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Redesign: Maximum PC News Section
Problem: Few entry points. Sidebars which are supposed to
be quick reads for people that don’t want to dive into
the main story so narrow only six words fit across. Stories
often broken to next page. All columns same width, making
it uncertain where you’re supposed to go next.
My Solution: Create natural area for self-contained sidebar
information within main story to break it up and add an entry.
Former sidebar broken into chart with “just the facts”,
placed along the bottom to prevent confusion with main story.
Oh, and I hired a real illustrator.
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Redesign: Maximum PC Reviews Section
Problem: Focus was always on the computer’s
guts (which is what you’re actually buying) but the image
jumped gutter so clarity was lost. Information detailing what’s
inside covers most of the photo. Glamor shot of computer “out
of the box” also completely covered. Non-intuitive scorecard.
No flow. Often ended up with copy over the photo that wasn’t
readable.
My Solution: Make all side information a single
unit. Get the computer out of the gutter. Lead the story with
the glamor shot and pull summary information to the sidebar
(which some of the editors hated, since no one really had
to read the story to get the gist anymore!) Give the layout
overall more structure and consistent locations for elements.
Made the scorecard relative to computer chosen by the editors
as best to date rather than seemingly random figures. And
I also developed a mathematical way of computing the score
bar length (previously guessed by eyeball)—because many
of our readers would actually measure them!
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Cover Design: Maximum PC
Winner of Imagine Media’s “Cover of the Month” contest, it earned nearly a 40% sell-through rate on newsstands, underheard of in the industry (“good” is 30%, average is 25%).
NOTE: I did not do this while we were at war. I’m not that tacky.
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Opening Spread: Maximum PC
Opening spread to cover story, with table of contents (article was lengthy). Definitive gamer design, including background screenshots from Quake, since it’s the number one reason our readers would buy these videocards.
I’d earned the nickname “Make-It-Fit Monarko” from my overly-wordy editors: this spread is also a good example of how I handle heavy copy while maintaining hierarchy, continuity with the cover, and without making the page look too crowded.
Note also the number of entry-points on this page, meant to grab different kinds of readers quickly.
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