You should. Your bottom line could depend on it.

As a publisher, you may think that the design of your brand, magazine or Web site is the last thing you should be thinking about if you are looking to improve your bottom line. It’s not. There are many areas where building strategy into your design process can save you money, streamline your processes, and make you the leader in your category.

No matter how you slice it, design is important to any product. Presentation is key on many levels, especially when your goals include reaching your target audience and holding their attention. I am not suggesting that making something pretty will guarantee you a return, but including outstanding design as part of your overall strategy will have a positive effect on your bottom line.

Focusing on a few specific areas can make a big difference.

Strong Cover Strategy
Developing a clearly-defined cover strategy for your magazine can save you time and money in several ways. Depending on your topic, you may be able plan a photo shoot for multiple issues at the same time. This will build consistency in quality, and its efficiency will save you money. If you use stock imagery for your covers, having a strategy in place will focus the team’s search to appropriate sources, thus saving time — and time is money. Also, planning for your cover up front will allow more time for execution with less stress under deadline, resulting in more successful covers. Great covers sell.

Detailed Design Templates
Streamline mundane design tasks with comprehensive templates. Having well-structured, functional design templates that support an engaging look and feel for your magazine or Web site means less tedium during the production cycle and more opportunity for concept exploration. Production time can be cut down if style sheets are organized and intact and the overall design of your magazine’s template is interesting. If your templates are a mess, consider a redesign. This will incur a cost up front, but if done well, will pay off within a matter of cycles.

A Talented Designer
If you spend excessive amounts of time going over your designer’s work and requesting changes, you don’t have the right person. Publication design for both print and Web is a specialty. Not every production person will have the sensibilities needed to make your publication the best it can be. It requires greater training, experience, and skill than just knowing the layout programs.

A WOW Web Site
Your publication’s Web site must be engaging with an emphasis on usability in order to work for you. To accomplish this, it must have a strategy behind it that drives its design and functionality. It needs a strong brand that complements your magazine but also stands on its own. A successful site will lend itself to many opportunities for growth.

These are just few areas where design can play a big part in the bottom line of your magazine. For more detailed information about cover strategy, read “Great Magazine Cover Design” or my series of articles on “Design Strategy for your Magazine”