At Hammock, we have a long tradition of adopting early any technology that improves our ability to create media and efficiently manage the production flow of highly complex publishing projects. We’re constantly pushing the edge on new ways to collaborate and design everything from magazines to the newest forms of digital media.
But there’s one tradition we have here that is extremely non-technical — and very old school. It’s a tradition we’ll never give up — even though we already replicate the process digitally and online.
It’s the wall. That’s what we call it. And that’s what it is: A big wall with strips of corkboard tracking lining it from floor to ceiling. We know it should have a more clever name, but it named itself before any of us could come up with one.
The wall is where designers post proof-spreads of page layouts during the magazine production process. As people walk by the wall, the spreads just beg for comments and so there’s always a handy red marker nearby. The pages grow and soon, the wall is full — sometimes with two or more magazines being produced simultaneously.
At some point near the end of the process, a “Wall Meeting” takes place and the editorial and design team gather in front of the wall for a wide-ranging conversation about the flow and pace of soon-to-be-published magazine. Is something not working? Should something be moved? Is there a gap here? What can we do to make this stronger?
Conversations. Debates. An occasional argument. They’re all a part of the wall tradition. It’s is a part of who we are and how we work.
We’ll never tear down this wall.
That quote from German author Hugo Ball kicked off a recent FOLIO: Show session led by Scott Kirkwood, editor of National Parks Magazine, and Debbie Bates-Schrott, of Bates Creative Group. In “Working With the Art Department to Advance the Editorial Mission,” they compared the relationship between designers and editors to that of any relationship–both need defined roles, trust, honesty and accountability to work harmoniously. Thankfully, we have those kinds of great relationships here at Hammock, but it was funny to hear the presenters voice some common stereotypes of editors and artists. How often have we been guilty of thinking:
Artists tend to take things personally and only focus on design.
Editors are all about the words and don’t care about design.
Artists have poor communication skills.
Editors type out an e-mail instead of talking through the problem.
To overcome the communication barriers caused by such narrow-minded thinking, Scott and Debbie suggested the following guidelines for editors when approaching designers:
1. Start with what is good about the design first.
2. Put yourself in the designer’s shoes, and show respect for their work. Remember, writers, you don’t like to have your work rewritten either.
3. Begin with a meeting of the minds based on facts: an understanding of the publication’s mission and reader demographics.
4. Be ready to answer WHY for your choices and decisions. No more “I don’t like it” or “That just doesn’t jive.” An editor has to explain why a certain font or layout isn’t working, just as a designer has to be able to point to how her choices make sense for the magazine’s mission.
This session and other presentationsﾑincluding Rex’sﾑhave been posted to the FOLIO: Show Web site. Save NYC airfare and lodging and check out sessions on editorial, sales, marketing, production & design and circulation topics.
Warning. What you’re about to read is filled with pride. It is an unabashed and completely shameless exercise in self-promotional shout-outs. But forgive me: I am very proud of some folks at Hammock Publishing and, well, I’ve warned you.
There’s a saying that if you want something done, give it to a busy person. When we recently got the opportunity to revamp and relaunch a magazine for a new client, The Marine Corps League (founded in 1923 and the only federally chartered Marine veterans organization), I “volunteered” several already busy people: an editorial team led by Bill Hudgins and creative director Susie Garland. Designer Kerri Davis (and the rest of the design squad: Lynne Boyer, Carrie Wakeford and Sandy Mueller Shelstad) charged into the project, as well. Also, intern Matt Kelley — a recent Vanderbit graduate — was drafted into service when we learned that he’d spent a year in Navy ROTC and has an encyclopedic knowledge of military history. (John Lavey and I we’re cheerleaders from the peanut gallery.) The team produced the first issue of the magazine in just seven weeks, from creative presentation to rolling off the presses.
I can’t say enough about how extraordinarily helpful Mike Blum, the League’s Executive Director, was. He repeatedly spent all the time with us we requested in helping us understand what the League is all about, and, more critical, to school us on the Marine Corps and Marines. Collaborating with Mike and sitting down with Marine Corps League members was critical to the process. Mike also challenged us with a healthy dose of skepticism — a not unfamiliar skepticism we often greet with new clients. He didn’t think a bunch of non-Marine publisher-types could ever “get it” enough to produce a magazine that would ring true with League members. Especially, this fast. I kept telling him that the key to producing a great magazine was for us to listen and absorb and listen more — and then not only “get it,” but, more importantly, to get out of the way of the conversation taking place among the only folks who matter: the members of the Marine Corps League.
