So, I have offered to help 'revamp' the parish magazine.... It's been years since I played with Publisher and I thought it would be fun... (No comments please) but now I realise that I need help.
I'm wondering, IS there such a thing as an exciting, informative, well laid out and actually welcome parish magazine? Have you ever seen one? Could you email me a copy??
I have a few ideas of things to avoid, mostly from rather lame church publications I have seen in my time:
A random scattering of articles making it almost impossible to find the info you are looking for.
Font so small that the half of the congregation who actually want to read it can't
Articles framed in heavy black boxes so that even the mum's an tots group looks like s funeral notice.
Photographs so grainy that you could run a competition to try to identify the subject
But I need some positive ideas... Like
How do you limit the no. Of pages ( to keep printing/photocopying costs down) without either making the font too small or having too much text bunched up on a page?
How do you differentiate clearly between the start of of item and the end of the previous one without the morbid black boxes or a schizophrenic change of font?
Is it worth distinguishing between ads for regular events and one-offs?
How much to rely on articles sent in and whether to actively seek out or commission articles you think would be beneficial
Anything else you can recommend???
I feel sure that there must be an excellent website out there with too tips for layouts etc but I don't know it. Anyone else know?
After all, why do a job on your own when you can get your friends to help?
Mental health and a beautiful but groaning creation
4 months ago