I’ve had my iPad for a little over a month now, giving me plenty of time to pore through a number of news applications. Some are impressive examples of technology fused with design and creativity … others, not so much.

There are several different approaches for presenting news on the iPad. Some publishers have chosen to focus on the constant flow of updated information, while others have attempted to present information as more of a static package. While both have unique advantages and disadvantages, it’s clear that no one model has emerged as a standard format.

Here is a rundown of six different types of newspaper apps currently available for the iPad:

1. Newspaper Apps

If there is one industry that needs to hit it out of the park with their iPad apps, it’s newspapers. Given a brand new platform with seemingly limitless potential for creativity and innovation, many newspapers have played it disappointingly safe. Most of the apps available look like a hybrid between a traditional newspaper design and a website. And the sad truth is that the final result isn’t better than either.

The USA Today app is by far the most impressive offering in this category. The design is clean, intuitive and easy to navigate.

USA Today

Financial Times

NYT Editor’s Choice

Wall Street Journal

2. News Apps

News organizations that weren’t bound by traditional print design standards have managed to do a much better job of exploring the iPad’s capabilities. These applications have clearly set out to offer a more comprehensive solution for digital media convergence. The main landing pages are far more intuitive, making it much easier to get an overview of the available content.

BBC News

NPR

Reuters

3. News Magazines

Magazine publishers have focused on serving up each issue as a self-contained package with a fixed amount of content. The pages look similar to a PDF document with the occasional embedded video clip or interactive element. This gives the publishers a lot more play with design, however the result isn’t much of a departure from their print editions.

One major bone of contention amongst iPad users has been the pricing strategy for magazine apps. With the going rate pegged at $4.99 per issue (without the option to subscribe at a reduced rate), it’s no surprise that readers are experiencing a bit of sticker shock.

Newsweek

Time

4. News Photography Apps

For a quick overview of what’s happening in the world, these apps are great. They may not be packed with in-depth analysis, but their simplified approach to communicating events is easy to digest, and takes full advantage of the iPads crystal-clear screen.

Guardian Eyewitness

NY Post Pix

5. Feed Readers

These apps work by collecting RSS feeds from your favourite websites. You can pick a choose what sites you’d like to draw content from, and The Early Edition app even allows you to create separate sections to better organize your feeds. One of the biggest benefits to this type of news app is that the content is cached every time you open it. You have full access to all of the articles even if you aren’t online. (Really handy for those who didn’t opt for the 3G model)

The Early Edition

Pulse

6. Digital Newsstand

This app allows you to download digital copies of newspapers from around the world. There are over 1,500 publications to choose from, but ultimately you are getting little more than a PDF version of the paper. They are still in their original size, which makes reading a bit of a challenge. To navigate through a standard broadsheet you need to constantly scroll and zoom in and out to make it readable.

Press Reader

It’s no stretch to say that news app design is still in its infancy. At this point it’s up to publishers to analyze the way readers are interacting with the device and adapt accordingly.

While there is certainly room for improvement, the raw potential that the iPad offers news industry is nothing to scoff at. With new applications rolling out every day, I have no doubt that they will only get better with time.

In a move to strengthen the publication’s brand and push further towards a magazine style layout, Metro has rolled out a new design in Halifax, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver.

The sections have been reworked and simplified:

1. News – Local, Canada and World

2. Scene – Entertainment

3. Life – Health, Fashion, Finance

4. Sports – Expanded sports coverage

5. Drive (every Wednesday)

“The new Metro is, quite simply, unlike any printed publication in Canada”, says Charlotte Empey, Editor-in-Chief. “Heightened expert analysis, commentary, powerful pictures and readers’ views and opinions will enhance our editorial core, at the same time, keeping the news dynamic, compelling and fresh. But our revolutionary approach to reporting the news shouldn’t come as a surprise. Metro is known for innovation, changing print and design history more than once, and leading the pack in targeting the hard-to-reach metropolitan. This redesign is the next level.”

At first glance it’s clear that they are trying to integrate more charts, graphs, pull quotes and fact boxes into the mix. For a commuter paper where the average reader’s attention span is typically quite brief, this approach is not only visually appealing, but it lends itself well to fast paced intake.

Here’s a sample of Metro Toronto before the redesign:

The G20 summit took place in Toronto over the past several days with proceedings drawing to a close on Sunday.

While the world’s most influential leaders assembled to discuss pressing global issues, attention was quickly diverted to the standoff between protestors and the police.

Peaceful demonstrations abruptly ended as a group identifying themselves as ‘anarchists’ flooded the streets in a wave of destruction. With the amount of violence that followed you would think that Canadians had a legitimate cause to fight for, like widespread poverty or some sort of megalomaniac dictator … but no. It was just generic rebellion against banks, politicians and any other scapegoat that conveniently came to mind.

I have no doubt that the vast majority of the protestors had gathered for a peaceful demonstration. Unfortunately, they aren’t the ones that have their photos strewn across the nation’s dailies.

Here’s a look at what made today’s front pages:

Whoever said “practice makes perfect” was a liar. Human beings have been practicing storytelling for over 35,000 years (that we know of), and there is still plenty of room for improvement.

For all intents and purposes, storytelling is the art of making people interested in what you have to say. If you can get them to remember what you’ve said … bonus points.

Early storytellers quickly learned that a tale could be far more riveting (and as result, more enduring) if it captured one’s imagination and invoked thought.

Every time the skies open up and a new technology arrives on the scene, we take a stab at reinventing one of the oldest traditions known to man. And guess what … it’s about that time again.

Just like the early storytellers of our past, we have stumbled onto a new way of capturing imagination and invoking thought.

