A case of déjà vu?

Post details:
• A look at the similarities of newspaper design

Looking through front pages on Newseum yesterday (6/3), I found myself with a case of déjà vu? Or was it?

Starting alphabetically, I thought the Bakersfield Californian chose a great Associated Press photo of Hillary Rodham Clinton taken Monday by Elise Amendola in Sioux Falls, S.D., when Sen. Clinton, D-N.Y., was coming from her campaign plane. The paper’s designer utilized great treatment of the photo putting text on top (“Will she stay or go?”).
Continuing my perusal of Newseum, I found the San Jose Mercury News went with an almost identical photo (the second in the series by Amendola) with similar treatment. This time the text was “Is this the end?” This was not the first time similar photos and treatments have been used on the same day’s front pages. Thus, I moved on.

Then I came across the Cleveland Plain Dealer, which used the same photo as the Mercury News, along with very similar text (“Is it over?”).

My reaction: great designers think alike. If you have a great photo, use it. The two photos were made for putting text on.

So déjà vu? Maybe not. It is more like well-designed newspapers thinking alike.

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