Redesigning women, Inc

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, May 1, 1995 by Lori Marden

Boosting business skills has always been the main mission of Women in Business, the official magazine of the American Business Women's Association. Launched in 1949, the Kansas City-based title started as a how-to guide for the ABWA membership, with a one-size-fits-all approach, says chief editor Wendy Myers. Service journalism-oriented to a tee, the bimonthly was replete with stories that carried an endless stream of bulleted items, numbered points and articles outlining the top-10 ways to do business better. Mailed to 90,000 members, Women in Business also featured a design that busily competed with the editorial content.

The first step in the overhaul process was to reposition the publication - from its generally broad approach of helping readers apply a wide range of skills suitable for a variety of jobs, to a narrower focus on the members themselves. "We wanted a warmer, friendlier approach, with an emphasis on networking, where women can learn business skills from one another," says Myers. Beginning with its January/February issue, the title adopts a story-telling approach, highlighting members' successes, while still advising readers of new opportunities.

In an effort to bring the graphics in sync with this new editorial approach, designer Randall Blair was brought on board to redesign the features well and give the title a softer look. Blair converted pages from a hard, busy layout to a cleaner, more businesslike design with feminine touches. Decks, callouts, subheads and a liberal use of white space now break up the previously gray field of type, and the body copy has been switched from the more-condensed Adobe Weiderman typeface to Caslon to give it a looser look

Another significant change involves ad placement: Blair reconstructed the features well, making it an ad-free zone in contrast to the once-random placement of ads throughout the book. Full-page ads now fall in the front of the book; partials at the back. Says Blair: "The new design has structure, but flows."

Nearly a year ago, the association converted to desktop publishing, a move that enables editors to handle columns and departments in-house. Based on sketches requested by magazine staffers, Blair created templates (to keep design consistent) that allow the editors to work within the design structure, dropping in text and graphics for the columns and departments. Illustrations and photos are chosen by the editors and can be sized and easily moved around on the page.

Features have gotten lengthier, too, adding to the evolution of the title. Women in Business, says Myers, is "always changing and growing because that's what the business world is all about."