EDITORIAL DESIGN — Joe Florian Design

EDITORIAL DESIGN
CLIENT/ travellers autobarn
WORK/ EDITORIAL DESIGN, DESIGNER, PHOTOGRAPHER, PHOTO EDITOR.

**Client: Travellers Autobarn/** 2019 Campervan Manual Design

Brief/ REDESIGN OUR “80’S” LOOKING MANUALS TO SOMETHING WE CAN SHOW OFF.

STORY/ I heart Editorial Design. What is Editorial Design?

To me, it’s painting with words. It’s art. Simple. But if you wanna get all technical about it, it’s visual journalism and that’s what distinguishes it from other graphic design stuff. An editorial publication can entertain, educate, inform, inspire or a combination of them all. I love it. When I pick up a magazine, I suck it all up - the layout, typography, choice of fonts, style of fonts, drop caps, grids, colour palette, graphics, illustrations, infographics, images - the quality, conceptual values, the treatment of the images, the colour grading, then there’s the flow, white space, any surprises, and most importantly, the writers, the tonal voice - THE STORIES! Has it got kick arse attitude!?

Will I get hooked?

Speaking of hooked, it was the editorial genius of Tyler Brulé throughout the pages of Wallpaper (he founded in 1996) that really drew me in. Tyler's design aesthetic was sublime. Still is. Even better today with Monocle (circa 2006) as I flick/scan/stop-motion/hover or get lost throughout their juicy pages.

The point is this, Editorial Design, Publishing, Publications, Magazines, is a passion of mine. I’ve designed everything from magazines to board reports, from manuals to multipage brochures and loved the journey.

But I digress…

STORY - TAKE TWO/ The client wanted to update their old and tired product manuals. There were 5 versions all up. And they would be close to ten years old. As in most redesigns, there’s usually a lot that goes and a lot that stays. For instance outdated photos and illustrations, graphics etc., and then there’s stuff that’s still relevant and current today which needs to be carried over into the new design, as a copy with an update (dates and specs etc.) but other than that, all good to go “around-the-block” again. Whenever you’re designing a text-heavy document, you need to always put yourself in the readers' shoes and ask yourself this, “Is this easy to read? Hell, do I even want to read it? As a designer, you think, do I have room for white space? Can the content breathe? Does it look enticing? Can I find what I’m looking for quickly? Does it all make sense? Has it got a logical flow? Has it got a soul?

After a few template mockups, I settled for a simple 1/3 - 2/3rds layout. 1/3 at the top for a hero image, and the rest of the page for copy, specs, features and benefits of the product. I rearranged the information, pulled out the most important features first and made sure they were easily identifiable. Repeated this layout throughout the 5 versions. Devoted the back page to an image gallery showcasing user-generated content (via clients Instagram and my own).

Unfortunately there was zero budget to address the inconsistent vehicle interior graphics.

I did design other custom icons, graphics for the specs page, a badge for announcing the new model and designed a three new ”Benefits” page with typography and graphics. I presented the version shown below and thought it was a zillion times improvement compared to the old style, only to be rejected by the client. The benefits page was deleted (client thought it was too hard to read - ok - delete). To finally complete the style, as the client lacked relevant high-quality lifestyle images, I licensed my own from my visual library. Out of 55 images used for the 5 publications, 32 were shot by me, including the four AU & NZ cover images.

TAKEAWAY/ The success of any publication is based entirely on the quality of your content and the creative chops of your designer. And at the top of your content list should always be the best quality images with the highest conceptual values, you can possibly afford. It’s a fact that people will retain far more information for longer if you use images. I can’t emphasise how important your visuals are for publishing! Like fucking important! Designers with strong typographic and layout skills can create amazing stuff, but only do so much, you can’t hide from shit images. Visuals rule. Sending out publications with low-quality images doesn’t do your brand any favours and is a missed opportunity for your customers.

Get, find, create awesome images. And you’ll have an awesome publication. Liked by awesome people. Enjoy awesomely.

**Image Licensing**: “Hobbiton” © Joe Florian

Client/ TRAVELLERS AUTO BARN (TAB)

Joe/ Editorial Design
Service/ Editorial Design, Designer, Photographer, Image Editor. Licensed Joe Florian images.

Brief/ Redesign a tired and outdated manual to something that reflected the new and modern 2019 TAB Brand Guidelines. Design is consistent with the new POS collateral currently out in the marketplace. Make us proud.
Target Market/ Travel Trade, Global Wholesale Agents, Product Agents, Travel Agents, Partners, Online Digital Partners, Management and Staff.
Purpose/ Refresh, redesign and completely update images and information in the modern style.
Result/ For the travel partners receiving their new saddle-stitched bound TAB AU, NZ and USA 2019 Manuals, the feedback has been positive. The client is happy.

The Benefits/ When I’m not designing, I’m out shooting. Most of my clients are all in travel and tourism with youth products and services.
32 of the 55 images in the manuals, I’ve supplied from my own image library. They are licensed to the client.