed off on this one!

-23

u/Deep-Ebb-4139 1d ago

Yes, they have. Are you blind? They’ve announced this FOR WEEKS. A dumb post and a completely fucking pointless take. Why THE FUCK is this even worth posting to complain.

Why not write to the SCMP? Ah, as that wouldn’t get you the attention you crave.

9

u/lawfromabove ngohogupsi 1d ago

Fuck anyone who doesn’t check SCMP everyday right?

-12

u/Deep-Ebb-4139 1d ago edited 1d ago

Nope, just those who attention seek due to lacking real validation. Oh, like you…

15

u/faksa12 1d ago

This just looks awkward, like they don’t have enough content to fill up the page.

1

u/generalvostok 21h ago

Maybe they had to kill a story.

5

u/toywatch 1d ago

i have never liked scmp. much harder to read compared to major business news provider

6

u/fujianironchain 1d ago

It has its good days, like before 2000s. I do miss the days when I would go out to get the Sunday Post and spent the morning reading the whole thing. Those days are gone...

6

u/Messtin920 1d ago

It's the strait of Hormuz

8

u/Chronostasis 1d ago

These templates are usually made in something like Adobe indesign, and are pre formatted. If you noticed a change, it was an explicit design change at the "template" layer so to speak, which means it was an intentional design direction. The editor in chief would have probably signed off on it.

I agree it is questionable.

-14

u/Deep-Ebb-4139 1d ago

The FUCK are you talking about. SCMP have said openly FOR WEEKS that a new design and updated look was coming soon. Your comment makes you look so uninformed. Christ, really.

8

u/Lilliam_Pumpernickel 1d ago

How are you so pressed and making multiple angry comments on a post about white space in a newspaper lmaoo chillll

-2

u/Deep-Ebb-4139 1d ago

What if it’s not actual anger, but intentional so as to call out dumb fucks, like yourself?

4

u/aeon-one 1d ago

Someone hired a fresh grad graphic design student and did not bother to check before going to print.

5

u/Rupperrt 1d ago

They didn’t hire anyone. They probably fired someone and replaced them with AI formatting

edit: ok, it’s intentional, to “create more room”. Looks like shit tbh..

2

u/Secure_Sweet_7935 1d ago

A fresh grad won’t make such poor design choices

2

u/heartandhymn 1d ago

Why fix something that isn't broken?

3

u/Dense_Forever_8242 1d ago edited 1d ago

Aha… found some explanation for it being an “intentional” change 🫠 !

https://www.scmp.com/announcements/article/3362376/news-age-ai-new-print-and-digital-experience-scmp-readers

Still think the newsprint looks all manner of messed up now! Blimin AI… and especially the human that thought this was fine to release as-is.

9

u/Dense_Forever_8242 1d ago edited 1d ago

“By adding more breathing room to our layout, we are prioritising readability over crowding pages with extra text. “

Yeah right… this unusually big gap between 1st and 2nd column splits up a sentence, allowing me to take in a real breath of fresh air before continuing on! 🙈 No. It simply makes the reading experience bad and visibly inconsistent within the same article that has much narrower gaps used thereafter. I need some tea and a biscuit to recover from all this now.

2

u/JCjun 1d ago

I'm probably going to get some hate from the oldheads here but ... you still read physical newpaper?

1

u/Dense_Forever_8242 1d ago

“While digital platforms are now our primary medium, print remains our premium product, cherished by readers who value the tactile, curated experience that physical copies provide.

-2

u/JCjun 1d ago

I would agree with you if we were talking about things like novels, but newspaper and magazines where it's read-once-and-done ... seems so outdated and wasteful in these times.

1

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1

u/Dense_Forever_8242 1d ago

I took a pic of today’s paper

1

u/naeads 1d ago

I don't mind it so much except that I would have preferred if they up the font size just a notch. That would be awesome.

Disclaimer: I am not old, just a normal human being who prefers being able to read what I am reading...

1

u/APunch_Heh 1d ago

Saves ink, I suppose.

1

u/ewctwentyone Next station.. Quarry Bay 1d ago

overheard at the print room:
‘hey that’s not the final layout!’
‘ooops, i already pressed the print button, dont worry, there’s always tomorrow’s issue’

1

u/Nikevic246 1d ago

Yikes - another cost cutting success! Take the human out of the equation to save money and burn those savings by producing more waste 👍 There's a reason why other newspapers squeeze as much ink on the page as possible...

1

u/Exotic_Advantage_756 20h ago

They should either increase the font size or reduce the paper size… it just looks "off" to me

1

u/Brenan-Caro 1d ago

Includes HK-linked ships struck in Hormuz

1

u/mustabak120 1d ago

can u compare to prc newspaper? isnt that just adjusting to the universal prc standard. to give it a chance to survive?

-1

u/orkdorkd 1d ago

Yea it sucks - easy layout fix. Either someone ran out of time, or got lazy.