Norris named Globe's design leader

Adrian Norris has been named of Managing Editor, Design, for The Globe and Mail.

Adrian joined the Globe in 2000 as a designer in Report on Business and followed that with three years as Presentation and Production Editor in News. In 2005, he took charge of a project to redesign the Globe's websites, a task completed early in 2006.

With that new expertise under his belt, he graduated to the newly created position of Creative Director, Digital Media, and led a Globe Reimagination project team that implemented web-paper integration. He also led a second redesign of the websites that began with the launch of reportonbusiness.com and has spread to other parts of the globeandmail.com network.

Before coming to The Globe, Adrian worked for 11 years in London as a designer at The Times and its associated publications.

"In his new role, Adrian will be accountable for the look of the newspaper, the websites and our magazine products, ensuring consistent application of design principles across all platforms," Globe editor-in-chief Edward Greenspan said. "He will be working to make sure we get the most out of the redesign and continue to situate ourselves on the leading edge of newspaper, magazine and web design."

David Pratt, who has served as The Globe's editorial art director for nine years, will be stepping back from his management role to become more involved in day-to-day design matters. "Through his vision and determination, he has created a design culture in a newspaper once famous as the grey Globe," editor-in-chief Edward Greenspan said. "Nobody would call The Globe grey today."

In honour of David's contribution to the evolution of the modern Globe, its still-unchristened editorial award for visual excellence has been named the David Pratt Award. The first recipient of the award is Cinders McLeod, designer for the Globe's new Life section. She received the award during a newsroom ceremony on Tuesday.

The Canada Blog tossed a few questions to Adrian on his big day.

How has SND helped your career?

So far, it's helped in three ways. 1. Staff recruitment: I've employed one new member of staff this year as a result of posting jobs on the SND website. 2. Making contacts at other news organizations, which I've since visited. 3. Having an open forum for debate; last year's workshop particularly helped me on the topics of print-web integration and work processes related to graphics for the web.

Where does your design inspiration usually come from?

It comes from looking at what I consider industry leaders, but most importantly from the highly talented team I have around me.

Who were your mentors?

My first, most influential mentor was David Driver, Head of Design at The Times, London. I learned from watching him at work. His deputy, Ian Stupples, displayed great patience in teaching me in my first real job after college.

What are the biggest challenges visual journalism faces?

Pulling down walls. Looking for intelligent ways to share top-quality content between different platforms.