In with the new. (Editor's Focus).

Makeovers are all the rage, if cable television programming is any indication. Weekly programs detailing interior remodeling tasks, landscaping projects and complete wardrobe overhauls are among the prime time cable choices gaining public favor.

By no means do we wish to imply we're jumping on a bandwagon. In fact, the redesigned issue of Recycling Today that you now see is the result of several design processes dating back before many of the current cable phenoms were even on the air.

Just like restaurant owners who jazz up their menus, bands that add new songs to their repertoires and retailers who regularly rotate their end cap displays, publishers must pay attention to the task of gaining attention.

It is a subtle process, but print design styles change over time, with some colors, fonts and layout patterns gaining favor while others begin fading from use. Recycling Today last went through a major redesign in the spring of 1995. In the ensuing eight years, we've certainly done all we can to produce enjoyable, readable, attention-grabbing publications, including making periodic minor design enhancements.

The logo we have used for the past eight years has become as familiar to our readers and advertisers as it is to us staff members. Trading in the equity built up in this icon is a risk, but so is offering readers a product that is not compatible with current design styles and reading habits.

The Recycling Today format that debuts in the March 2003 issue offers readers clearly defined text areas, a crisp body copy font, upgraded chart formats in the commodity departments and a revised color palette.

Perhaps the most dramatic difference is on the front cover, where a new logo and layout alerts readers immediately that changes have been made. Recycling Today covers a number of industry segments in each issue, and we hope that the added attention paid to the non-cover stories referred to at the top of the cover will help readers know right away that something of interest lies within.

This re-designed issue also seemed like the ideal time to debut a new department that provides more coverage to yet one more emerging recycling segment. The Electronics Recycling department, found on pages 36 and 38, offers news relative to the recycling of scrap computers, office equipment and electronic appliances.

Recycling Today art director Karen Angus has led a redesign effort that has tried to take into consideration the many different needs of our readers and advertisers. If you like what you see, please let her know by dropping her a congratulatory e-mail at [e-mail]. Likewise, if you have any additional comments or suggestions, let her know that as well.

We're proud to be displaying our new look with this year's March issue, which will be distributed at the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc. (ISRI) Annual Convention. To all those attending and exhibiting at the show, we look forward to seeing you in Orlando and hearing what you think of our makeover.