New year, new look for us

Canadian HR Reporter print issue redesigned with readers in mind

Welcome to a new year and a new Canadian HR Reporter.

We've been working hard to make Canada's leading human resources and workplace publication even stronger, and readers of the print edition will notice a significant change with our new look. (We're sending out the digital edition to subscribers on Wednesday, Jan. 15 — so you'll get a thorough look at it then, if you haven't already seen your print copy.)

The wheels for this redesign were set in motion a couple of months ago when the editors sat down with our graphics and production department to outline the vision. We wanted the news section upfront to be more newsy, to have a look and feel similar to a national newspaper.

We know from the input you give us through reader surveys, and in conversations by email and at conferences and events, that news is the backbone of Canadian HR Reporter and you value it. That will never change.

The redesign starts on page 1, with a new nameplate for the publication. The changes to our logo are subtle but important. We essentially kept the same colour scheme — you’ll still know what publication it is when it lands on your desk — but we tweaked the font and the emphasis.

HR is now the dominant portion of the logo, in a darker blue colour, and we switched to a serif font. (We’re using Warnock Pro, for you font nerds out there.)

We’ve also moved the table of contents from the bottom of the page to the top, where we will showcase what we consider to be the four strongest stories in the publication that aren’t on the cover. There’s so much more to this publication than what makes it onto the cover — and we want to feature that more prominently.

On page 4, you’ll find our new infographics page. Page 4 has been home to the popular “HR By The Numbers” feature for years. We knew we wanted to keep it, but we wanted a better way to provide a snapshot of all of the interesting facts and figures related to the workplace that cross the desks of our editors. I think we’ve done just that — creating a lighter page, with more emphasis on the numbers and graphics and less on text.

We also wanted to provide a clear breaking point in the publication so you know, instinctively, when you are leaving the news section and heading into the features area. We started by changing its name from “Departments” to “Features.” When we met with the art directors, our simple message was we wanted the news portion to look like a newspaper and the features section to look like a magazine.

You can see that transition as you go from page six to page seven in the Jan. 13 print issue. The article on page 7 features a different font for headlines, and the layouts in the feature section will be more creative and have a more magazine-like feel. It’s a logical split and in the issues to come, you’ll see some creative layouts from our designer.

On the Insight pages, our “op-ed” pages, we’ve kept it simple — retaining the five main elements on these two pages. Weird Workplace is a relatively new (and fun) addition to these pages, so we left it untouched. Same goes for the Reader Comments box, the guest commentary and the Toughest HR Question feature. If you ever have an opinion on a workplace issue you’d like to write about, or an HR question for one of our experts to tackle, these pages are open to you. Just email me at [email protected].

The publication you’re holding in your hands is the result of a lot of hard work by a very talented team, but a spotlight needs to be cast on the work of John Kieffer, the graphic designer who made our vision a reality. His fingerprints are all over this redesign and we owe him a big thank you for putting together a well-thought-out and cohesive publication. A tip of the hat also to William Hunter, lead art and creative designer for Carswell Media, and Lisa Drummond, manager of media production for Carswell Media.

It was a gratifying process to go through, and it was all done with you — the reader — in mind. We have been covering the world of human resources in Canada for more than a quarter century. It’s a responsibility we don’t take lightly and we’re proud to be an independent voice and the paper of record for the human resources profession and employers across Canada. It truly is a privilege to write for you.

We hope you like the redesign and we look forward to continuing to cover the working world in 2014 — and beyond.

Todd Humber is the managing editor of Canadian HR Reporter, the national journal of human resource management.

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