We have a new look Ipswich Star - what do you think?

The front page of the first Star of the East - later to become the Ipswich Star - in 1885. Today, we've reinstated the original star into our new masthead

It’s a big decision to radically redesign a masthead, explains editor Brad Jones.

So let’s describe our change and new colour today as a statement of intent. It’s a modernisation of the Star.

The deliberate move to drop the red is simply because we want to reflect a modern, progressive Ipswich.

We’re the county town and, I believe, going places. I’ve lived here most of my 43 years and I can’t recall a time when there was a greater sense of change or optimism. We still have a long way to go, but Ipswich is on the right track – that must be maintained.

The new masthead also contains a nod to the past. When we were first published in 1885 – then called the Star of the East – there was a bold star at the centre of the design.

We’ve reinstated that star today, and we’re affectionately calling the colour ‘Ipswich Town blue’ – we are now next door neighbours with the football club, after all.

Of course, it’s what’s inside that really counts, and this is where the Star is really shining.

We’ve made many changes in the last few months, refocused, and worked hard to ensure that both in print and online, we are more relevant than ever in the town.

Our ambition is for the Star to inform, surprise, entertain and connect with the town’s many different communities every day. We can do this better than ever before with the endless opportunities of our print and digital platforms.

And we want to continue to help our advertisers – our fantastic business community – reach a big local audience.

So if you’re one of the many thousands of people in the town who’ve received a copy of the new look Star today, I hope you enjoy it.

Please do let me know what you think - you can send your thoughts via email