IIA rejuggles its book

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, March 15, 1998 by Lori Marden

Internal Auditor is kicking an old habit--that is, the staid, traditional look that smacks of "institution," which has so characterized the magazine. To reflect a broader position, the official arm of the Institute of Internal Auditors has been redesigned.

For years, the magazine has listed e vents and profiled case histories for individuals whose job at large organizations (both in government and industry) is to provide the financial assurances that make their companies run. They are the people who see to it that procedures are efficient, make certain the assets are safeguarded and assure that all reports and verifications are accurate.

But today, financials are only part of the picture. An auditor might be concerned about company morale, since contented employees means less turnover, and thus a more profitable company. "Anything that includes the well-being of an organization is within the province of an internal auditor," explains Anne Graham, editor in chief of Internal Auditor.

Graham and her staff also felt it was time for the 54-year-old magazine to take on a more global perspective. Because it's distributed in more than 120 countries, Internal Auditor needed to move from its narrowly defined role of an association house organ, dealing mostly with case historie's and internal matters, to the broader range of a trade publication with more business-oriented editorial and corporate appeal.

But there was a risk: IA's 50,000 readers were not unhappy with the magazine. In fact, they loved it. So, says Graham, "We had to do the best we could for the readers; we needed to find an editorial designer whose product would be as good as the editorial."

The Orlando, Florida-based bimonthly had been redesigned five times--the last version on desktop by a local computer wiz--and now it was time for a professional treatment. Money had been allocated to fund a new look, so for the first time the association could go beyond the local area in its search for a designer. Says Graham: "We advertised in newspapers around the country, poring over magazines whose looks we liked." She finally hired New York City-based Point Five Design, founded by designer Donald Partyka.

Partyka's credentials included former associate art director of Worth and FYI and editorial designer of Lingua Franca. With his associate Alissa Levin, Partyka chose to work with few typefaces to maximize budget and give a more consistent and legible look to the. magazine. Throughout the book, whether for heads or text, he chose a combination of Caslon for a classic look, and Meta, a contemporary face, for contrast and accent. No display type or hand-written fonts--not even on the cover, which uses an 84-point-size Caslon font for the logo. The cover went to full-bleed and includes coverlines (which the tide's former journal appearance disallowed) that show off the diversity of articles within the book.

Features are now design-driven with full-bleed, double-page opening spreads that integrate the type with the art. Where before the art had a cartoon-like quality and type a hard edge, illustrations are now softer and the text less dense. Paper stock has a matte finish that also contributes to the toned-down look. Formerly, departments either had no heads, or heads were tucked into the text, resembling callouts or decks. Partyka lays out departments on a three-column grid, each identified by a headline and bordered by an exposed grid, a design element that adds consistency within the book. Sections also show lots of white space to counteract the type intensity of the text, and ads are grouped toward the end of features or at the back of the book to avoid, as much as possible, interruption to the text.

Joseph T. Wells, chairman of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, who for years has advertised in Internal Auditor, doesn't see ad placement as a problem. "The format is great," he says. "We have a vested interest in the magazine, so the better it looks, the more favorable for us."

The redesign was accomplished entirely long-distance, via e-mail, modem and FedEx Changes? Readers' comments about the new look indicate that they want a larger type size for readability, so the text type will go up three-quarters in size, to 10-point Caslon. "It's a practical magazine, where the words are important," says Graham. "We want the readers to feel that it's theirs."