In January 2009, Information Architects (iA) was invited to participate in a paid pitch for the print redesign of Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger.

iA is a user experience design agency that specializes in developing branded online strategies and user interfaces for the software and publishing industries. Based in Japan and Switzerland, the group has amassed an impressive portfolio, with clients such as Mozilla and Zeit Online.

Of the five agencies developing pitches, iA was the only one specializing in user experience. They had a unique perspective to offer, and they focused on issues of usability, readability, and cross-media connections. The result: a gorgeous print design that ignored most newspaper design rules while incorporating user experience design rules.

iA’s redesign included online strategies such as putting readers’ comments next to the related article and increasing scannability by making “print links” — blue keywords — in the articles. They took a creative gamble, but in the end, they lost to another agency.

Why am I sharing this “Story of a Beautiful Failure”? I found it intriguing for many reasons, but there are two lessons that I think are great takeaways for professional writers: (1) it’s not enough to do something great — you have to be able to communicate its greatness to others; and (2) this kind of thinking outside the traditional design box is what professional writers do. (more…)