Eighteen months ago the Guardian took possibly the most radical step in its history. The newspaper abandoned its traditional broadsheet size and moved to the smaller Berliner format. Berliner has nothing specifically to do with Berlin; it is the name given to a popular format used by serious European daily newspapers such as our partner Le Monde. Its attraction is that it retains the proportions of a broadsheet paper while being easier to handle and read.
At the same time the Guardian was redesigned with a new masthead and typefaces less heavy than the Helvetica Bold that had dressed the paper since the mid-1980s. It now looks fresh and distinctively different from the many competing tabloid dailies on British newsagents' shelves.
Printed on state-of-the-art presses, the redesigned Guardian has had a dramatic effect on sales and won a string of prizes for its innovative format and brilliant design, including the British Newspaper of the Year award. The Observer, its sister Sunday newspaper, followed suit last year, with equal impact on readers and sales.
Now it is the Guardian Weekly's turn to benefit from these exciting developments. Next week, with the issue dated May 4, we will be following the Guardian's lead and shrinking from our familiar tabloid shape to the half-Berliner format. The Guardian Weekly's masthead has been recast in the lighter, more open typefaces used by the Guardian. They will also grace the headlines and text of our news, comment and feature pages.
The paper may be shrinking to a size closer to a news magazine, but it will resolutely remain the news weekly that we hope you continue to enjoy reading.
To compensate for the smaller format, the pagination of the new-look Weekly will be increasing, up to an average of 48 pages per issue, as opposed to the current 32-36 pages. This is to ensure that readers continue to receive at least as much editorial content as they presently enjoy.
One thing will not be changing: the running order. Three years ago we reorganised the Weekly to create a more coherent newspaper, with all the news, comment and features appearing together.
The Washington Post and Le Monde content, which had languished between the classified advertisements and the sports pages, now appears where it belongs thematically. Washington Post book reviews, which had occupied a separate page next to Sport, are more sensibly part of the mix of an expanded book review section.
If that change initially proved a little unsettling for some subscribers, it did make sense for new readers. And it continues to make sense. International and UK news, which we know you value highly, will continue to fill the opening pages of every issue. An expanded Comment & Debate section will follow, leading straight into the Weekly Review, with its mix of lively features, science, arts and book reviews.
At the end of the Weekly Review we will be introducing a double-page spread called Diversions. It will include the current Leisure page elements - the popular Notes & Queries feature, the bridge and chess columns, as well as the quick crossword. It is also where Paul Evans's legion of Nature Watch fans will be able to continue to enjoy his poetic reflections on the changing seasons in his corner of Shropshire.
A new element on the Diversions pages will be Chris Maslanka's puzzles, a long-standing feature of Saturday's Guardian. His weekly Pyrgic puzzle will tease the brains of our most logically minded readers and his wordplay games will test the most literate minds.
Although sudoku has taken off as a craze, at least in Britain, some of its Weekly aficionados have complained that the puzzle we run each week is too easy for them. At the risk of upsetting some readers, we have taken the decision to drop it.
For those who miss the weekly challenge of creating strict patterns out of the numbers 1 to 9, the Guardian Unlimited website theguardian.com has a huge archive of free, downloadable sudoku puzzles that range from the easy to the very hard. Our new Guardian Abroad website for expatriates guardianabroad.co.uk also carries a range of games and topical quizzes.
Outlook, with its focus on international development issues, Sport and the cryptic crossword, as well as the monthly Learning English supplement, will continue to be part of the exciting new Guardian Weekly.
This is the fourth redesign of the Weekly in my 14 years as editor. It is the one of which I expect to be most proud.
Change is not always comfortable, but I hope you will come to appreciate the clarity, modernity and authority of the design that has been created by John-Henry Barac under the guidance of the Guardian's creative editor, Mark Porter.
