We make it as difficult as possible to use classifieds. We give them virtually no visual appeal. A sameness marks classified ads everywhere. The result, in many cases, has been a step backward in the design of print classifieds. Because of 50-inch web conversions, everything is being compressed and made smaller, says MacDonald.
Type used in many classified sections is just too hard to read.
Newspapers have not done a good job of making small type legible, and there are limits on how small you can go. If you started from scratch, you certainly wouldn't create what we have now. You wouldn't start with the premise that if nine columns are good, then 10 would be better. You wouldn't assume that column and cut-off rules are an appropriate way to distinguish between items. And I challenge the absence of color.