It all starts with the editorial content. What are the stories that will immerse the audience in the subject matter? This factor is especially important for member-based publications. The good news is you have the audience—now you just have to inform them, engage them, and tell them things they don’t already know.

If the editorial content is engaging, it is important that the visuals are as well. This means art-directing photographers to capture the meaning behind an article, whether it is through a portrait shoot or a photo essay. Take time to research and find imagery that is unexpected and spectacular. Work with illustrators to create images that add a layer to the story.

Great design grows from good content—when the designer truly connects with the edit to bring meaning to the surface. It is this synergy that ultimately engages the reader and will bring attention to your publication—including awards.

But it doesn’t end there. The quality of the final product is what makes a print publication unique. It is important that paper stock and printing are not short-changed. If the budget is an issue, the “less is more” approach should be used—less pages, more quality.

The design workload—marketing materials, flyers, brochures, conference materials, books, websites, not to mention the main publication—can be negotiated in a number of ways. While it is unusual for the art director of a publication to be hands on with anything beyond the scope of the magazine itself, this is not so for designers at associations, where the scope of work tends to include other materials. Some associations have a Renaissance designer who is able to do it all, while others opt for working with an outside designer or design firm. Which is the best solution for your association? This can only be answered by evaluating your design needs, budget, and availability of talent.

First, it is important to look at the big picture of your annual workload, taking into consideration busy and slow times. It is doubtful that workflow will be even for the year, but when it is busy, can the flow be handled in-house? When it’s slow, are in-house designers using the time to tweak any issues with the visuals and the brand? Are they taking professional development classes, fine-tuning templates, and preparing for upcoming projects? Just be aware that if the slow period stretches too long, you may not have enough workflow during the year to justify a staff position and may decide to outsource all or part of the work.

The single biggest factor in deciding how to accomplish your workload is your budget. With economic times still being tough, you cannot afford to waste money. Look closely at the workflow and the job descriptions to ensure you have the best solution for your situation. This is important as there is such a wide range of responsibilities at associations.

Once you have a comprehensive overview of your project flow and worker capabilities, you may still be undecided on approach. Working in-house and outsourcing both have their pros and cons: When you have an in-house designer, you can walk over and discuss changes face to face, but mission creep and workflow can become a concern. If you’re working with a design firm, while a team will be dedicated to your publication, they will not be across the hall, or may not be as familiar with your association as a staff member would be. Create your own list of pros and cons to help you decide which situation is best for your association.

This article is an adaptation of “The D-Team,” published in Association Publishing.

Web Address as Brand.
It goes without saying that your web address is part of your overall brand. The challenge of using some blogging systems is that your web address might have another brand embedded within it. If your publication’s title is “Magazine Monthly” and you’re using Google-owned blogspot, the web address would be magazinemonthly.blogspot.com. The better option, if you have available resources, would be to not only purchase the domain name of magazinemonthly.com but variations that might be used by your audience. Some variations might be magmonthly.com, magazinemonth.com, and magazine-monthly.com. For the really adventurous brands, try www.domai.nr, where you can find alternative domains, such as magazinemonth.ly or magazi.ne/monthly (monthly would be a subfolder).

Customize the Design.
There are hundreds of templates built using blogging software that can be further customized to visually relate to your print publication (if you have one). You may not get exactly what you want, but if you can let go of some of the details, you can get close. The key to using existing templates is the grid. Just as you would start by defining a grid system for your print publication, you need a strong, flexible grid in web design. Find a template with a good grid and let your web consultant apply your visual identity as best he can.

Maintaining It.
Many smaller publications cannot afford to build out a customized content management system (CMS). Blogging software comes with an easy-to-use CMS built in. It will take some time to learn the interface of the system, but for the most part they are WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) applications. Everybody’s favorite commands of copy and paste will work to get your text into the text editor. Uploading photos and videos is usually just a couple of extra clicks of the mouse. Many of the systems also allow you to customize access for the many people who maintain the website: For example, administrators who manage the site can access the entire CMS; editors are able to access articles and accept or decline comments; and contributors can post articles.

Examples.
WordPress: Go to wordpress.com to get your free (mydomain.wordpress.com) WordPress blog, or visit wordpress.org to download the system and apply it to your own domain name.

Typepad: Created by Six Apart, which also developed Movabletype, Typepad is a blogging and social networking development platform.