(Left: The “before” magazine.)
Within moments of our first meeting with officials at the League, we heard the expression we’ve heards hundreds of time since: “Once a Marine, Always a Marine.” The more we listened and learned, the more we saw that the League and its programs embody that. Bill Hudgins and I mentioned the project and that motto to a number of veterans from services other than the Marines. Every one of them said something like, “You are a Marine for life. I wish we had something like that.” After that initial meeting, the crucial question in our minds and in Mike’s was how we could get out of the way of that message, one of pride and loyalty that knows no bounds.
Our mission had several objectives: Transition from the current publisher, increase frequency, revamp the editorial mix, redesign the publication. We also made a recommendation to do something rather radical: to rename the magazine Semper Fi, the Magazine of the Marine Corps League,” after the Corpsﾕ motto, Semper Fidelis — “always faithful.” Mike, who uses the expression in all correspondence and to end each conversation, was supportive of the recommendation and helped us tweak the exact wording of the title. He also guided our incorporation of “Once a Marine, Always a Marine” into a theme expressed throughout the magazine.
A highlight of the process was Mike’s approval of our attempts to “get it” in our meeting to present him our recommendations. After seeing our ideas, he declared: “Welcome aboard and OOORAH!” ﾑ- an exclamation not often given non-Marines. We were humbled. We were also highly ﾉ motivated. Our press date was only seven weeks away, and we had three other magazines and a host of newsletters moving through at the same time. It was truly all-hands on deck! The Hammock team burned a lot of midnight and weekend fluorescent during those seven weeks. Colleagues from other projects pitched in to help when they had spare time. Editors and writers roughed in some layouts to make it easier for the real designers to work with accurately trimmed copy. Our ace circulation and office management staff juggled multiple circulation and distribution challenges. The production team solved numerous printing and production issues, and pre-pressed the layouts into shipshape files that would require minimum if any tweaking at the printer.
Despite the pressure not only to meet deadlines but to refine designs on the fly and polish copy until it shone like a pair of boots at inspection (I apologize for the military metaphors). Despite the tension that always accompanies the launch of a magazine — and despite the inevitable glitches and computer hiccups — everyone worked in close harmony. Challenges arose and the team here met them head-on. They thought we were busy before, but they fit Semper Fi into our workflow brilliantly.
Mike Blum gave us another “Oorah!” when he saw his first copy, and as the issues arrive at members home, we’re hearing from them, too. Mike spent a lot of time and effort alerting members to the change, and from the early feed-back, it is a welcome change. It makes us proud to now be a tiny part of the history of this storied fighting force and to be exploring its rich traditions and extraordinary camaraderie.
And it makes me proud to work with such a great group of folks.
From Rex Hammock:
At the Folio Awards on Nov. 1, we learned this Ride magazine cover had won a Silver Ozzie in the non-profit/institutional/custom magazine category.
“It’s nice to be recognized by one’s peers,” as they say in the awards world. The Ozzies are a big deal in the magazine world because they recognize the best design of the year.
I’m very proud of our design team’s consistent performance in the Ozzie awards and am especially proud to learn that a cover from one of our magazines, Ride PWC, is one of three finalists for this year’s Ozzie for Best Cover (association, institutional or custom magazine — it is the official magazine of the American Watercraft Association). Being a finalist in this category is a great honor and I have great hopes that this particular cover wins the Ozzie.
I wouldn’t usually say this (I’d be blowing my “humility” cover), but I’m especially proud of this cover as it knowingly breaks many clich rules of “cover design” yet with great craft and success displays how powerful a medium magazines can be.
The interplay of photograph, typography along with the juxtaposition of words and images all connect in telling a wonderful story.
It makes me want to be down there, riding that PWC across the “R” and off into someplace great. I can just imagine those folks in the cars wishing they were on that PWC. I know the cover connects powerfully with the magazine’s readers in a way that only a PWC enthusiast can truly appreciate.
