The before (top) and after (below) nameplates for The Spokesman-Review, a collaboration between Jim Parkinson and Matt Mansfield that is the first reworking of the logo since the 1950s. The new nameplate restores the inline significantly and replaces the old "m" with an entirely new version; all the other letterforms receive major updating as well. The changes will debut in print and online in early 2006.

The annual Society for News Design workshop has just ended in Houston, and MG folks were everywhere at the premier event for visual journalism professionals.

Matt Mansfield debuted his redesign for the new snd.org, the first major updating of the site since the Society began publishing on the Web. Mansfield worked with SND's executive director, Elise Burroughs, and the Digital Forest group in Seattle. All work was volunteered to the Society, and we were able to convince our friends at Hoefler & Frere Jones to donate their fabulous fonts for the site's new look and navigation.

MG partner Scott Goldman, the Society's new vice president, helped spearhead the reworking of the SND mission statement. Goldman spent several months coordinating efforts with past presidents of SND, as well as other industry group leaders and at-large readers. The new mission statement was unveiled at the annual business lunch.

Denise Reagan and Jonathon Berlin were to be the hosts of the annual awards gala. They wrote the script, planned the dance routines (yes, dance routines) and worked on making the evening lively. It was an amazing effort.

Sadly, though, Jonathon lost his voice at the last moment, and Matt Mansfield had to fill in on stage with Denise as the co-anchor of the "SND Update," a news show send-up that kept the crowd in stitches (no, really, it did). And that just shows how the creative team at MG works: We help each other and we're all essentially ready to do whatever it takes to get the job done. Seriously.

Meanwhile, gigantic kudos to our friends Susan Bischoff and Kellye Sanford at the Houston Chronicle for taking the tough task of putting on an SND workshop, made tougher by two hurricanes, and showing us what grace under pressure looks like. Hope you are both getting some much-needed time away from it all!

The Indianapolis Star completed its redesign with the arrival of new fonts and new section content throughout the Star today.

MG partner Scott Goldman put the finishing touches on typographic changes that ranged from headlines to agate. Hoefler & Frere-Jones fonts Chronicle and Gotham are now the Star's main headline fonts, with Retina as the new style for agate, bylines, photo captions and graphic type.

Goldman also coordinated the Star's efforts in launching a revamped daily business section and weekend entertainment section — "Go!" — to create a more inviting, engaging presentation throughout the Star.