Here at Hammock we’re always looking for ways to improve a magazine’s workflow, and we’re keen to use the latest technologies toward that goal. As part of that emphasis, we’ve moved most of our clients to virtual proofing of design and ad pages, an approval process that’s a big improvement over the traditional proof approval process. It’s not only a faster, more convenient and money-saving practice to look at pages on a screen, but the quality of digital proofs has become just as good as that of hard, analog proofs.

According to The New York Times, it seems that the newspaper’s last typographical face-lift was in 2003, but it wasn’t until last night that I noticed that they use at least four different fonts on their front page. They cap some, but not others. Some run ragged while others are left-aligned. I’m not sure what made me notice it now, but I’ll never look at their front page the same way again. Perhaps this is an example of how when print design is truly successful, the reader doesn’t even notice. And maybe that’s the whole point.

The dozens of awards Hammock Inc. has won over the years for its design work attest to the talent concentrated in our art department. But in what well do they find inspiration for the seemingly endless flow of fresh, invigorating designs for our print and web work? Turns out, inspiration springs from all around:

I love this design that was in the Sunday New York Times with the headline “The Oscar Season Takes Shape.” It’s such a clever way to use typeface as a design element.

Just like you wouldn’t build a house without a blueprint, you don’t want to build a website without a wireframe. Whether you’re building an entire site from scratch or just adding on a new page or section, wireframes are a big help to the design team as well as the site developers.
What wireframes do
Essentially, wireframes are the blueprints for your site. They tell the people building the architecture of the site what sections will go where to give them get an idea of what they will have to code, and they give the designers an overview of how the different pages will work together, which is helpful in choosing design elements.

Web design rockstar Khoi Vihn, design director at NYTimes.com, gave a ringing-endorsement point to a deck that accompanied a presentation by designer Jeff Croft.

Think about your favorite websites, the ones you frequent most often for news, sports, shopping and entertainment. What do they have in common?
Now think about your own website. Does it have those same characteristics? If not, it may be time for a simple update or a total redesign. Here are five questions to ask yourself:

Hammock has a lot of experience with redesign, and our re-imaginings of publications have not only garnered numerous awards, but they’ve also helped our clients recruit and retain members and connect with their readers’ passions. Still, it was cool to have our philosophy on redesign underscored by Kelly McMurray, creative director of the design firm 2communique, at a recent Folio: Show 2008 session in Chicago.

Addressing both editors and designers, she offered these tips for anyone contemplating a redesign:

1. Define why you need to redesign. Is your circulation or readership falling off? Are you taking a new direction editorially? Is the publication too expensive production-wise? Is it not aligned with your reader mission? (If you don’t conduct post-publication reviews of your issues, now is the time to start.)

2. Get everyone’s buy-in. The redesign process needs to be collaborative. That means editors and designers need to figure out ways to speak each other’s language.

3. Complete market research. The more knowledge you have about your readership, the more the redesign will reflect it and align with your readers’ needs.

4. Determine the scope of the redesign. Are you just making minor changes or doing a complete overhaul? Does your team have the right resources and abilities? Can you complete a redesign while keeping up with regular issue demands? Are you too close to step back and be objective, or do you need an outside opinion?

5. Set a reasonable schedule. Commit fully to a launch date, but build in enough time that you resist the temptation to rush through the process.

6. Kickoff the process. Get people away from their desks to discuss elements of the redesign. Be open to inspiration from other magazines: Collect examples of what you do and don’t like.

7. Start tearing down and building back up. Spend lots of time researching typography, color palette, fonts, grid system, navigational systems and style guide. Editors: This is the time to step back and let designers show their talents.

8. Launch the issue. Don’t show your redesign in a piecemeal fashion; get it all out there at once. Build a strong, workable structure, but also make it flexible enough for editors and other designers to take ownership and customize it for future needs.

We were delighted to have two websites we created receive “Standard of Excellence” recognition in this year’s WebAward competition. The Hammock.com site and the NFIB National Small Business Summit site both received this honor, announced last week by the Web Marketing Association, the WebAward sponsor.
The Web Marketing Association is a long-term player in recognizing excellence online — this year’s competition was the 12th annual. Sites are judged against other sites in their industry, on design, copy writing, innovation, content, interactivity, navigation and use of technology.
We’re proud of the honor!

I loved this clever headline in Sunday’s The New York Times— “Too Beautiful for Pixels”—about the biannual art book The Last Magazine. Formatted like a newspaper, its tag line is: All things new—at last. Magnus Berger and Tenzin Wild, co-founders of the magazine, said that colleagues advised them to publish it online. The co-founders decided against the advice, however, and opted for a print-only publication because ”with print you can make something really beautiful.”

I respect their decision, trusting that they know what is best for their content, audience and budget, but I disagree with the implication that you can’t create something “really beautiful” with a digital publication. The decision to choose a print, digital or a combination for distribution of your content should be considered on a case-by-case basis. Readers interact with digital publications differently than print publications, and so those behaviors must be weighed when determining what is right for your audience. Print publications can certainly be beautiful, but don’t discriminate against digital ones—they can be beautiful too.