After 130 years of staid blacks and musty grays, The Harvard Crimson features actual crimson—and the full spectrum of colors—on its front page today, marking a new era for the University’s daily newspaper.

The Crimson also unveils a complete redesign in today’s issue to accompany the changeover.

Press units installed in the newspaper’s basement over winter break enable the broadsheet to publish up to four pages in full-color—introducing cyan, magenta and yellow to The Crimson’s presses for the first time since in-house printing began in 1895.

Leaning over test copies pouring out of the presses last week, Crimson President Amit R. Paley ’04 and press operator Brian M. Byrne sported hands stained with ink and newsprint as Byrne tweaked contrast levels and discussed the logistics of color publication.

“Monday’s going to be a big test,” Byrne said in advance of today’s inaugural color issue.

Paley, whose tenure has been marked by a year-long effort to imbue the newspaper with color, hailed the change as vital for The Crimson’s readership.

“It was just pretty clear that it’s an important service to provide to our readers,” Paley said.

All told, The Crimson has devoted roughly $400,000 to the project, including the purchase and installation of the new Goss Community presses which now print the first two and last two pages of the newspaper.

The Crimson’s ongoing capital campaign is expected to cover the expenses of the changeover to color and redesign, Paley said.

Crimson Graduate Board Chair William L. Pollak ’79 said the new technology justified the vast expense.

“There’s always been a feeling that we want the students who work at The Crimson to work with equipment, maybe not of the cutting edge, but at least that which you would find out in the real world,” Pollak said.

The concurrent redesign has treated The Crimson to a complete makeover.

Those involved with the redesign said the changes—including summary boxes, more sub-headlines and teasers at the top of the front page—were intended to appeal to readers who may only scan the newspaper each day, as well as those who delve far into every story.

“We’re really just creating more entry points for our readers, for however much time they have,” Paley said.

The Color Crimson