Anatomy of a Magazine Redesign. (Editorial)."Reach for the moon; even if you miss, you will land among the stars." This was our motto in January when we started the process of redesigning the look and editorial content for MODERN CASTING. We were shooting for the moon. You see, 125 issues have passed since our last redesign re·de·sign tr.v. re·de·signed, re·de·sign·ing, re·de·signs To make a revision in the appearance or function of. re , and the faces of both the metalcasting industry and our readership have changed. Today, time is short and everyone is always on the move. To make sure we keep pace with the needs of our readership, we set out on this redesign journey. The first step was to poll our readers via focus groups and mailed surveys to determine their likes and dislikes about the magazine. Although we learned we were doing a lot of things right, we also learned maybe we were doing a few things "not so right." The most important thing we learned was when today's foundrymen open up MODERN CASTING, they look for as much information as possible as quickly as possible. With this statement, we knew the redesigned MODERN CASTING has to provide you with the "biggest bang" for every moment you spend reading it. The next step in the redesign process was to benchmark ourselves with successful magazines, including Business Week, Time, Purchasing, ESPN ESPN Entertainment and Sports Programming Network , Men Health, Cosmopolitan cos·mo·pol·i·tan adj. Growing or occurring in many parts of the world; widely distributed. n. A cosmopolitan organism. and Golf to see if we could pick up a few design and editorial tips from the "experts." Can you approach articles about the stock market, professional football, dieting and fashion in the same way? Surprisingly, the answer is yes. We then hired a design agency to deliver a fresh perspective and assist in the redesign process. At this point, our countless hours of arguing (almost coming to blows on several occasions) about drop caps, pull quotes, margins, fonts, keylines, decks and every other trivial journalistic jour·nal·is·tic adj. Of, relating to, or characteristic of journalism or journalists. jour  nal·is style point in existence began. It is amazing a·maze v. a·mazed, a·maz·ing, a·maz·es v.tr. 1. To affect with great wonder; astonish. See Synonyms at surprise. 2. Obsolete To bewilder; perplex. v.intr. how passionate people can be about punctuation punctuation [Lat.,=point], the use of special signs in writing to clarify how words are used; the term also refers to the signs themselves. In every language, besides the sounds of the words that are strung together there are other features, such as tone, accent, and . The result? You are holding it in your hands right now. Hopefully, it feels like the moon (or at least the stars?). We sure think so. While looking through this first redesigned issue of MODERN CASTING, the most apparent changes to you may be the new look. From the MODERN CASTING logo on the cover to Shakeout Shakeout A situation in which many investors exit their positions, often at a loss, because of uncertainty or recent bad news circulating around a particular security or industry. Notes: During the dotcom boom and bust, numerous shakeouts occurred. on p. 76, we have attempted to deliver a magazine worthy of calling itself "The Technology and Business Magazine for the Metalcasting Industry." I'd like to take you through some of the changes. Cover--The biggest change is that we have a new logo. Hotline--To better reflect its name, Hotline now only includes the "hottest" items in the issue. Expect to see a recap re·cap 1 tr.v. re·capped, re·cap·ping, re·caps 1. To replace a cap or caplike covering on: recapped the bottle. 2. of the hottest industry news and product innovations each month as well as the "hottest" additions to our website, www.moderncasting.com, including the new "Question of the Month." Contents--Our Contents page is now packed with information about the feature articles, including brief descriptions to complement the headlines as well pictures in some cases. Industry News--Although Industry News also has a new look, the biggest advance in this section is at www.moderncasting.com with the, daily-updated late-breaking news. Features--The two biggest design innovations for features are the "Inside This Story" section and the "For More Information" box. Used on select features, "Inside This Story" will provide you with a brief synopsis A summary; a brief statement, less than the whole. A synopsis is a condensation of something—for example, a synopsis of a trial record. of the article's key points. The "For More Information" box will list books, papers, websites, etc., to aid you in finding further information on an article's main focus. Shakeout--When we developed the new content and look for this page, we referred to it as the "Foundry Fun" page. Everyone needs a little break from the daily grind Daily Grind could refer to:
There you have it--our redesign in a nutshell nut·shell n. The shell enclosing the meat of a nut. Idiom: in a nutshell In a few words; concisely: Just give me the facts in a nutshell. Adv. 1. . I hope you enjoy the new look and editorial content. Thanks for more than 63 years of loyal readership. Have a safe and happy holiday season. We want to know what our readers think of the redesigned MODERN CASTING. Please drop us an email with your thoughts at moderncasting@afsinc.org. Alfred T. Spada, Executive Editor |
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