Newspapers are losing money, so perhaps it’s time for companies to start rethinking the design of the paper itself? Poynter has a report today about the “three-around” newspaper design, and whether we can expect papers to begin to adopt the look. The three-around design is narrower and shorter than a typical paper, slightly taller than a tabloid, and still preserves the multiple section of the papers we read today.

Why would a newspaper adopt the new look? Poynter lists a few reasons:

• Since the pages are a third smaller, it will yield substantial newsprint savings. The three-around also produces 50 percent more copies per hour, allowing some reduction in pressroom work force and possibly fewer presses.
• After years of trimming the size of the physical paper, many American papers are awkwardly narrow and cannot go further with the web width of existing press configuration. Hence the potential appeal of getting much smaller (and more gracefully proportioned) in a single step.
• With the drain of advertising, especially during the early days of the week, many newspapers now have a heft problem — or in some cases run bigger-than-necessary sections padded with house ads.

It all sounds great, but no newspaper has adopted the new look yet, so there must something wrong. Let’s place the blame in two places: The stubborness of Americans and money.

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We noticed something interesting yesterday on themediaisdying‘s Twitter feed about New York-based design title I.D. magazine, and it got us digging.

The Twitter news was that managing editor Jill Singer and senior editor Monica Khemsurov had departed. A check of Singer’s LinkedIn profile seemed to confirm that she had left the magazine, published by F+W Media, last month and was currently working as a freelance design writer. Further digging led us to her Twitter feed, where we learned that she had founded a design consulting company with Khemsurov called Sight Unseen

When reached for comment, Singer confirmed that she and Khemsurov had left I.D. in mid-April. We also learned that editor-in-chief Julie Lasky had left in February to join design Web site Design Observer. The three made up the entire editorial staff of the magazine.

“The magazine has weathered several changes over the last six months, and we understand its owners (F+W Media) intend to change the direction of the magazine,” Singer told FBNY exclusively. “I.D. was our passion for three and a half years, but this change has allowed us to do something we have been wanting to do for a while, which is to found our own company, Sight Unseen.”

Singer explained that through Sight Unseen she and Khemsurov will be “writing, curating, consulting, scouting trends and emerging designers, doing design-related events and creating our own design and culture publication, both on the web and (hopefully) in print.”

Update: I.D. publisher Gary Lynch announced today that Jesse Ashlock will be joining the magazine on May 26 as editor-in-chief. Ashlock will be hiring to replace the departed editors and Lynch said he hopes that staff will be in place by mid-June.

After Lasky, Singer and Khemsurov departed earlier this year, “we had to move quickly to replace them,” Lynch said. “But we see it as an opportunity to bring on some fresh blood and a new way to look at the business.”

Lynch also told FBNY that he hopes Ashlock will work on expanding I.D.‘s online presence. The full release about Ashlock’s move after the jump.

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New York’s Adam Moss [left] and the New Yorker’s David Remnick [right] flank Rolling Stone’s Jann Wenner at the 2006 National Magazine Awards

The finalists for the 42nd Annual National Magazine Awards — the industry’s so-called Ellies — were announced today, with the New Yorker leading the pack — what else is new? — with nine nominations. New York and Esquire garnered seven each.

But the question is who will be this year’s Virginia Quarterly Review, which had a coming out party of sorts when the nominees were announced last year (“Virginia what?” being the familiar refrain).

Potential Cinderellas this year: Cincinnati Magazine (profile writing), the Georgia Review (essays) and Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (I’m sorry, what was that?) for “General Excellence, Circulation under 100,000.”

The full list of 2007 finalists:

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