This past week, I was asked to design a new publication – a newsprint weekly magazine. Now I’ve done a fair amount of design in this area throughout my career. Ideally, I like the time to do some sketching, try some sample layouts, pick typefaces, and see what works. That kind of thing was a luxury the backers of this publication couldn’t afford. They needed it within three days(!), and simply couldn’t wait for things like focus groups and prototypes.

The magazine launched it’s preview issue today. The idea is that they will begin publishing on a weekly basis in January. This one exists largely as a proof of concept. If you read my recent post “Marketing New,” you know my feelings about prototypes – they need to be as letter-perfect as you can make them, for they represent your publication, your plans, your quality, and your attention to detail in the minds of the readers, investors, and advertisers. 

There are two things that separate a magazine that can attract real advertisers and one that can only hope to get bottom-feeding clients like bail bondsmen, 2 for 1 bar ads, and escort services: the holy partnership of content and design. Without appealing content, you’re hosed. Without a strong visual style, no one will pick up your magazine to even read your content. 

I’m not going to pretend that what we were able to put together is perfect. Far from it. Visually, I’d give it about a seven, and I’d rate the content at about five or six. (It’s got a good beat, and you can dance to it, Dick, but the lyrics need some work.) But for a three-day project, I’ve got to say I feel pretty good about this. If you’re not a conservative, you probably won’t find the content appealing. From a marketing point of view, regardless of your politics, you should be able to appreciate that this publication hits the mark of giving the sales team something appealing to sell. 

I’m not trying to blow my own horn here. (Seriously.) But I think this is worth a look, so you can get an idea of what can be done with virtually no resources, and very little time (three days, in fact). 

The more interesting question will be where the publication goes from here. The group backing this project has scheduled two months between now and the launch of the weekly editions. So far, they’ve hit 7,000 of their desired distribution of 10,000 copies, through what amounts to cold calling. The encouraging thing is that everyone so far has responded in a very positive manner to the publication, and advertisers are already lining up. I think that’s a good sign. The magazine business is dicey with the best of products, so any light we can see at the end of the tunnel is welcome. I’m frankly impressed with what’s been accomplished in a little more than a week or so’s time, and virtually no budget. It looks like things will only be getting better from here. 

So the next time you have a marketing or design project to launch, even if you have a budget, you might want to consider taking the grassroots path, and think about what you might gain by this kamakaize-like approach. It may not result in as refined a project as the method of endless testing, but you can still end up with some pretty useful stuff – and at a fraction of the time/cost as with the more elaborate methods.