Blogger: Google owns this blogging platform. Strangely, when you create a blog, it’s not myblog.blogger.com, it’s myblog.blogspot.com.

Wicked Tasty Harvest: This is our latest redesign of a blogging template; it is built on the Typepad system. Check it out at www.wickedtastyharvest.com.

Take time to conceptualize visuals. Brainstorm beyond your first idea. Think about different ways that visuals could enhance the material: For illustrations, what style would be suitable? If you’re using photography, would color be better, or black and white? Would incorporating infographics be appropriate? Uncover the theme of the material and develop ideas that will bring the core message to the surface.

Brainstorm with your team. Discuss the goals of the piece. What is the message, and how can that message be conveyed visually? Be willing to share ideas, even ones that might not come to fruition—one person’s initial thought can evolve into a well-developed concept. It can be tempting to try to come up with a final solution quickly, but it is important to remain open to ideas at this stage.

Begin the creation of imagery. If you are used to working with stock photos, creating the imagery can be a nerve-wracking process. You are now responsible for developing the perfect image, not retrofitting an existing one. You have to find the right artist to visualize your message and communicate it clearly. You don’t want to stifle the artist’s creativity, but you also want to make sure that he or she understands the editorial direction. Most illustrators share sketches, and this allows for a checkpoint on direction. But unlike stock, you can’t alter what you get in the end, so the direction needs to be clear.

Don’t forget the editorial. The collaborative process of creating imagery means that multiple creative people are bringing their talents to the project. Be open to direction and look at strengthening the piece by fine-tuning the editorial after the final imagery is delivered. It is that last touch that can take a piece to the next level.

The overall presence of this cover is authoritative. The logo is understated, the portrait subject is direct, and the smaller information is straightforward—all well composed but lacking in enthusiasm and energy. Based on the content—articles about franchises and franchisees—and the audience, which is mainly entrepreneurs, it would be interesting to see a cover with more energy. Why not relate to the audience by taking risks with the design? Have a logo that is more playful while still being serious. Overall it feels like an old-school trade magazine at a time when trade magazines have become much more visually interesting.

PDF The PDF is certainly the veteran of the digital publications. It’s a low-tech solution for the organization with limited resources. A PDF can be made in-house easily and cost-effectively. There is potential for the addition of multimedia and linking, though clients selecting the PDF as their digital solution are usually trying to reduce their budget, not increase it—not to mention that the addition of interactivity can increase the file size significantly. The PDF is a quick solution for the publisher with limited resources who is trying to maintain a print look and feel with their digital publication.

Flip-Book The next step up, so to speak, is the flip-book solution, which is offered by companies like Texterity, Zinio, or Qmags. This format simulates the experience of reading a magazine, with buttons, flipping pages, and sometimes the sound of moving pages. The pitch for this solution seems to be solely directed at advertisers. The editorial (the actual product) seems to be an afterthought. But if you are going to allocate the resources to create this digital version, why not rethink the editorial content? Make graphs interactive, drop in slide shows, include additional content through links, and design for a single page-viewing as opposed to a horizontal spread format. If you want to maintain control over the content and distribution of your publication but need a portable, digital version, this may be the solution for you.

Blog When you are ready to let go of simulating a print experience in the digital world, there is the blog solution. Yes, you might lose the large-scale, high-quality images and finishing techniques, like die-cuts and gatefolds. But what you gain in the blog format is the ability to share content, mainly through the technology of RSS (Really Simple Syndication). The benefit of RSS is that it’s widely used by blogging platforms (Wordpress, Blooger), video- and photo-sharing websites (YouTube, Flickr, Vimeo), and social media (Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, FriendFeed) to deliver information. Your publication can connect to these communities, where your audience is most likely already sharing with friends and colleagues.

By looking at a blog solution, you are opening up options for you and your audience. A web-based publication built on a blogging platform allows your audience to build a community around its content, provides instant reader feedback for you, and connects you with your audience. If you have a publication wrapped around a community, then this solution is the one for you.

In order to make an educated choice for your digital delivery, you need to analyze your readership and understand how they interact with your publication. Where do they read your publication? Do they need a portable digital solution? How are they using your website? Do they always have an internet connection? Move out of the mindset of thinking print vs. interactive and review your overall budget. By looking at the big picture, you can make strategic decisions about where funds are best allocated for your digital presence.