At Hammock Publishing, we think our job is to help our clients tell their stories. Some people may call this “branding.” We call it storytelling.
This is one of those times when I am not only amazed at how well our team helped tell the AWA & PWC story, they created a classic tale.
From Rex Hammock:
Last week, I heard about the impact Katrina had on the publisher and staff of a New Orleans-based magazine and felt Hammock Publishing could reach out and help.
Romney & Charley Richard, publishers of Louisiana Cookin’ Magazine were flooded out of their home and office in New Orleans. (They still haven’t been able to return to either.) They are now living in an RV parked at their daughter’s home in Baton Rouge. Likewise, their staff are all direct victims of the disaster and are now evacuated across five states.
Committed to keeping Louisiana Cookin’ alive, yet consumed with the personal struggles she and her staff are facing, Romney sounded understandably dazed when I spoke with her for the first time last week. I told her that getting out a magazine is something we at Hammock Publishing know how to help her do…and that I know a lot of folks throughout the magazine publishing world will also love to volunteer to help out.
We’ve launched a weblog at KeepCookin.org. Please link to it. Please subscribe to its RSS feed. I know a lot of folks who read this blog are media-types, but we also really want to reach out to food bloggers, as well. Pass the word along to them.
Also, please purchase a subscription to the magazine. It’s a great magazine for folks who enjoy Louisiana cuisine or who have enjoyed the restaurants of New Orleans. Subscribing via the Louisiana Cookin’ website is perhaps the quickest and most-direct way that individuals can help support Romney’s efforts to get back up and running. (That, and advertising, which we discuss on the Keep Cookin’ blog.)
If you’d like more information regarding Keep Cookin’ or would like to volunteer your support, visit KeepCookin.org or e-mail: helpkeepcookin (at) hammock.com
Also, if you’re a blogger, as you make posts about this, please use the tags: magazines, louisianacookin, keepcookin.org
“This Hammock T-shirt was at the Sturgis South Motorcycle Rally in Sturgis Mississippi before riding home (Franklin TN) along the Natchez Trace Parkway. More pictures next month – riding to Texas via Clarksdale Mississippi and God Knows Where…..” Robert Jansen
Hot of the presses is Hammock Publishing’s new collaboration with Conferon Global Services: The CGS Guide to Room Block Management. The 64-page resource details the best practices of the industrys leading meeting planning firm, drawing on its collective wisdom of 35 years of experience.
Because successful room block management is one of meeting planners’ toughest challenges, the CGS Guide breaks down the process for veterans and novices alike. The publication gives strategies for compiling group history, selecting a site, determining room counts, creating the proper mix of hotelsall while ensuring that meeting attendees are satisfied and associations remain on firm financial footing.
Hilton Hotels, sponsor of the Guide, shares cover billing with CGS. They will unveil the new publication at this weekend’s annual meeting of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) in Nashville.
Hammock Publishing Inc. has won eight awards in the 17th Annual APEX Awards for Publication Excellence, including a Grand Award for American Spirit, the member magazine of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) – the third consecutive year that American Spirit has received this honor.
Hammock submitted the November/December 2004 issue for the competition. In making the award, the judges said of American Spirit: “Marvelous spreads with first rate photography, illustrations and type set the stage for compellingly written features. This meticulously crafted, exceptionally designed and written magazine is absolutely top-drawer.”
The contemporary iteration of a century-old publishing tradition, American Spirit is the official magazine of the DAR, one of the best-known and most celebrated women’s organizations in America. Available on national newsstands and by subscription, the bimonthly American Spirit reflects our nations fascination with historic preservation, travel, genealogy, collectibles and Americana.
Winning Awards of Excellence in the contest were:
Design & Layout – “Voyage of the Periauger” – American Spirit
Feature Writing – “When Women Lost the Right to Vote” – American Spirit
Best Redesign – Ride PWC Magazine, published for the American Watercraft Association
Most Improved Magazines & Journals – Ride May/June 2004
Magazine & Journal Writing – MyBusiness (published for the National Federation of Independent Business – April/May 2004
Web & Intranet Site Content & Writing – NFIB.com
Custom Published Newsletters – “Sumner Health” (published for Sumner Regional Health Systems Inc., – Autumn 2004