Mediahuis Ireland has today launched a new Irish Independent Masterbrand. The move sees the online Independent.ie brand retired in favour of Irish Independent, and the Publisher’s 11 regional print titles aligned to the new Masterbrand. All content from the Sunday Independent will continue to be carried on the Irish Independent online and the Sunday Independent itself will adopt the new visual identity.
The changes are part of the Irish Independent’s ambition to become Ireland’s favourite newsbrand and the number one destination for both national and local news.
Mediahuis Ireland has worked with one of Europe’s most acclaimed editorial designers, Mark Porter, and his team to refresh the Irish Independent brand.
Commenting Mark said, “Our brief was to deliver a design system which would unite the Indo, Sindo, and independent.ie into one coherent and recognisable identity.
With the media in a time of a transition it was essential that the new design should respect the past, feel relevant to the present and be ready for the future. We also ensured that it would reflect the Indo’s closeness to Ireland and its people.
Some things have not changed. The page design of the newspapers and website are familiar. But brand communications from advertising and promotions through to social media, audio and video all embrace the new look.
The main components are: –
New logos and symbols including a contemporary redrawing of the Indo’s harp icon, first introduced in 1961.
A new custom typeface named Cláirseach, which unites Irish lettering traditions and contemporary type design in a friendly, readable, and distinctive font.
A new colour palette. Still based on green, the Indo’s core colour, but with new more contemporary shades and a range of warmer and brighter complementary hues.
A new grid and layouts system which brings consistency and coherence to all our communications
A new approach to imagery including close-up photography (reflecting the Indo’s close connection with Ireland’s stories) and colourful, engaging, and accessible illustrations.
We hope that the new design will help you to recognise us wherever you find us and invite you to get even closer to our journalism.”
Irish Independent and Mediahuis Editor-in-Chief, Cormac Bourke said: “For many years now, we have brought our journalism together online at www.independent.ie, a site we now formally rename today as the Irish Independent.
“We have learned that building on the heritage of all of our titles, we are better and stronger together. That offering has brought us close to 70,000 paying digital subscribers in the Republic of Ireland in the three years or so since we launched our subscription service.
“In the past 18 months we have seen strong growth in engagement around local news in counties where we had existing teams. This also comes at the same time as our ambition to offer our audience better local news from across the whole of the Republic of Ireland.
“These changes emphasise the strength and depth we offer together and create a distinctive identity to allow us to promote our journalism on our digital platforms and in our printed products.”
The Irish Independent and Sunday Independent are Ireland’s best-selling newspapers. Online the publisher operates a hybrid ‘freemium’ model and having introduced a partial paywall in February 2020 now has almost 70,000 paying subscribers.
68% of the Irish population are regular readers of the Irish Independent’s journalism.
The newsbrand’s flagship Indo Daily podcast is regularly in the top 10 most listened to in the podcast charts.
The rebrand of the Publisher’s local titles that include The Kerryman, Wexford People, and The Sligo Champion is part of a plan that will see the Irish Independent target the local news market with county homepages for all 26 counties.
Premium plus subscribers who use the EPaper apps will see their app icon change from its current orange logo to a Lime Green colour. Other than that the ePapers will function the same as before.
