Design News' `BIG' Million-Dollar Redesign Meets with Acclaim; Advertisers Love Consumer Look and Feel, Readers Benefit from Enhanced Content.

Business Editors

NEWTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 21, 2003

Design News, the leading magazine for design engineers in the original equipment manufacturing (OEM) market, unveiled the results of the publication's one million-dollar redesign with its January 13, 2003 issue. Based on reader and advertiser surveys, extensive changes have been made to the magazine's format and content.

Format changes include a larger trim size, bolder graphics, and a "consumer" look and feel. Content changes include more information presented in a "quick-read" format, while the number of in-depth features has been doubled. Issue frequency is 18 issues which will include six target market supplements and seven custom publishing supplements. It also has a new, all-digital format using Zinio's page-turning technology, so readers can flip through the magazine online as if they were reading it in hard copy.

"Engineering is a bigger story than ever today, and we felt we needed a bigger format and more technical content to tell that story," said Design News publisher Russ Piersons.

With an increased emphasis on graphics and photography and a larger format, the magazine takes on the look and feel reminiscent of consumer publications. In surveys, readers told Design News, "I do not change who I am just because I am at work and buying technology rather than clothes and cars."

Turning to the same talented designer who worked on Men's Health and Sports Illustrated, Joe Heroun, Design News has created a bold new look that both readers and advertisers enjoy. Advertiser Jim Woodward of Copley Controls Corp. commented, "Design News' new look works! It has power."

"We have reinvented Design News to reflect and address our readers' changing needs," said Karen Auguston Field, editor-in-chief of Design News. "It's dynamic, and it's the only design engineering magazine in the field that delivers the kind of critical information that our readers have told us they want and need."

With more editorial awards than any other design engineering magazine and a circulation covering virtually all OEM units with design functions and more than 20 employees, Design News has always been an industry leader. In order to maintain this position, and recognizing the increased time pressures faced by its readers, the magazine's redesign has made it easier to quickly find the broad spectrum of information that engineers need, while also providing more in-depth content in each issue.

The entire content of each issue of Design News is available at www.designnews.com. All content and ads appear exactly as they do in the print magazine itself. Furthermore, additional information via hotlinks, and video and audio links are embedded in the content and ads, so readers can easily pursue their interests further.

Design News, the magazine for design engineers in the original equipment manufacturing (OEM) market, is published by Reed Business Information. Headquartered in Newton, MA, Design News provides in-depth coverage on the latest tools, components, and materials used in mechanical and electromechanical design of a broad range of products.

Reed Business Information is a leading provider of critical information and marketing solutions to business professionals in the media, manufacturing, electronics, construction, and retail industries. A member of the Reed Elsevier plc America and Europe - a world-leading publisher and information provider with principal operations in North America and Europe - Reed Business Information's market-leading properties include more than 135 b-to-b publications, and more than 125 Webzines and Web portals. Reed also offers online services, custom publishing, directories, research and direct-marketing lists.