A Fast Paper For Fast Lives

The start of a new newspaper is always an auspicious occasion, one to celebrate.

The launch of XPRESS today is no exception. It is a vibrant, contemporary newspaper totally created for the reader of the “always on'' culture who approaches life with a constant desire to be informed whenever and wherever he wants it.

XPRESS has been carefully crafted. The newspaper in front of you today emphasises the techniques of modern newspaper rethinking.

NAVIGATION

A modern newspaper must facilitate navigation. Readers of XPRESS will find a page one that not only highlights a feature or news item of the day, selected by the editor as a story that should be read first, but that also serves as a platform to give them a sense of the content appearing throughout the rest of the newspaper.

In fact, a printed newspaper today must cater to two types of readers: scanners (that is most of us, regardless of age), and traditional readers (those who read patiently, page by page, waiting for surprises, but NOT rushing to them).

Your new XPRESS aims at the two tracks, with elements of story structuring that facilitate scanning, while presenting the same depth and substance that traditional readers have come to expect — in a manageable, easy to read package. A win situation.

SMALL TABLOID FORMAT

We have witnessed a rapid trend for quality newspapers everywhere to convert from broadsheet (large) formats to compact in the past five years. A newspaper totally created in 2007, as is your XPRESS, must be in a compact format. Ironically, the same ideas which motivated publishers and editors to produce tabloids since the 1870s, are very prevalent in your XPRESS:

COLOUR CODING

The majority of today's readers have no recollection of life without colour television. In about five years, we will have the first group of adult newspaper readers who will have no memory of life without the internet. These are important points to recall as we design a new newspaper, and we have, indeed, taken this information into account as we designed XPRESS.

Colour is definitely a protagonist in your XPRESS. Like the UAE itself, a tapestry of cultures, each colourful in itself, the new XPRESS had to show the vibrancy of its surroundings, starting on page one. Notice the ribbons of colour directly under the logo, and the red used for the X in XPRESS, a symbol of passion and fire, which translate into dynamic, fun, must read journalism.

Colour is also used to highlight boxes, secondary readings and areas of the page where the editor/ designer want to make sure you stop to take a look, not to mention that colourful photographs appear on every page.

INNOVATIVE ADVERTISING

One of the greatest influences of the internet is how we react to advertising. On the smaller canvas of a computer screen, advertising and editorial content must coexist visually and otherwise.

XPRESS approaches adverts creatively throughout the newspaper. They are innovative, eye catching and designed to coexist with stories on the page.

So, as you take a good look at the newspaper in front of you, enjoy its contents, the interesting material that each page brings and anticipate what the next edition will have in store for you.

It is, indeed, reason to celebrate the birth of the new XPRESS, a newspaper that is totally designed to cater to your needs, to make your survival in the cities easier, and that promises you a good 20- minute break from your routine.

Here's hoping that XPRESS will become part of those things you consider indispensable.

XPRESS DELIVERY