Jacek Utko: Can design save the newspaper?

譯者: Ilya Li 審譯者: Calvin Chun-yu Chan

Newspapers are dying for a few reasons.

報紙逐漸沒落，原因有很多。

Readers don't want to pay for yesterday's news, and advertisers follow them.

讀者不再想要付錢閱讀昨天的新聞、以及廣告。

Your iPhone, your laptop,

你的 iPhone 手機，你的筆記型電腦

is much more handy than New York Times on Sunday.

都比週日的紐約時報還來的趁手。

And we should save trees in the end.

而我們還要拯救森林、少砍樹木。

So it's enough to bury any industry.

因此，這些理由足以埋葬任何一個產業了。

So, should we rather ask, "Can anything save newspapers?"

所以我們倒不如問：到底還有什麼可以拯救報紙嗎？

There are several scenarios for the future newspaper.

未來的報紙可能有幾個不同的情境；

Some people say it should be free;

某些人說，報紙應該要免費；

it should be tabloid, or even smaller: A4;

它應該像小報一樣，甚至更小；像 A4 般大小。

it should be local, run by communities,

它應該是本地的社區報，由社區經營；

or niche, for some smaller groups like business --

或者利基型的專業報，發行給如商界的小型團體

but then it's not free; it's very expensive.

但是那就不會是免費，而且非常昂貴。

It should be opinion-driven;

有人認為應該是輿論導向；

less news, more views.

少一點新聞，多一些觀點。

And we'd rather read it during breakfast,

而且我們寧願在吃早餐時看這些報紙

because later we listen to radio in a car,

因為接下來就會在車上聽廣播

check your mail at work and in the evening you watch TV.

在辦公室收 e-mail、晚上回家看電視。

Sounds nice, but this can only buy time.

這聽起來不錯，但這只是拖延時間罷了。

Because in the long run,

因為長期來說，

I think there is no reason, no practical reason

我認為沒有理由、沒有實際的理由

for newspapers to survive.

讓報紙能夠存活下來。

So what can we do?

那我們可以做什麼？

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Let me tell you my story.

讓我跟你們說我的故事。

20 years ago, Bonnier, Swedish publisher,

20年前，Bonnier，一家瑞典的出版商

started to set newspapers in the former Soviet Bloc.

開始在前蘇聯集團國家推出報紙。

After a few years, they had several newspapers in central and eastern Europe.

在幾年後，他們在中歐與東歐已經發行了幾份報紙

They were run by an inexperienced staff,

這些報紙的經營團隊大都沒有經驗

with no visual culture, no budgets for visuals --

既沒有視覺文化的概念，也沒有預算執行視覺藝術。

in many places there were not even art directors.

在很多地方甚至連美術總監都沒有。

I decided to be -- to work for them as an art director.

我決定 — 以美術總監的角色跟他們工作

Before, I was an architect, and my grandmother asked me once,

在那之前，我是一個建築師。我祖母有一次問我，

"What are you doing for a living?"

「你靠什麼在賺錢過活？」

I said, "I'm designing newspapers."

我說，「我設計報紙。」

"What? There's nothing to design there. It's just boring letters"

她說「啥？報紙沒有東西好設計啊？它只有一堆無聊的文字罷了」

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And she was right. I was very frustrated, until one day.

她沒有錯。我一度非常沮喪，一直到有一天，

I came to London, and I've seen performance by Cirque du Soleil.

我到了倫敦，看了一場太陽馬戲團的表演

And I had a revelation. I thought,

突然有了啟示。我想：

"These guys took some creepy,

「這些傢伙掌握到了一些怪怪的

run-down entertainment,

退流行的娛樂形式，

and put it to the highest possible level of performance art."

然後把它變成最高水準的表演藝術。」

I thought "Oh my God, maybe I can do the same with these boring newspapers."

我這樣想：「天啊，也許我也可以在這些無聊的報紙上做同樣的事情！」

And I did. We started to redesign them, one by one.

於是我就做了。我們開始一份一份重新設計。

The front page became our signature.

報紙封面變成我們的簽名。

It was my personal intimate channel to talk to the readers.

它變成了我跟讀者之間的私密頻道。

I'm not going to tell you stories about teamwork or cooperation.

我沒有要告訴你團隊合作的故事

My approach was very egotistic.

我的作法是非常自我中心的。

I wanted my artistic statement,

我想要的是我的藝術宣言，

my interpretation of reality.

我對現實的詮釋。

I wanted to make posters, not newspapers.

我想要製作海報，而不是報紙。

Not even magazines: posters.

甚至不是雜誌；是海報。

We were experimenting with type,

我們試驗各種字體，

with illustration, with photos. And we had fun.

搭配插畫、搭配照片。這樣作很好玩。

Soon it started to bring results.

很快，這些作法開始有一些效果了。

In Poland, our pages were named

在波蘭，我們的報紙被提名為

"Covers of the Year" three times in a row.

