At its simplest, our goal in publication design is to strike a balance between stunning visual elements and clear communication. In designing stories for a niche market both of these qualities are critical. Our designers read and understand each story in order to select the highest quality images to illustrate concepts, to create intuitive designs that make navigating the magazine second nature, and to  constantly develop innovative ways to add interest to the written aspects of the magazine.

Our style is based on strong elements featuring bold color and high contrast. In the current arena of communications there are a lot of messages competing for a reader’s attention and it is our job to garner that attention through design. In addition to vibrant visual choices we focus our attention on the overall structure of the magazine. Two often missed aspects of print design are scale and pacing. The visual hierarchy of a printed page is critical to a reader’s instinctive understanding of the content before them, and the visual hierarchy of the overall magazine is critical to understanding how articles relate to one another. It is our job as designers to organize elements in such a way that readers instantly relate to the content.

1) PROJECT PLANNING Adhering to deadlines is critical when keeping up with the unrelenting pace of a magazine. We begin by reviewing the schedule for the issue taking into consideration the target delivery date for the issue and any holidays or special editorial requests. At this same time we review the ad sales report and the first drafts of all stories to provide an imposition for the issue showing the printer’s layout of pages. The schedule and flat plan are agreed upon by THOR and the editor prior to the beginning of the design phase. This process sets the foundation for our work on the issue.

2) IMAGE SELECTION The first creative task of the project is the sourcing of images. For established clients, we understand there will be a combination of author-provided images and sourced stock images. Our goal is finding the  visual balance between conceptual and utilitarian artwork. We are highly skilled at creating custom artwork, from conceptual covers and feature leads to infographics and illustrated charts. This is an area that can truly set a publication apart from its competition.

3) DESIGN With all of the magazine content in hand, we prepare the first draft of the magazine. Our process is customized to meet the needs of our clients. Some clients prefer that we work on individual sections of the magazine and route individual proofs for each section, some prefer that we design the magazine as a whole and route a single proof. Either is acceptable to us and we can help to make the determination of which option is best.

4) EDITS We are extremely detail-oriented and have a great deal of experience completing edits and updates provided to us by our clients. We are able to handle these edits on your behalf from notes provided to us using marked up PDFs. We also have experience working with clients who prefer an InDesign/InCopy workflow in which the client applies edits to InCopy and we adjust as needed within InDesign.

5) PRINTER DELIVERY With years of experience working with a wide range of publications, we are also extremely well versed in preparing files that are ready for print production. We handle all of the pre-flight and delivery requirements for each issue. We are available to be a part of the printer approval process to whatever degree is requested. Typically we review digital proofs and provide commentary and updates as needed.

For workflow needs we use the project management software Trello. This software  allows us to move away from an email-based system of exchanges to a permanent record of content, comments, and task progress that is clear and transparent to all members of the production team. We’ve found this process to be extremely intuitive and effective in managing all of the individual elements of a given issue.

Project Outline

• Design and layout of the magazine using approved templates

• Approximately three cover options each issue

• Approximately three rounds of edits to complete issue

• Ad placements in layout

• Crop and improve resolution, color, in images provided

• Perform stock photo research for additional needs

• Convert data from provided charts, graphs, etc. to make suitable for the design

• Create electronic output of final approved files for print production

• Provide PDF of complete issue

• Support online efforts