The invention of the internet, and the tidal flow of information that followed, has equipped us with a way to tell stories that Neanderthals would have drooled over.

I always try to keep my eyes open for new ways of visualizing news. When I find a really good one, it gives me a glimmer of hope that one day the news industry is going to collectively embrace everything that the web has to offer.

Here’s my collection so far:

Data Visualization

Timelines

Maps

Atlas is another popular tool for creating interactive maps. The Orlando Sentinel, Boston.com, The Palm Beach Post, and the Cincinnati Enquirer all use Atlas.
[fmatlas.com]

Images

Cooliris is a browser plug-in that presents videos, graphics, and images as an interactive wall of media. More importantly, they have tools for web developers to incorporate it into a site.
[cooliris.com]

Established in 1844 by William Harris as the Bytown Packet, it wasn’t until 1851 that the newspaper took on the Ottawa Citizen moniker. In the 166 years that have since passed, the publication has been through two world wars, a variety of social and political movements and a handful of owners. It has adapted to technological advances and grown to become one of Canada’s most established broadsheets.

I’ve put together a visual timeline that highlights key transformations in the newspapers production and design, while focussing on the technological and historical developments that shaped its look and feel.

Click here to launch the timeline.

This timeline was created with Timetoast. If you have any problems with the link above click here to view it at an alternate location.

Out of all the evolutions in newspaper design over the last century, none have been more transforming than the styling of nameplates. They are the crowning jewel of a newspaper’s design, setting the tone for the style of the entire publication.

The nameplate is the lynchpin in a publications brand. And to most casual observers it is the single most recognizable element of a newspaper’s design. It helps readers to develop a connection between the brand and the content in a way that enables the formation of preferences and judgements.

Technology has heavily influenced nameplate design trends over the years. And although some newspapers have opted for a traditional look, paying homage to the letterpress era, the opportunity to innovate and explore new styles has never been so apparent.

Here’s a visual look at several different North American broadsheet nameplate styles.

Blocking

Visually separating the nameplate within a block of colour can give it significantly more page dominance. It draws all of the weight to the top of the page to showcase the paper’s brand.

Clipped images

Interweaving clipped images or graphics around the nameplate can bring a typographic logo to life. Readers drawn to faces and photos are forced to subconsciously separate the images from the nameplate, and in the process it builds their connection to the brand and the content.

Content above

Running content above the nameplate can be a bit of a gamble, but if executed carefully, the impact can be worth the risk. Stories or photos with mass appeal can serve to capture the readers immediate attention. As their focus shifts from the lead story, the nameplate is the next element they see, allowing them to connect the content with the brand.

Advertising above

There is no doubt that the top of page one is primo real estate. There are usually mixed opinions about selling ad space above the nameplate, but for papers that go that route, the ads can have the effect of drawing the readers focus to the top of the page. Just so long as they don’t overwhelm the page.

Less is more

Many iconic papers have done very little to alter their nameplate over the years, opting for traditional, less-is-more aesthetic. For these newspapers, the long-established and clean look speaks volumes to the credo of the publication’s brand. And if it ain’t broke…

More is more

Alternatively, some newspapers load as much stuff as they can on and around the nameplate. Sometimes this can work to keep the reader’s attention up top, but without an incredibly sharp editing eye, it can quickly turn into a overcrowded mess.

Incorporating icons

Integrating locally recognized architecture (usually a line-drawing) into a nameplate design was trendy several years ago, but I seem to be seeing it less and less. It brands the paper as being distinctively local and adds a visual element to the logo, making it easier to recall.

Horizontal and vertical rules

Using horizontal and vertical lines above and/or below the nameplate can be a great way to add structure to the design. They clearly divide elements without overwhelming the page.

Different shapes

Most commonly newspaper nameplates are oriented horizontally. I’d have to speculate that this is because of the technology that newspapers have had to work with over the years. Traditionally nameplates were composed of nothing more than typography, which in the English language, runs horizontally from left to right. It’s becoming more common for newspapers to experiment with different nameplate configurations.

Playing with whitespace

Using whitespace can be an incredibly effective way of visually highlighting a newspaper’s logo. However, it needs to be tackled with care. There is a huge difference between whitespace and emptiness.

Skyboxes

Skyboxes are cordoned off blocks of space used to throw to content inside the paper. They keep the reader’s focus around the nameplate and add structure to the design.

Teasers

Teasers typically accomplish the same effect as skyboxes without adding the extra weight at the top of the page from being contained in a box.

I always like to stop and take a good look at publications that manage to push the boundaries of news design, while still holding true to the core of news journalism.

A while ago I came across a 2009 newspaper startup that I had to simply stop … and behold.

And yes, I said startup.

i is a daily newspaper in Lisbon, Portugal with a circulation of around 36,000 (and rising).

The attention paid to the design of this publication is phenomenal. And not only that, i has reinvented the traditional newspaper structure.

Sections are organized by:

1. Opinion (Think): op/ed section to start off the paper
2. Radar (Know): a quick overview of the past 24 hours
3. Zoom (Understand): in-depth, longer articles
4. More (Feel): cultural ongoings, including sports

I’ve rounded up several design samples to get a better feel for i‘s style.

Here are some page one designs:

Page designs from inside the paper:

This feature was printed over eight spreads. The end result, a life-size image of the Prime Minister.

i‘s style doesn’t end with print design:

Here’s a video clip about a typical day at i:

This is a publication to keep your eye on. It has given the traditional newspaper model a dramatically modern makeover, and it’s catching the attention of a new, younger generation of newspaper readers.