「年度封面」長達三年。

Other examples you can see here are from

你可以看到的其他的例子包括

Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia

拉托維亞、立陶宛、愛沙尼亞 —

and central European countries.

一些中歐國家。

But it's not only about the front page.

但是這不只是關於封面而已。

The secret is that we were treating

秘密在於我們如何對待

the whole newspaper as one piece,

整分報紙如同一件作品

as one composition -- like music.

就像是一個創作，像音樂一樣。

And music has a rhythm, has ups and downs.

音樂有節奏，有高低起伏

And design is responsible for this experience.

設計負責帶來這種體驗

Flipping through pages is readers experience,

翻閱報紙是讀者的體驗

and I'm responsible for this experience.

我對這樣的體驗全權負責。

We treated two pages, both spreads, as a one page,

我們把兩面的開頁當作是一個頁面來處理

because that's how readers perceive it.

因為這是讀者所感受到的體驗。

You can see some Russian pages here which got many awards

你可以看到某些俄國的頁面得到了很多獎項

on biggest infographic competition in Spain.

在西班牙的最大的資訊繪圖競賽中脫穎而出

But the real award came from Society for Newspaper Design.

但最棒的獎來自於「報紙設計學會」。

Just a year after redesigning this newspaper in Poland,

僅僅在重新設計波蘭的報紙一年後，

they name it the World's Best-Designed Newspaper.

它就被提名「全世界最佳設計的報紙」

And two years later,

兩年後，

the same award came to Estonia.

愛沙尼亞也得到同樣的獎項。

Isn't amazing?

這很神奇吧？

What really makes it amazing: that the circulation of these newspapers

真正讓這變得神奇的是：這些報紙的發行量

were growing too.

也成長了。

Just some examples:

讓我舉一些例子：

in Russia, plus 11 after one year,

在俄國，一年後增長了 11%

plus 29 after three years of the redesign.

重新設計三年後增長了 29%

Same in Poland: plus 13, up to 35 percent

同樣在波蘭：增長了 13%，到達 35%

raise of circulation after three years.

三年後發行量獲得提昇

You can see on a graph,

你可以從這幅圖表看到

after years of stagnation, the paper started to grow,

在數年的停滯後，報紙開始增長

just after redesign.

在重新設計之後。

But the real hit was in Bulgaria.

但是真正的成功發生在保加利亞

And that is really amazing.

真的讓人感到驚奇

Did design do this?

設計造成這樣的改變嗎？

Design was just a part of the process.

設計只是過程的一部分。

And the process we made was not about changing the look,

我們所啟動的進程，不只是改變外觀而已

it was about improving the product completely.

它是關於完全地改進產品。

I took an architectural rule about function and form

關於功能與形式，我採用建築的規則

and translated it into newspaper content and design.

並且轉化成報紙的內容與設計。

And I put strategy at the top of it.

我在整件事頂端加上策略

So first you ask a big question: why we do it? What is the goal?

所以一開始你問自己一個大問題：我們為什麼要作改變？目標是什麼？

Then we adjust the content accordingly.

然後根據這些目標調整內容。

And then, usually after two months, we start designing.

然後，通常在兩個月後，我們開始設計。

My bosses, in the beginning, were very surprised.

我的老闆，一開始的時候非常驚訝。

Why am I asking all of these business questions,

我為什麼要問一堆商業運作的問題，

instead of just showing them pages?

而不是就把設計好的頁面交出來算了？

But soon they realized that this is the new role of designer:

但是很快地，他們理解到這是設計師的新角色

to be in this process from the very beginning to the very end.

從產品的一開始到結束，設計者都參與其中。

So what is the lesson behind it?

所以這個故事帶給我們什麼教訓？

The first lesson is about that design can change not just your product.

第一個教訓是，設計不只能改變你的產品，

It can change your workflow -- actually, it can change everything in your company;

還可以改變你的工作流程 — 事實上，它可以改變你的公司裡一切事物。

it can turn your company upside down.

它可以把你的公司翻過來

It can even change you.

它甚至可以改變你自己。

And who's responsible? Designers.

誰的責任？設計師。

Give power to designers.

將權力交給設計師。

(Applause)

（掌聲）

But the second is even more important.

但是第二個教訓更為重要。

You can live in a small poor country, like me.

你可以像我一樣，住在一個貧窮的小國家中，

You can work for a small company,

你可以為一個小公司打工，

in a boring branch.

在一個無聊的部門。

You can have no budgets, no people --

你可以沒有預算、沒有人手

but still can put your work to the highest possible level.

但是你仍然可以作到最高水準的演出

And everybody can do it.

每個人都可以這樣作。

You just need inspiration, vision and determination.

你所需要的只是靈感、視野與決心。

And you need to remember that to be good

而且你需要記住：成為「好」

is not enough.

光「好」，並不夠。

Thank you.

謝謝各位。