In this issue of News & Views that celebrates fifty years of ARTA , it is appropriate that we reveal our new look for the magazine . The publication that began as a mimeographed newsletter , and then became an actual magazine has now taken another step forward . You will have seen some of the differences when you first looked at the magazine , but others are more subtle .
In My Opinion
A New Look by Robin Carson
In this issue of News & Views that celebrates fifty years of ARTA , it is appropriate that we reveal our new look for the magazine . The publication that began as a mimeographed newsletter , and then became an actual magazine has now taken another step forward . You will have seen some of the differences when you first looked at the magazine , but others are more subtle .
One very important change is that Vi Oko and I are very pleased to welcome Bev Sawyer as an assistant editor . Bev brings considerable expertise to a demanding and often thankless job . Welcome , Bev !
When I began as editor of this publication , I wanted to make a few changes to improve the readability of News & Views . I had volunteered for a number of years at the Northern Alberta Brain Injury Society ( now the Brain Care Centre ) and I was in contact with many people who have issues with seeing . I suspected that among the News & Views readership there could be many with vision problems who might enjoy the magazine more if it were made more clear . Thanks to the outstanding talent of our designer , Hazel Adair , I think that we have addressed most of that issue .
Ms . Adair presented several fonts — styles of printing — to us based on their ease of reading , and overall beauty . We had decided , though , that clarity was paramount . These fonts , Arial Rounded for headings , Cronos for titles , and Stone Informal for body text , are what you are seeing today . We looked for fonts in which confusion of letters and numbers is minimized . For example , in a Times font , the top of the number “ 6 ” loops up , then comes down on the right hand side toward the base of the number .
That style can create confusion with the number “ 8 ” if a person ’ s eyes are having difficulty . That problem and many similar ones are addressed by the new fonts we have chosen .
Notice , too , that the paper in the magazine is no longer glossy . We have selected a paper that does not shine in order to make the text more clear . It is possible that we might experiment a little with the paper in the future — for example , moving to a slightly heavier paper for more ease in turning pages .
So , readability might be one thing , but why the changes in layout and in the cover ? Well , remembering the adage , “ In for a penny ; in for a pound ,” we thought it might be time to modernize as well as improve readability . Already we have had criticism about some of our choices , such as making ‘ news & views ’ on the cover all lower-case . Other choices , though , both modernize and improve readability at the same time . You will notice , for example , that the right-hand side of our columns is no longer smooth . This ‘ right ragged ’ style fits with modern trends , but also improves readability by eliminating the strange spaces that appear in paragraphs when text is forced to fit into justification . If you look at the last line of the middle column on page 32 of the last issue , you will see what I mean about the strange spaces .
We would very much appreciate your comments about our new look . You can write to me directly at newsandviews @ shaw . ca , or if you would like your ideas made public , a letter to the editor would be most welcome . I promise that every response will be both read and carefully considered ; and if you email me , you may expect a reply .
News & Views Spring 2013 7