Designer: Mandy Barrett

With over 800 members, the Virginia Association of Museums (VAM) is one of the largest state museum associations in the United States. Its newsletter is a resource for Virginia’s museums and museum professionals to network, learn best practices, and stay abreast of museum news.

To learn what its members wanted to see in the newsletter, VAM asked them to complete a survey. Members reported that the newsletter lacks visual graphics, has an uninteresting look, and needs to appear more professional. It also currently relies heavily on copy. “Our publication recently cut content to condense size,” says Heather Widener, publications coordinator for VAM. “And although VAM goes out quarterly, the budget allows for black and green on white paper, and only 12 pages.” Designer Mandy Barrett suggests that VAM convert to a three-column format for all body copy to provide for more flexibility with photos and sidebars.

“They have some great images but aren’t using them to their potential,” Barrett says. Instead of using the whole image, she proposes that the newsletter’s designers crop and enlarge them. “Sometimes removing a background is as easy as adjusting the levels of a photo with a light gray background,” she suggests. “Then, just erase around the base to create a shadow.”

For VAM’s new nameplate, Barrett used lowercase Arial for a contemporary feel, and suggests a serif font for legibility in the body copy—in this case, she chose Adobe Garamond. She maintained VAM’s three-color design, but recommends a lighter green since the original, darker green is difficult to distinguish next to black. With limited color options, a simple way to gain additional attention with sidebars is to reverse the type out to white.

Barrett strived for consistency within the newsletter, which it previously lacked. Her redesign offers a more contemporary, professional look that allows for copy and utilizes images more efficiently.