Image copyright AFP/Getty Image caption The first edition of The Guardian's tabloid format was published on Monday The Guardian has launched its new look as a slimline tabloid newspaper. The reformatting is part of a drive to cut costs at the paper, which last year made a loss of £38m. Previously, the paper was a hybrid between a broadsheet and a tabloid, called a Berliner - a unique format in the UK.

• Guardian Newspaper For Today

The new design means can be printed by more printing presses around the UK, which is expected to save the title millions of pounds. The change in format has also brought about the redesign of the newspaper. Image copyright Alicia Canter / The Guardian Image caption Editor Katherine Viner said The Guardian would remain 'thoughtful, independent and challenging' The paper no longer carries the distinctive blue masthead, opting for a simpler design. It's also created a new font called 'Guardian headline', which the paper claims is 'easier to read'. The overhaul also features a new daily pullout section of opinion and ideas, called Journal.

The shake-up includes a digital reversioning of the brand, with the website showing a similar aesthetic as the new-look paper. The Observer will follow suit - launching in tabloid format on Sunday 21 January. View from Amol Rajan - the BBC's Media Editor For newspaper readers, all redesigns are guilty until proven innocent.

Guardian Newspaper For Today

The millions of people who buy a daily newspaper in Britain are creatures of habit. They adore the thud on the doormat, the rustle and crinkle of the paper, their own idiosyncratic routing of turning to Sport or Comment or Business (delete as appropriate) first, and look forward to particular items and writers on particular days. So anybody who undertakes a redesign of a newspaper is mad, brave, desperate - or some combination of all three. Editor Katharine Viner told Radio 4's Today programme on Monday: 'The main reason we did it is because it saves millions of pounds to print a tabloid like this. 'We're on track to lose less than £25m this year and we intend to break even next year which would be the first time since the 1980s that the paper has broken even.'