We have, however, reorganized the mast and table of contents. We've standardized the treatment of columns and made the artwork for each of uniform size. Our staff artist Susan Buchanan has designed little icons for each department and refined the illustrations with each column. In short, in keeping with our general philosophy, we've made a lot of incremental changes, but the end effect should be a more attractive, accessible, and manufacturable product.

We had meant to spring this redesign fully-grown with this issue. Unfortunately Susan and Howard — half our editorial staff — have been ill for a major portion of this cycle. As a consequence, there remains some little tweaking to finish the project.

Periodic redesigns are one of the unavoidable "passages" for a magazine. While the eager j-school graduates will contend fervently that a "fresh" and successful design will increase sales and attract readers, jaded old editors like myself learn to relate to redesigns much as experienced husbands relate to home redecoration. Sure, it's nice to change your environment once and a while, but it's certainly not nirvana — and there's certainly nothing to be gained by placing the sofa in the kitchen.

So, don't expect to find anything that will replace your Van Gogh collection. Even so, I think Susan's icons are excellent work — and the table of contents (the collective work of Ann, Susan and Howard) is a vast improvement. We hope you find the new design cleaner, easier to use, and just as informative as ever.

Sincerely yours,

Robert Ward