A new design in the new year

John Sparkman

Wow! It is hard to believe that it’s almost the end of 2012. It has been a very exciting year. In April, JSH-Online.com went live on the Internet, and in just nine months it has exceeded all of our 12-month goals for subscription, page views, and article shares.

Thank you, all who have subscribed and/or visited this new online edition, for making its inaugural year an overwhelming success.

The success of JSH-Online has led us to review the print editions of The Christian Science Journal, Sentinel, and Herald and ask how they can best serve their readers. How can they be as unique in print as their digital counterpart, as desirable as the successful Anthology of Classic Articles series? How can they be a “must-have” subscription for every Christian Scientist and “sincere seeker of Truth” (Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. x)?

As this column is being written, significant redesigns of the January 2013 issues of the Journal, Sentinel, and Herald are in process. Their covers, page design, typesetting, headlines, and editorial layout are all new. They reflect the prayer and desire to meet the readers where they are, and offer “a cup of cold water” (Science and Health, p. 570). The sample covers above will give you a sneak preview of the new design and format.

All three periodicals will be the same size (7 inches wide and 10 inches long—as a visual guidepost, this is the same size as the National Geographic magazine).

The emphasis of the redesign has been reader- and readability-focused. The design, length, format, and editorial content of each periodical acknowledge the different qualities that the weekly Sentinel and the monthly Journal and Herald express. Some of the comments about the new Journal design have included words such as “elegant,” “professional,” “a real journal.” The Sentinel design has been described as “readable,” “approachable,” “friendly,” and the Herald has been referred to as “universal.”

Also, the design and organization of the Journal and the Herald professional services and church information directories have been reviewed with the reader in mind. Each print edition of the Herald will include listings of all of the Christian Science practitioners and teachers; Christian Science nurses, churches, and societies; Committees on Publication; and college organizations, who offer services in German, French, Spanish, or Portuguese. The Christian Science practitioner, teacher, and nurse sections of the Journal directory are organized by continent, country, state, or region. Advertisers are listed alphabetically by last name. To make services more accessible for readers, we have added a metro region index for heavily populated areas.

We look forward to hearing from you about our new look!

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