Sante Redesign

8/14/2019 Sante Redesign

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Redesign Proposal—November 2008

Ashley Brenon, Emily Gold, and Hilary Lewis

To begin, we are all very excited about the possibilities involved with a redesign. Our

goals were to increase the excitement, the age range to which our magazine appeals, andthe interactivity between the reader and the text. Many of our suggestions introduce moreoptions than are available in our current set-section format. More options will likely

require more thought, creativity, and coordination than are involved in our current design.A meeting to generate and place ideas would likely be necessary several months before

each issue is due. We feel that the proposed design will be a lot of work, but it will allowus to merge the consistency for which Santé is so highly esteemed with a refreshing kick

we need. With fewer issues, we feel we can pull it off.

Page Proposed Changes

C1 Apart from an investigation regarding a matte cover with a UV gloss logo, we aretweaking the masthead, the indicia box will move to bottom center (per USPS),

and new fonts and more cover blurbs will be used.

3 For the Table of Contents, we would like to add the following: a catchy title tointroduce the page (Contents or Features, perhaps. Food & Wine uses Contents,

for instance.) a cover blurb (with no picture), a pull quote, a tease to iSante,and/or a tease to the next issue.

7 According to our plan, the pub note/editor’s letter – likely with a new title –

would take an entire page and include a sidebar of interesting information and anew photo of Mark. The sidebar might include Mark’s upcoming calendar, a

review of where he has been in the last few weeks, or a brief acknowledgement of a restaurant that impressed him lately.

8 Rather than share a page with the editor’s letter, the masthead would be placed

with a brief contributor’s section. The section would denecessitate the inclusion of writers’ biographies with selected stories. It would allow us to highlight writers

who are particularly impressive and promote our ability to draw from a wider pool of writers. In the case we wanted to publish a brief letter from a reader or

direct readers to letters on the web, space could be made on this page as well.

10 Stirrings may be the section for which we have proposed the most change. Itwould have a new section title. Some suggestions include Aperitif, Sound Bites,

or Tasting Notes. Rather than the four-spread animal that exists today, we wouldlike to prune the section to just five pages. Short, image-driven notes would

replace our 200- to 300-word format. They would be quick, energetic, and useful. No set item would appear in every issue. Up & Coming would be eliminated.

(The younger audience can be engaged more effectively, we feel, by includingsome younger columnists. Likewise, the interview format concept can be used to



add more interest and variety to sidebars.) Some note ideas might include thefollowing:

• an interesting quote.

• photo of an unusual seasonal ingredient with a short note cluing

chefs into its coming availability.•

several one- or two-line book reviews.• top-five list that relates to a feature (For instance, a top five list of

culinary destinations might appear in the same issue as the culinary

tourism feature.)• great promotion idea

• great recently introduced gadget

• don’t-miss event spot (with photo) and a tease to the iSante

calendar. This would be an exciting replacement to the calendar. Itwould give us the opportunity to promote events that we are

attending.• newly launched online resource.

• great cost-saving idea

• quick three-to-five-step how-to piece with icon-sized photos

• very short piece covering unexpected ingredient pairings• easy going-green tip

• and the list goes on and on…

19 This page would launch the beginning of a column section. We have chosen tosuggest the elimination of Matchmaking, The Goods, and Details and the “In the

Kitchen/Cellar/Bar” columns for several reasons. (1) According the Chris, these pages are not pulling in the ad revenue that they were designed to generate. (2)

Also according to Chris, “One problem we’ve had . . . is keeping a clear line between columns and departments like “In the Kitchen” and “Behind the Bar.”

This is a good reason to eliminate the differences entirely. (3) Santé touts itself asa book written by professionals. Featuring five columns in an 88-page book

reflects that commitment. (4) The same topics addressed in Matchmaking, TheGoods, and Details and the other departments can be featured in a column format

on an alternating basis and at a small savings on freelancers’ fees. (5) There aretoo many important topics to remain locked into the same six or eight categories

issue after issue.

We encourage the use of both older and younger professionals as columnists.

As you may have guessed, five column spots per issue will not accommodatethese departments plus all of the other columnists we typically include. We

recommend that five selections be chosen from several possibilities for everyissue. This would encourage us to feature the most relevant news, rather than the

news that fits our predetermined mold. Column possibilities may include: aMatchmaking-like column, a the-goods-like column, a details-like column, a

front-of-the-house service column, a back-of-the-house column, a dollars-and-sense-like column, wine issue, mixology-related column, a column from an



industry-related professional, and a column from Emily or another staff person.The names for all of the columns could change during the redesign or be

eliminated entirely, as the title of the column is likely enough to clue readers intothe topic at hand.

28 Page 28 would be the first page of a wild-card feature. This story would includethe most compelling news available, regardless of the topic’s ability to fit neatlyinto one of our predetermined slots. (Perhaps it will be most often a Max-Profits-

like piece, but with a much heartier focus on visuals.) The editor for the piecewould work particularly hard on obtaining photos for the piece, as the story in this

highly visual position would make an appropriate cover story.

Generally speaking, we would like to add an end mark to all feature stories.

34 This page would begin a well of three-page single-establishment stories. Like our Chef’s Seminar, Bar Tab, and Restaurant Profile stories, the pieces would take on

slightly more focus. Due to the shortening of the stories, a Chef’s Seminar, for instance, may address only one technique or dish rather than several. To fit in

with our food, wine, spirits, management mantra, that Bar Tab story wouldaddress a wine bar and a beer-centric establishment at least one each per year. The

title of the section could change to reflect the change in topic.

These stories would include a non-set sidebar or two depending on whatinformation is most relevant to the story. Ideas include a short recipe and vital

stats (as are typical now), but also short interview-format sidebars related to thediscussed topic, a quick how-to with photos, an invitation for readers to respond,

or a paragraph-format chunk that highlights a particularly interesting point.

46 This page begins our traditional feature well, which would be made up of threefive-page features. Choices include a Maximizing Profits-type story, a Provisions-

type story, an Appellations-type story, and a Distillations-type story. The threeincluded for any issue would be based on their difference from the wild-card

feature. For instance, if the most compelling story for the issue centers on aningredient, then we wouldn’t run a Provisions feature for that issue.

Because the titles of these stories often reflect very clearly what the story is about,

we feel the Provisions, Appellations, and Distillations category titles areunnecessary. The byline could appear under the title of the piece rather than in the

upper corner.

Like the three-page features, these stories would include a non-set sidebar or twodepending on what information is most relevant to the story, rather than a overly

predictable format. Ideas include a short recipe, short interview-format sidebarsrelated to the discussed topic, a quick how-to with photos, an invitation for

readers to respond, or a paragraph-format chunk that highlights a particularlyinteresting point. They should change from story to story and issue to issue.



65 The review section would begin on page 65. We suggest the following changes:

• Using color or a matching symbol, we would like to see the reviews tie inwith the stories to which they relate.

• Highlighting gold stars or labels would increase variety.•

We would like to see more images in the section.• Introductions to categories would be integrated into the reviews.

• Categories that carry from one page to the next would have a reference to

the category on the second and succeeding pages.• Chris has suggested we limit the number of unlabeled reviews and use

more of our white space for house ads.

84 Market place would remain largely unchanged, however using different fonts andspacing to keep consistent with the redesign.

88 The end page would be a large photo with minimal text, perhaps a quote and/or

small caption from an industry leader. Emphasis needs to be placed on a high-quality professional photo.

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