Start The Presses:

I want to thank everyone for coming to our open house last week. The turnout was better than we expected — thankfully we had enough food and drinks. I’m grateful so many showed up to take a sneak peek at our redesign, and happy to say our new look was well received.

Of course, the proof will be in the actual paper, not mock-ups. Because our redesign launches today, I want to explain some of the changes more fully: why we made those changes, how to find your favorite features, and what each means for your reading experience.

Skyboxes

The most notable change, in my opinion, is the addition of a skybox. The skybox — the box above the masthead — is designed to promote stories, columns and other features inside the paper. This allows us to place more information on the front page — and allows you to know at a glance where to find that information.

Better integration with the online version

During my time at the Burbank Leader, I have worked not only to improve the print edition, but to increase the importance and velocity of our online presence as well. The redesign features additional graphic elements that let readers know about online video and photo galleries. In addition, we will be publishing online comments in the paper, giving readers a larger voice.

New masthead design and headline font

We’ve updated the paper’s masthead and logo, a change I feel makes the paper stand out both on the news rack and the breakfast table. The body text of the paper remains the same, but we’ve changed the headline font to a more slender and modern font called “Antenna.”

Columns

For many years, columnists ran on the front page of the Leader. Starting today, you will find them on the Forum page. Most newspapers place their columnists inside the paper. This change puts us in line with standard journalism practices.

Though the Leader can be found within the Los Angeles Times, it is a separate paper, and I wanted to make sure this paper has an identity separate from The Times. Putting columnists on the Forum page is one simple — but important — way of doing this.

Index

Despite this change, you won’t have to worry about finding your favorite columnist. Our redesign also includes an index at the bottom of each day’s paper. In that index, you’ll find the page number of your favorite features.

Graphic police blotter

One of our most popular features is our police blotter, which lets people know where and what type of crimes have occurred in their area. Before, the blotter was a simple list of where, what and who. This redesign features a city map, broken into areas, giving readers a better understanding of what’s happening in their neighborhood.

Though there are quite a few changes in the paper, a number of things will not change. Our focus on Burbank will not waver. We will continue to give you the same great news, sports, features and commentary. And, we will continue to be open and available to your questions and concerns. The soul of the paper is not changing, only its packaging.

Please let me know your thoughts. And, as always, thank you for reading.

Get in touch DAN EVANS is the editor. He may be reached at (818) 637-3234 or by e-mail at dan.evans@ latimes.com.