Newsletters, E-zines, and Brochures

Newsletters, E-zines, and Brochures Prof. Bryce T. McIntyre Macao Polytechnic Institute Newsletters, e-zines Target audiences  Employees  Stockholders  Community opinion leaders  Government officials  Suppliers  Customers Advantage: Not filtered by mass media Advantages of printed publications Employees have limited access via computer Portable Permanent Professional looking Roles of editor Advance and promote management’s organizational objectives Serve interests of employees or other constituents Dilemma Editorial freedom Balance the needs of management, the interests of readers and own journalistic standards Mission statement You can write a mission statement for your in-house magazine 25 words or less State your goals in broad terms Editorial plan Do this on an annual basis Write down what kinds of stories and other materials you will prepare for the entire year Audience interests Survey of 40 companies and 45,000 employees revealed that readers like news about  Organization’s future plans  Personnel policies and procedures  Productivity improvement  Job-related information  Job advancement information Additional interests Also interesting, but less so: Personnel changes and promotions Financial results Advertising and promotion plans Stories about other employees Personal news (birthdays, anniversaries) Design Magazine size (205 x 270 mm)   Use 65-80 gram book paper Saddle stitched Use “newsprint” No binding Tabloid size (11 x 15 inches)   Self-cover Software PageMaker (for layout and design) Photoshop (for photo scanning) There is a lot of other software you can use for operations like photo scanning and graphics, but I do not recommend them because you will have problems with software compatibility. Layout Use lots of white space Make photos and illustrations large Use graphics or photos on almost every page Avoid reverse type View facing pages as 2-page “spreads” Use tint blocks with “sidebars” Plan a photo feature for every issue Give writers bylines (12-pt. Helvetica bold) Bleeds Type Use 9.5/10 TNR (or similar type face) for “body type” Use Helvetica bold (or similar type face), in sizes 24-72, for headlines and titles Use only 2 fonts Do not use all caps Use 1-em paragraph indents Page design Use 2- or 3-col format (columns should be about 2.25 to 3 inches wide) You need a folio line and section logo Consider “standing” features (letters to editor, “From the Editor” column, person in the news) Initial caps Subheads End of story dingbat Caption for every photo Color For body type and headlines, use black only Use white paper Use color for tint blocks, boxes and photos E-zines You can upload all your text and photos for the printed magazine onto a website In journalism, we call this “shovel technique” It’s considered bad practice, because the Internet has unique features You have more space, for example, and you can add hyperlinks and build archives You also can send links to your online publication via email to anyplace in the world Deadlines You need to set a series of deadlines To do this, use a technique called “backtiming” Determine when you want to distribute the printed product, and then count backwards Backtiming Distribute on first day of each month Delivery 2 days beforehand Takes 1 week to print Takes 1 week to check proofs and make corrections Takes 1 week to lay out, design and edit Takes 2 weeks to write and shoot photos Takes 1 week to plan issue and make assignments to staff writers and photogs Editorial meeting This is a meeting of all editors to plan the upcoming issue, including photo editor The chief editor is the chairperson of the meeting Every editor should make suggestions for his/her section This meeting marks the beginning of the production cycle The delivery of the magazine marks the end of the production cycle Brochures These may be booklets, pamphlets, leaflets, fliers They can be one page or several pages Can be folded or “saddle stitched” Printer Don’t worry about all the different printing processes – almost everything is lithographic nowadays Visit the printing company and see if the place looks well organized and clean Ask for samples of work for other clients Ask if the printer can use ftp transfer Ask about color proofing processes The End Thank you for your attention!