Two of our magazine projects—the DAR's American Spirit and the Marine Corps League's Semper Fi--regularly include book review sections. Although publishers happily send cover images, we've found that photographing the books adds--as you might expect--a custom look to the page.
While several of us have done this job, lately we've called on designer Ben Stewart to handle the tasks. There are a couple of reasons for this: Ben originally minored in photography at Middle Tennessee State University before switching to graphic design, and his Canon Rebel EOS is ideal for capturing the quality images we need.
Continue reading "In-House Book Review Photos" »
For some reason, I've been thinking about simpler times lately. Times when I was younger and I didn't have a 401(k) to fret about. Times when all I had to worry about was remembering my locker combination, whether Keith Barnes liked me or not, and preparing for the English quiz Mrs. Hohertz was sure to give every Friday afternoon.
When my mind goes back to my English lessons in Mrs. Hohertz's classroom, I can visualize the posters that she had on the walls like they were right here with me today. They had a very 1950s feel to them: the colors, the fonts, the illustrations. The posters that I remember helped me out on more than one of those Friday afternoon quizzes. Each poster focused on just a single word, and these are the ones I remember best:
Continue reading "Three Fun Words You Need to Know (and Use Today)" »
How to use social media to recruit and retain members
In today’s economy we’re all trying to do more with less. Associations are no different. Budgets are being carefully monitored to ensure that any potential waste is eliminated. Tough choices are being made.
This leaves associations in a challenging place—with the need to minimize costs but find a way to retain and recruit new members. What are they to do in this environment? Although each association is unique, here are some ways to take advantage of the power of social media to effectively recruit and retain members:
Continue reading "Engaging Members on a Budget " »
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.
Continue reading "Six Reasons We Love Virtual Proofing" »