Please let us know what you think about our new appearance by emailing weekly.feedback@theguardian.com
Eighteen months ago the Guardian took possibly the most radical step in its history. The newspaper abandoned its traditional broadsheet size and moved to the smaller Berliner format. Berliner has nothing specifically to do with Berlin; it is the name given to a popular format used by serious European daily newspapers such as our partner Le Monde. Its attraction is that it retains the proportions of a broadsheet paper while being easier to handle and read.
At the same time the Guardian was redesigned with a new masthead and typefaces less heavy than the Helvetica Bold that had dressed the paper since the mid-1980s. It now looks fresh and distinctively different from the many competing tabloid dailies on British newsagents' shelves.
The redesigned Guardian has won a string of prizes for its innovative format and brilliant design, including the British Newspaper of the Year award. The Observer, its sister Sunday newspaper, followed suit last year, with equal impact on readers and sales.
Now it is the Guardian Weekly's turn to benefit from these exciting developments. Next week, with the issue dated May 4, we will be following the Guardian's lead and shrinking from our familiar tabloid shape to the half-Berliner format. The Guardian Weekly's masthead has been recast in the lighter, more open typefaces used by the Guardian. They will also grace the headlines and text of our news, comment and feature pages.
The paper may be shrinking to a size closer to a news magazine, but it will resolutely remain the news weekly that we hope you continue to enjoy reading. The pagination of the new-look Weekly will be increasing, up to an average of 48 pages per issue, as opposed to the current 32-36 pages. This is to ensure that readers continue to receive at least as much editorial content as they presently enjoy.
Three years ago we reorganised the Weekly to create a more coherent newspaper, with all the news, comment and features appearing together. The Washington Post and Le Monde content, which had languished between the classified advertisements and the sports pages, now appears where it belongs thematically. Washington Post book reviews, which had occupied a separate page next to Sport, became more sensibly part of the mix of an expanded book review section.
If that change initially proved a little unsettling for some subscribers, it did make sense for new readers. And it continues to make sense.
But one thing will be changing for our US and Canadian readers: the running order. The paper will now open with international and UK news, which we know you value highly, followed by an expanded comment and debate section, bringing it in line with our edition for the rest of the world.
These pages will lead straight into the Weekly Review, with its mix of lively features, science, arts and book reviews.
At the end of the Review we will be introducing a double-page spread called Diversions. It will include the current Leisure page elements - the popular Notes & Queries feature, the bridge and chess columns, as well as the quick crossword. It is also where Paul Evans's legion of Nature watch fans will be able to continue to enjoy his poetic reflections on the changing seasons in Wenlock Edge, his corner of Shropshire.
A new element on the Diversions pages will be Chris Maslanka's puzzles, a long-standing feature of Saturday's Guardian. His weekly Pyrgic puzzle will tease the brains of our most logically minded readers, and his wordplay games will test the most literate minds.
Although sudoku has taken off as a craze, at least in Britain, some of its Weekly aficionados have complained that the puzzle we run each week is too easy for them, so we have taken the decision to drop it.
For those who miss the weekly challenge of creating strict patterns out of the numbers 1 to 9, the Guardian Unlimited website theguardian.com has a huge archive of free, downloadable sudoku puzzles that range from the easy to the very hard.
Our new Guardian Abroad website for expatriates guardianabroad.co.uk also carries a range of games and topical quizzes.
Outlook, with its focus on international development issues, will remain, but we have renamed the page to more accurately reflect its concerns.
Sport and the cryptic crossword, as well as the monthly Learning English supplement, will continue to be part of the exciting new Guardian Weekly.
This is the fourth redesign of the Weekly in my 14 years as editor. It is the one of which I expect to be most proud.
Change is nwot always comfortable, but I hope you will come to appreciate the clarity, modernity and authority of the design that has been created by John-Henry Barac under the guidance of the Guardian's creative editor, Mark Porter.
Please let us know what you think about our new appearance by emailing weekly.feedback@theguardian.com
If you know someone who would enjoy the new-look Guardian Weekly, email their details to gwsubsna@guardianweekly.com quoting reference WPEN002 and we'll send them a free copy. Please remember to include their full name and address, country and zipcode.