GX: The Guard Experience is a bimonthly magazine
for the citizen-soldiers of the National Guard, a
hardworking, tradition-bound group of Americans
who suit up to battle hurricanes, floods, forest fires,
and sometimes conflicts overseas, as in the current
War on Global Terrorism. The publication connects
Guardsmen and their families with news, information,
and lifestyle pieces targeted to their special
interests. GX (www.gxonline.com) was created and is
produced by Nashville-based IOStudio (a reference
to Input/Output and the firms’ high-tech origins)
and has a circulation of 250,000.
IOStudio developed not
only the print magazine, but an online version of GX
as well. Both have been enormously well received
by the target audience. In February 2005, The New
York Times called GX “a valentine to the National
Guard … a source of both information and comfort
to some of the men and women shipping out and the
families they are leaving behind.” Editor in chief Ed
Brown says the publication is successful because “GX
speaks to members of the Guard as ‘normal’ [people]
… not just as soldiers, but as parents, businesspeople,
and members of our communities.” Besides, adds
publisher Mitch Powers, “Families like reading about
the Guard’s good works.”
The magazine is balanced and respectful, celebrating
the sacrifices and courage it takes to serve,
while displaying just a hint of irreverence, making it
an enjoyable read. GX has run stories of battle duty,
ways in which the Guard helps preserve the environment,
advanced technologies that go into new
protective gear, in-depth information about military
benefits and services, and fun lifestyle pieces on fitness,
outdoor sports, and NASCAR. Soldiers’ spouses
get real insights into the services their loved ones are
providing to others when they are away from their
homes on duty.
Stories tend to be brief, with a wide variety of
Guard members featured, and imagery is abundant.
GX art director Kenneth White makes full use of
visuals available from a range of sources. “These soldiers
are involved in amazing things, and GX shows
them in action,” says White. Photos are supplied by
the U.S. Department of Defense, the public affairs
departments of the state branches of the Guard, and
by soldiers themselves. This means that the images
are of varying quality, from spectacular photographs
used as double-page spreads in the “Recon” section
of the magazine (see page 47) to lesser-quality snapshots.
White and his team have developed a knack
for assembling these poorer images into striking and
memorable collages, often giving them special border
treatments and edge textures (see right and following
pages), which help to unify the material. GX uses
imagery to illustrate and incorporate the Seven Army
Values—Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service,
Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage—in a way
that words alone cannot capture. The photos are a
large part of how GX delivers the “common experience
of the Guard,” as Brown puts it.
Today’s National Guard is comprised of people
who are not only soldiers, but also our relatives and
neighbors. A Guardsman may be male or female,
early 20s or mid-40s. They might be your banker,
cable TV technician, even your dentist. They are
a highly trained, tech-savvy group of brave men
and women who care deeply for the country and
all it stands for. GX speaks their language, appealing
to seasoned veterans as well as new troops, and
acknowledging them as true modern-day heroes.
