When I got the call from The New York Sun, the opportunity felt like stepping into a whirlwind. The role was pivotal: a production designer responsible for collecting articles, ads, and full-page spreads, laying them out in perfect order, and sending files to pre-press for final approval. Every detail had to be flawless before the paper rolled off the presses the next morning.
Our team of four designers served as the nerve center of production. Without us, the daily miracle of The Sun simply couldn’t happen.
The Challenge: Innovating Amid Tradition
The New York Sun relied on QuarkXPress, a software that was functional but outdated. It didn’t integrate seamlessly with Adobe’s ecosystem, leaving gaps in efficiency and quality. My task? Transition the team to Adobe InDesign—a tool that offered better postscript support and integration but was unfamiliar to most of the staff.
This shift wasn’t just about swapping tools; it was about revolutionizing the workflow. I began by converting Word documents into clean, formatted layouts using paragraph and character styles. I researched pagination software that could mimic the editors’ expectations while ensuring the flexibility to adapt quickly.
Building Systems on the Fly
One of the most impactful changes was creating a makeshift design system. We didn’t call it that then—it was simply a “library” of high-quality client logos, fonts, and assets. This repository became an essential tool for ensuring consistency and speeding up production.
We often received a mix of high-quality ads from top-tier clients like Macy’s and Sotheby’s and low-resolution PDFs from smaller businesses. The latter required painstaking cleanup—re-rendering images, adjusting colors, and ensuring print readiness.
A Glimpse of the Future
Looking back, it’s clear how much modern AI could have simplified this process. Tools like Firefly could have generated ad designs, automated color separations, and even flagged spelling errors or inappropriate content. The ability to preflight files for issues before they reached our desks would have saved countless hours and reduced errors.
AI’s potential to streamline production might have extended The Sun’s life during the financial crisis that eventually shuttered it. Social media was just emerging, and The Sun was ahead of its time in some ways—dabbling in web content and even creating a Facebook page. Yet, the technological gap between its ambitions and resources was insurmountable.
The Human Element
Despite the stress, there were moments of levity and creativity. I remember holding photo shoots in a conference room overlooking a bustling New York street. The energy of the city and the weight of our work made every day an adventure.
The demise of The New York Sun was a sobering reminder of the industry’s fragility. But it also underscored the importance of adaptability, innovation, and embracing new tools. If AI had been more accessible, it might have written a different ending for The Sun.
